THE RAVENS

PROGRESSIVE MATRICES

Background

Designed by John C. Raven in 1936

The Ravens Progressive Matrices is a non-verbal psychometric assessment. It comes in

three formats:

The Ravens Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM)

The Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM)
The Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM).

It was intended to be a culture fair test of general ability, it has been found that
education influences performance to a small degree (Lezak et al., 2004)

What the Ravens measures

The Ravens is a test of observation skills and clear-thinking ability. It offers

insight into someones capacity to observe, solve problems, and learn.

The Ravens is constructed to measure eductive ability this is a component of

g (general intelligence) as measured by Spearmans theory of cognitive
ability.

Furthermore, eductive ability refers to an individuals ability to make sense of

complex data, the ability to perceive new patterns & relationships.

The Three Formats

Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM): This the original form of the matrices. The booklet comprises
five sets (A to E) of 12 items each. All items are presented in black ink on a white background.

Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM): Designed for children aged 5 through 11 years-of-age, the
elderly, and mentally and physically impaired individuals. This test contains sets A and B from the
standard matrices, with a further set of 12 items inserted between the two, as set Ab. Most items
are presented on a coloured background to make the test visually stimulating for participants.
However the very last few items in set B are presented as black on white; in this way, if a subject
exceeds the tester's expectations, transition to sets C, D, and E of the standard matrices is eased.

Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM): The advanced form of the matrices contains 48 items,
presented as one set of 12 (set I), and another of 36 (set II). Items are again presented in black ink
on a white background, and each set becomes increasingly difficult. The APM is used for adults
and adolescents of above-average intelligence.

Application/Use

Ravens Progressive Matrices have a wide variety of applications including:

In educational settings the Matrices have a long history of application and use.

Scores are relatively unaffected by linguistic and ethnic background and can be used
as a good predictor of success in an educational context for both children and adults.

In clinical settings the reliability of the measures and lack of bias makes them ideal
tools in neuropsychological assessment, working with elderly people and many
clinical groups whose particular needs make the demands of more traditional
cognitive testing unrealistic.

Suitable in cross-cultural contexts & for use with individuals who have physical
disabilities.

Useful for considering an individuals reasoning skills mistakes can be interesting

clinical data.

Norms

There are South African norms for the Ravens SPM for working adults (ages
18 to 57 years only).

There are childrens norms for the Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM).
This is only however, for children between the ages of 6 to 12 years 8
months.

There are also norms for the Advanced Progressive Matrices for adults
between 21 to 61 years.

Administration

Paper and Pencil. There is also a computer based version of the RPM.

Individual or group administration can be done.

Untimed but generally takes between 40 -60 minutes.

Can be administered to individuals who do not speak English or who are hearing impaired.
In this instance, it should be administered individually or a small group with a maximum of 5.

You need to consult the manual carefully before administering the test.

Test Format

The test taker is required to conceptualise spatial design & numerical relationships
ranging from simple/obvious to complex and abstract.

It requires form pattern completion to reasoning by analogy at levels from very simple
to very complex.

These analogical abilities call on left hemisphere functions mainly.

Each set becomes progressively more difficult.

Individuals complete their

answers on this standard
answer sheet. They are
required to place a line
across their choice of
answer.

Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices

The test taker

places a line
through the
answer they
think is
correct.

Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices

This is a copy of the score key

used to total the correct
number of answers for the
Ravens SPM. It is attached to
the answer sheet which has
carbon paper backed to it.
Therefore the individuals
answers are duplicated onto
the score sheet. You only
count up the lines that
appear over the correct
number.

Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices

How to calculate the score

For the purposes of this
example, only a clip of part of
the score key is provided- as
you can see only Sets C- E
appear on the slide.
When scoring you will need to
count up only the lines that
appear over the correct answer.
One mark is given for each
correct answer.

Total the number of

correct responses
for each Set (Sets
A-E). You need to
write the total for
each set in the
appropriate space
provided.
Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices

This is the norm

table used to
determine the
percentile rank
in the example
above

Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices

This is the percentile

that corresponds
with the score
obtained by the
individual.

To find the percentile

you need to check the
individuals score
against their age
group.

The total score

of the
individual.

Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices

Scores are classified according to a Grade

GRADE I: INTELLECTUALLY SUPERIOR SCORED AT OR ABOVE THE 95TH PERCENTILE.

GRADE II: ABOVE AVERAGE IF SCORE LIES AT THE 75 TH PERCENTILE OR ABOVE. IF AT BETWEEN THE 90TH & 94TH
PERCENTILE THEN IT CAN BE DESIGNATED II+.

GRADE III: INTELLECTUALLY AVERAGE IF SCORED IS BETWEEN THE 25TH AND 75TH PERCENTILE. IT MAY BE DESIGNATED
III+ IF ABOVE THE 50TH PERCENTILE AND III- IF IT IS BELOW.

GRADE IV: BELOW AVERAGE: IF SCORE LIES AT OR BELOW THE 25TH PERCENTILE. IT MAY BE DESIGNATED IV- IF IT LIES AT
OR BELOW THE 10TH PERCENTILE.

GRADE V: INTELLECTUALLY IMPAIRED. IF A SCORE LIES AT OR BELOW THE 5TH PERCENTILE FOR THAT AGE GROUP.