Raven SPM

Introduction

Human beings differ from one another in their ability to understand complex ideas, adapt effectively
to the surrounding environment, learn from experience, engage in various forms of reasoning and
overcome obstacles through thinking. A given person's intellectual performance will vary on
different occasions, in different domains and as judged by different criteria. Intelligence is one of the
must widely used aspect in psychological testing and also plays a vital role at all the stages and in
every aspect of a person’s life.

Intelligence can be defines as the aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act
purposefully, to think rationally and to deal effectively with his environment (Wechsler,
1944).One such intelligence test was the
Raven’s standard progressive matrices. Raven’s Progressive Matrices was developed for use in
fundamental research into the genetic and environmental determinants of ‘‘intelligence.’’ Raven’s
progress matrices is a non verbal culture fair group test ,which is mostly used on age group ranging
from 5 to elderly. THE standard form (RSPM) consists of five sets of twelve matrices presented in
black and white. In total, the psychometric properties of the RSPM consists of 60 items that have
been thoroughly analyzed and are used as an indicator of general intelligence throughout the world .

History of Raven’s standard progressive matrices

RSPM was developed by John C raven ,who was born in 1902 ,an English psychologist .j c Raven was
charles spearman’s student,also Raven developed this test while he was working with geneticist
,Lionel Penrose ,while they were studying the genetic and environmental factors of mental defiency
.RSPM was exclusive test for testing g factor of intelligence ,exclusively the fluid intelligence.The test
mainly consists of increasingly difficult pattern matching tasks.

These matrics constists of 2*2 matrix problems

And 3*3 matrix problems

These matrices are available in other versions ,they are : (COPY FRM PHONE)
The Matrices are available in three different forms for test takers of different ability:

 Standard Progressive Matrices: This is the original form of the matrices, which was first
published in 1938. The booklet comprises five sets (A to E) of 12 items each (e.g., A1
through A12), with items within a set becoming increasingly difficult, requiring ever greater
cognitive capacity to encode and analyze information. All items are presented in black ink on
a white background.(black n white format).
 Colored Progressive Matrices: 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.[4]
 Advanced Progressive Matrices: 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 become increasingly difficult as progress is made
through each set. These items are appropriate for adults and adolescents of above-average
intelligence.
In addition, "parallel" forms of the standard and coloured progressive matrices were published in
1998. This was to address the problem of the Raven's Matrices being too well known in the
general population. Items in the parallel tests have been constructed so that average solution
rates to each question are identical for the classic and parallel versions. A revised version of the
SPM – the Standard Progressive Matrices Plus – was published at the same time. This was
based on the "parallel" version but, although the test was the same length, it had more difficult
items in order to restore the discrimination that the original SPM had among more able
adolescents and young adults when it was first published. This new test, developed with the aid
of better sampling arrangements and developments in the procedures available to implement
the item response theory, has turned out to have exemplary test properties.

Theoretical background

Raven being the student of Charles Spearman, his this test was based upon the g factor aspect of
intelligence. Spearman introduced the concept of g factor in 1923, g factor made an understanding of
while every individual excelled in certain areas, it wasn’t impossible for them to excel in other areas
too. Spearman categorised the g factor into two major components –Educative abilities and
reproductive abilities .Raymond Cattell’s concept of fluid intelligence can also be studied through this
test. Fluid intelligence generally correlates with measures of abstract reasoning; puzzle solving,
problem solving, learning and pattern recognized, all these form a very effective theoretical bond to
the test, which makes it one of the preferred test in intelligence.

Components of RSPM

As RSPM is been based on the g factor aspect of Spearman which consists of the Educative and
reproductive abilities, The educative ability -provides the ability to make meaning out of confusion,
the ability to generate high-level, usually nonverbal, schemata which make it easy to handle
complexity; and (b) reproductive ability—the ability to absorb, recall, and reproduce information
that has been made explicit and communicated from one person to another. The RSPM is majorly
based on the Educative abilities. RSPM is a standardized intelligence test that consists of 60 visually
presented, geometric- parallel -like problems on 5 sets (A, B, C, D and E), 12 items in each sets. The A
and B sections each contain 12 2x2 matrices, while the C, D, and E sections each contain 12 3x3
matrices. Section A involves simply filling in the missing part of an image; later sections require more
abstract reasoning. The correct missing entry must be selected from a set of 6 possible answers for
the 2x2 matrices, or a set of 8 possible answers for the 3x3 matrices.

Psychometric properties of the test

The reliability of the test by split half method is varying from 0.65 to 0.90 and
test-retest method is varying from 0.71 to 0.87. The validity of the test varies from 0.40
to 0.70. Ganguly (1967), Shina (1977), Dey (1984) and Rao and Reddy (1972)
developed norms and reliability of Standard Progressive Matrices. They found the
range of reliability from 0.84 to 0.93.
The percentile norm of Standard Progressive Matrices was also developed by
taking sample from different age groups, culture race and geographical background.

Merits and Demerits of the test

merits
The major boon of the test was that it could be used with respondents of all ages from early
childhood to old age groups.

the test is non verbal ,also is easily assessable to all and also the test is a culture fair test.

As the test consisted of limited items which makes it an ideal tool to be administed in homes
,schools, and workplaces.

It is a very quick paper pencil test ,also the test is much cost effective.

Demerits

Though the test is culture fair ,there are few critical arguments over how different cultures might
perceive the test which can cause a biased results.

The test focus on only one major aspect of intelligence ,the g factor which does not completely
covers the overall aspect of intelligence.

Applications

The applications of the Raven’s standard progressive matrices can be understood in these four
spectrums, as Raven’s can be used on wider age groups,it has wider scope of its applicability.

 Identify more effective operatives, supervisors, professionals, business people,

entrepreneurs, managers and administrators.
 Predict children's and adult's success in training and educational programmes.
 Identify neuropsychological damage.
 Carry out research involving ethnic and cultural groups.

A study that was done by (Kozulin,A ,1998) over four different immigrant groups from
Ethopia ,was tested using the raven’s progressive matrics .The results of the study
suggests that the new immigrant students initially had a cognitive profile different from
that of native Israeli students. The intervention appeared to be effective not only in
improving the absolute score on the Matrices but also in changing the students' cognitive
profile.

Another major study was conducted recently by a group of psychiatrists and

psychologists where Raven’s SPM was chosen as one of the neuropsychological
assessment batteries to indicate mental capacities of schizophrenic patients .(Chan, Chia,
Yang, Woon, & Sitoh, et al, 2009)

A study done by (Sinha.U, 1968)suggests that in India ,raven’s progressive matrics

is mostly used in PREDICTING ACHIEVEMENT, MEASURING INTELLIGENCE, AND
FOR GENERAL PSYCHOMETRIC INTERESTS.

Another indian study was conducted by Rao,Y.R. (1975) was to understsnd the
applications and had made an attempt to develop norms for the test by using 15–18 yr old
students from 6 types of schools in an urban area. At every age level, males had higher
mean scores than females. Although score variability increased with age, the overall
variability was greater among females than among males.

Conclusion
Raven’s Progressive Matrices consist of three main forms or versions including Standard
Progressive Matrices (SPM), Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) and Advanced Progressive
Matrices (APM). These different forms of test are intended to be used for individuals with
different level of abilities. As one of the most basic form of Raven’s Progressive Matrices,
SPM is used for individuals with average ability. The test is been widely used in most
countries of the world for more than 70 years and vast numbers of studies have conducted
and has demonstrated its suitability for cross-cultural and cross-sectional researches.

REFERENCES
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4410094/

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