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INTELLIGENCE TEST (RSPM)

ANANNYA.T.S
ROLL NO. 21/972
B.A (HONOURS)PSYCHOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
KAMALA NEHRU COLLEGE
DR. SHIVANI MAM
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Aims
To access the spearman G- factor of general intelligence (Eductive ability) of the participant
using (RSPMS) Ravens standard progressive matrices .

Basic concept :

When faced with obstacles, intelligence is the capacity to rationally reason, comprehend the
world, and employ the resources at hand.

An individual's general cognitive competency, including their capacity to benefit from

education, can be measured globally by intelligence tests.

The common sense notion of intelligence and the psychological notion of intelligence are
very different. Intelligence is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as the capacity for perception,
learning, understanding, and knowledge. These characteristics were also utilised by early
intelligence theorists to define intelligence. One of the earliest psychologists to study
intelligence was Alfred Binet. He described intelligence as the capacity for sound judgement,
comprehension, and reasoning. The most widely used intelligence tests were developed by
Wechsler, who saw intelligence in terms of its utility for environmental adaptability.

Many theories of intelligence have been put forth by psychologists. Both an information-
processing method and a psychometric/structural approach can be generally applied to
theories. The psychometric method views intelligence as a collection of skills. It quantifies a
person's performance using a single index of cognitive skills. The information processing
approach, on the other hand, describes the methods humans utilise for logical thought and
problem solving. This method places a lot of emphasis on how bright people behave.
Information processing techniques place a greater emphasis on understanding the cognitive
processes that underlie intelligent behaviour than on the structure of intelligence or its
underlying qualities.

The first psychologist to attempt to formalise the idea of intelligence in terms of mental
processes was Alfred Binet. Binet's concept of intelligence was quite straightforward.

Triarchic Theory of Intelligence Robert Sternberg (1985) proposed the triarchic theory of
intelligence. Sternberg views intelligence as “the ability to adapt, to shape and select
environment to accomplish one’s goals and those of one’s society and culture”. According to
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this theory, there are three basic types of intelligence: Componential, Experiential, and
Contextual.
Componential Intelligence: Componential or analytical intelligence is the analysis of
information to solve problems. Persons high on this ability think analytically and critically
and succeed in schools. This intelligence has three components, each serving a different
function. First is the knowledge acquisition component, which is responsible for learning and
acquisition of the ways of doing things. The second is the meta or a higher order component,
which involves planning concerning what to do and how to do. The third is the performance
component, which involves actually doing things.
Experiential Intelligence: Experiential or creative intelligence is involved in using past
experiences creatively to solve novel problems. It is reflected in creative performance.
Persons high on this aspect integrate different experiences in an original way to make new
discoveries and inventions. They quickly find out which information is crucial in a given
situation.
Contextual Intelligence: Contextual or practical intelligence involves the ability to deal with
environmental demands encountered on a daily basis. It may be called ‘street smartness’ or
‘business sense’. Persons high on this aspect easily adapt to their present environment or
select a more favorable environment than the existing one, or modify the environment to fit
their needs.

Brief history of Intelligence

 The concept of 'intelligence' is relatively new, unknown a century ago, though it

comes from older Latin roots – inter= between, within + legere =to bring together,
gather, pick out, choose, catch up, catch with the eye, read; intellegere = to see into,
perceive, understand
 Francis Galton revived the term in the late 19th century, arguing for its innateness.
 Some objected to the innateness bias, and suggested the term be replaced with
'general scholastic ability' or 'general educational ability' . However, this did not
catch on = most theorists today posit a construct of intelligence that is independent of
education.
 Some objected to the innateness bias, and suggested the term be replaced with
'general scholastic ability' or 'general educational ability'
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 However, this did not catch on = most theorists today posit a construct of intelligence
that is independent of education.
 Binet (1916) defined it as the capacity to judge well, to reason well, and to
comprehend well.
 Terman (1916) defined it as the capacity to form concepts and grasp their
significance.
 Pintner (1921) defined it as the ability of an individual to adapt well to new situations
in life.
 Thorndike (1921) defined it as the power of good responses from the point of view of
truth or fact .
 Thurstone (1921) defined it as the capacity to inhibit instinctive response, imagine a
different response, and realize the response modification into behaviour.
 Spearman (1923) defined it as a general ability involving mainly the ability to see
relations and correlates
 Wechlser (1939) defined it as the global capacity of an individual to act purposefully,
think rationally, and deal effectively with the environment
 Piaget (1972) defined it as referring to the superior forms of organization or
equilibrium of cognitive structuring used for adaptation to the to the physical and
social environment
 Sternberg (1985) defined it as the mental capacity to automatize information
processing and to emit contextually appropriate behavior in response to novelty
 Gardner (1986) defined it as the ability to solve problems or fashion products valued
within some setting.
 Factor analystic studies (Sternberg, 1981) of informal views of an 'ideally intelligent'
person capture these characteristics – They emphasize practical problem solving and
social competence (the same thing?) as signs of intelligence, along with a factor
loaded on verbal ability.
 As you may recall, Clark Wissler did the first basic validational research, examining
the relation between the old Galtonian ‘mental test’ scores and academic achievement
– But he neglected to sample the full range of the population
 Lewis Terman (1916) created the Stanford-Binet Scale, which incorporated old items
from the Binet scale, plus some new items – It was also poorly standardized, on 1000
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children and 400 adults who were not selected with care Intelligence testing A brief
history of intelligence testing
 The 1937 revision of the scale was improved: – It had wider range (more room on
the floor floor and ceiling) – It had two parallel forms to permit re-testing – It was
standardized on a carefully selected population, of 100 children in each six-month
interval from 6 to 14 years, and 100 in each year from 15 to 18, with control of sex,
selected from 17 different communities
 Alas, they were all white and (therefore) above average SES
 The test was re-normed in 1960 and 1972, and revised completely in 1986

Intelligence quotient (IQ) can be obtained by the equation MA/CA=IQ, where MA is

mental age and CA is chronological age. This chapter discusses the concepts of mental
age and IQ, and the operations by which they are measured.

mental age, intelligence test score, expressed as the chronological age for which a given

level of performance is average or typical. An individual’s mental age is then divided by his
chronological age and multiplied by 100, yielding an intelligence quotient (IQ). Thus, a
subject whose mental and chronological ages are identical has an IQ of 100, or average
intelligence. However, if a 10-year-old has a mental age of 13, his IQ is 130, well above
average. Since the average mental age of adults does not increase past age 18, an adult taking
an IQ test is assigned the chronological age of 18.

Intelligence can be understood as the ability to acquire knowledge ,thing and reason
effectively and to deal adaptively to the environment.

According to stunberg and kaufman(1998) and wescher (1975) ,intelligence is the ability to
learn from ones experiences, acquired knowledge and use resources effectively in adapting to
new situation or in solving .

Theoretical perspective

Theories of intelligence have envolved through a succession of various models . four of the
most important paradims have been :
Psychometric
Psychometric theories are based on a model that portrays intelligence as a composite of
abilities measured by mental tests. This model can be quantified. For example, performance
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on a number-series test might represent a weighted composite of number, reasoning,

and memory abilities for a complex series. Mathematical models allow for weakness in one5
area to be offset by strong ability in another area of test performance.

One of the earliest of the psychometric theories came from the British psychologist Charles
E. Spearman (1863–1945), who published his first major article on intelligence in 1904. He
noticed what may seem obvious now—that people who did well on one mental-ability test
tended to do well on others, while people who performed poorly on one of them also tended
to perform poorly on others. To identify the underlying sources of these performance
differences, Spearman devised factor analysis, a statistical technique that examines patterns
of individual differences in test scores. He concluded that just two kinds of factors underlie
all individual differences in test scores.

Cognitivism
In psychology, cognitivism is a theoretical framework for understanding the mind that gained
credence in the 1950s. The movement was a response to behaviorism, which cognitivists said
neglected to explain cognition. Cognitive psychology derived its name from the
Latin cognoscere, referring to knowing and information, thus cognitive psychology is an
information-processing psychology derived in part from earlier traditions of the investigation
of thought and problem solving.[1][2]

Behaviorists acknowledged the existence of thinking but identified it as a behavior.

Cognitivists argued that the way people think impacts their behavior and therefore cannot be
a behavior in and of itself. Cognitivists later argued that thinking is so essential to psychology
that the study of thinking should become its own field. [2] However, cognitivists typically
presuppose a specific form of mental activity, of the kind advanced by computationalism.

Contexualism
Contextual perspectives consider the relationship between individuals and their physical,
cognitive, and social worlds. They also examine socio-cultural and environmental influences
on development. We will focus on two major theorists who pioneered this perspective: Lev
Vygotsky and Urie Bronfenbrenner. Lev Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist who is best
known for his sociocultural theory. He believed that social interaction plays a critical role in
children’s learning; through such social interactions, children go through a continuous
process of scaffolded learning. Urie Bronfenbrenner developed the ecological
systems theory to explain how everything in a child and the child’s environment affects how
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a child grows and develops. He labeled different aspects or levels of the environment that
influence children’s development. 6

Biological sciences
Biological Theory is devoted to theoretical advances in the fields of evolution and cognition
with an emphasis on the conceptual integration afforded by evolutionary and developmental
approaches. The journal appeals to a wide audience of scientists, social scientists, and
scholars from the humanities, particularly philosophers and historians of biology.

Types of intelligence test

Intelligence tests can be classified into two broad categories namely:

 Individual Tests
These refer to the tests that can be administered or performed on only one individual
at a single point in time. Individual intelligence tests are administered to individuals
one by one. They are meant to test the intelligence of one individual at a time.
Individual tests of intelligence are of two types: Verbal Individual Intelligence Tests
Non-Verbal Individual Intelligence Tests
o Verbal individual intelligence test

In verbal individual Intelligence tests adequate use of reading, writing and arithmetic 3®
required. Here the instructions are given in word. Individuals are required to use language as
well as paper and pencil for giving the response.

 Binet-Simon Tests: French psychologists Bindet and Simon have done a pioneer-
work in the field of intelligence testing. In 1905 they published a scale of Intelligence
tests, known as the Binet-Simon scale. In this scale, some 30 tasks from the simplest
to the most complex, were prescribed in serial order. The scale contained tests for the
age group of 3 to 15 years.
 The Stanford-Binet Test
The revision by Terman has been named as Stanford-Binet Test to give honor to the
University where he worked. Terman made some modifications by avoiding certain
drawbacks in Binet’s test.
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 Terman-Merril Revision
In-1937 Terman revised the Stanford-Binet Test with the help of Merrill and
published the Revised Standford Test. It became useful for the age range of 2 to 18
years. 7

 Standford-Binet Scale (1960)

In this scale, the language was used to the highest degree. In it, certain items were
initial which were criticized to be out of date. Under this revision the conventional I.Q
was replaced by a Deviation I.Q Deviation I.Q’s are standard scores.

o Non-Verbal Individual Intelligence Tests.

 These tests refer to the tests in which a language is not used. This is especially helpful
for those who are illiterate or do not have an understanding of language. Thus, it is
based more on gestures, directions, Images and intangible objects. Performance tests
are an example of such tests.

 Group test.

These refer to the tests that can be administered or performed on a group of

individuals together at a single point in time

 Culture and Intelligence

Intelligence needs to be understood in the cultural contexts in which it is displayed.
For one thing, people in different cultures have different conceptions (implicit
theories) of what intelligence is. Asian and African cultures tend to have broader and
more encompassing views of intelligence than do Western cultures. Asians and
Africans place less emphasis on mental speed and more emphasis on social and
emotional aspects of behavior, as well as on wisdom. These implicit theories are
important because in everyday life, people’s behavior is guided not so much by scores
on standardized or other tests but rather by people’s implicit theories. For example,
hiring and promotion decisions are usually based on such implicit theories, not on test
scores.
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Studies of performances by people, especially children, in different cultures suggest

that the strengths of individuals across cultures are not necessarily well represented by
conventional intelligence tests. For example, in some cultures, knowledge of herbal
medications used to combat parasitic illnesses, or knowledge of hunting and
gathering, or knowledge of how to effectively ice fish, can be more important to
assessing intelligence than scores on a standardized test. Eskimo children may know
how to navigate across the frozen tundra in the winter without obvious landmarks, yet
they may not be able to attain high scores on conventional intelligence tests. Some of
those who would score highly on such tests would be unable to do such navigation, to
their peril.

There is no such thing as a culture-free test of intelligence, and there probably is no test that
is genuinely culture-fair either. At best, tests should be culture-relevant, measuring the
cognitive and other skills relevant to effectively adapt to particular cultures. These skills are
likely to be partially but not fully overlapping across cultures. Thus, intelligence needs to be
understood in its cultural contexts, not divorced from such contexts.

Uses of intelligence
 These tests can be helpful engaging individual potential, academics and otherwise.
 These tests can also help in checking vocational fitness.
 Used in education settings in identification of the proficiency level of a student and
can also serve as a basic for classification and grading.
 Intelligence tests are also used to compare individuals performance with others
 Various tests are being used for recruitment and selection purposes.
 Intelligence tests may also help in identification of individuals with some form of
learning difficulties.
 Another important application is defection of intellectual deficiencies for clinical and
purposes.

Limitation of intelligence tests

 Different kind of intelligence test may yield different scores.

 Students performance is affected by many temporary factors such as general health
mood ,fatigue, etc..
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 IQ tests may assess your logical thinking skills and memory, but fail to assess your
interpersonal skills or creativity. So, someone who scores below average on an IQ test
may still have exceptional creative abilities that IQ tests overlook.
 There are also limitations to IQ tests that professionals need to be aware of. The tests
provide a 'snapshot' of a child's responses at the time of taking the test. For various
reasons, children may not demonstrate their full potential on the test.

  Limited Measurement. Intelligence tests measure specific thinking skills, such as 9

reasoning and comprehension.

 Measure of Experience, Not Biology. Intelligence tests feature questions about

concepts and objects based on context.
 Biased Norms.
 Inaccurate Placement.
 Intelligence test score can be improved with systematic instruction.
 The appraisal of intelligence is limited by the fact that it cannot be measured directly.
 Different kind of intelligence test may lead different scores.
 Indeed, a major limitation of these tests is that they do not typically measure IQ below
40 or 50, and that subtest standardized scores, which contribute to the overall score,
are highly subject to floor effects and poor estimates of true ability.

History of RSPM

The Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices instrument is a multiple-choice test used to

assess mental ability associated with abstract reasoning, which Cattell (1963) termed fluid
intelligence. The test consists of increasingly difficult pattern matching tasks and has little
dependency on language abilities. Carpenter, Just, and Shell (1990) describe the associated
problem solving technique as the ability to manage a hierarchy of goals and sub-goals as each
problem is decomposed into manageable segments of pairwise comparisons. Originally
published in 1938 (unpublished thesis, Raven, 1936 and Raven, 1938), the standard form
(RSPM) consists of five sets of twelve matrices presented in black and white. In total, the
psychometric properties of the 60 RSPM items have been thoroughly analyzed and are used
as an indicator of general intelligence throughout the world (Raven, 2000; Raven, 1989). In
addition to the set of standard Raven’s items, a set of 36 more difficult items has been
developed, The Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices Test (APM), as well as a set of color
items, The Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices Test (Raven, Raven & Court, 1998). The
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RSPM tests are in a wide practice nowadays were developed by J.C. Raven (1939) and
distributed by US Psychological Corporation. Raven's Progressive Matrices (often referred to
simply as Raven's Matrices) or RPM is a non-verbal test typically used to measure general
human intelligence and abstract reasoning and is regarded as a non-verbal estimate of fluid
intelligence. It is one of the most common tests administered to both groups and individuals
ranging from 5-year-olds to the elderly. It comprises 60 multiple choice questions, listed in
order of increasing difficulty. This format is designed to measure the test taker's reasoning
ability, the eductive ("meaning-making") component of Spearman's g (g is often referred to
as general intelligence). The tests were originally developed by John C. Raven in 1936. In
each test item, the subject is asked to identify the missing element that completes a pattern.
Many patterns are presented in the form of a 6×6, 4×4, 3×3, or 2×2 matrix, giving the test its
name.

Raven's matrices is a nonverbal ability test used to assess abstract reasoning. The test is
progressive in the sense that questions get harder as the test progresses. The task is to
determine the missing element in a pattern which is generally presented in the form of a
matrix, hence the name Raven's matrices.

Theoretical rationale of the test

Any of various tests that examine a person's knowledge of the theoretical aspects of a subject
or area of study, especially as contrasted with practical abilities; now specifically the written
component of a driving test. The purpose of theory testing is to verify the validity of a
presented hypothesis about the theoretical structure of theory in empirical reality [3, 10]. A
theory should be corrected or completely rejected if it does not receive support from the
empirical data. Under the rational/theoretical approach to test construction, the process both
begins and ends with informed judgments based on theory. This approach is a reasonable
place to start but inadequate by itself.

Uses of RSPM

The Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM) is a 60-item test for measuring abstract
reasoning, considered a nonverbal estimate of fluid intelligence, and often included in clinical
assessment batteries and research on patients with cognitive deficits. Raven's Standard
Progressive Matrices (SPM) test and related matrix-based tests are widely applied measures
of cognitive ability.

Version
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The Matrices are available in three different forms for participants of different ability:

 Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM): These were the original form of the

matrices, 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
complex, requiring ever greater cognitive capacity to encode and analyze 11
information. All items are presented in black ink on a white background.[4]

 Colored Progressive Matrices (RCPM): 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
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 (RAPM): 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 complex as progress is made through each set. These items are
appropriate for adults and adolescents of above-average intelligence

Procedure :

Material
RSPM Response Sheet
RSPM Manual
Pencil 

Rapport formation
The participant was called inside the laboratory and was made comfortable. The participant
was briefed about the aim of the test. Once the participant was settled the test was started.
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Arrangement of Material
A Comfy position/seat is made for the subject. All the necessary conditions are made for the
proper conduction of the experiment.

Instructions

‘This is an intelligence test consisting of 60 questions. The difficulty level of the items is
increasing. Attempt all the questions. It usually takes 40 minutes to complete the test. You 12

have to select one correct pattern for all the images’

Administration
The testing environment should be comfortable and free of distractions and provide adequate
lighting. A pencil , eraser , response sheet and a flat surface, are also needed for
administration. The examiner should engage the respondent in the task of completing the test
to reduce the possibility of response sets or random responding to the items.

Precautions

 Room should be silent and well lit.

 Participant should be assured of confidentiality of test results.
 Although, SPM is not a timed test. However, the participant is prompted after 40 minutes
to complete the test.
 The participant should not start the test unless told.

Preliminaries
1. Name of the participant - Akanksha

2. Age of the participant- 18

3. Gender of the participant- female

4. Time of conduction- 8.00 Am

5. Educational qualification-pursuing graduation

6. Place of conduction of experiment- Hostel

7 .Date of conduction of Experiment- 13 May’2022

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Introspective report
When the participant get to know that participant is going to take the personality test. The
participant felt very excited. The participant first told that initially the level of the questions
were easy but after few question there were little harder ones.

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Behavioural observation

The participant was comfortable and confident throughout the test . participant was taking her
time and answering with patience. Participant is super confident till end but some times she
got confused in options.

Scoring
The scoring key is given in the manual that helps in marking the correct answers.
The correct number of responses for each set is noted down. Thereafter the normal score
composition is checked to find out about any discrepancy. Finally, the percentile and grade of
the participant is checked.

Results

Table 1 depicting discrepancy scores of participant on the 5 seats of RSPM.

Grand

Total 59

SETS A B C D E

Set wise
score
12 12 12 12 11

Normal
composition
12 12 12 12 11
score
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Grade 1

Discripancy
score
0 0 0 0 0

Percentile 95
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Grade 1

Interpretation

RSPM is a non-verbal assessment tool designed to measure an individual’s ability to perceive

and think clearly, make meaning out of confusion and formulate new concepts when faced
with novel information. Non-verbal aspect of SPM minimizes the impact of language skills
on performance.

Non-verbal aspect of SPM minimizes the impact of language skills on performance.

The participant obtained a grand score of 59 In set A, B,C, D& E the participant has got a
score of 12,12,12,12 & 11 respectively. When we check the normal composition score of the
grand total obtained by the participant the scores are 12, 12, 12, 12 & 11.

The discrepancy score is not more than +/-2 for any set. Hence, we can accept the score the
participant at face value. This also indicates that the participant has not engaged in
guesswork. 

The grand score corresponds to the percentile 95 . This indicates that 95% of people fall
below him/her as per the normed group. 

This percentile is also converted into grade points. The participant’s grade points mean that
she is intellectually superior. 

Conclusion
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The spearman G- factor of general intelligence (Eductive ability) of the participant using
(RSPMS) Ravens standard progressive matrices .The participant has obtained a percentile
score of 95 corresponding to grade 1. which implies that she is intellectually superior.

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Reference

Mandler, G. (2002). Origins of the cognitive (r)evolution. Journal of the History of the
Behavioral Sciences, 38, 339-353

General Psychology (First edition, 2004 ed.). Neelkamal. p. 59.

Bilker, Warren B.; Hansen, John A.; Brensinger, Colleen M.; Richard, Jan; Gur, Raquel E.;
Gur, Ruben C. (2012-09-01).

 Kaplan, R. M., & Saccuzzo, D. P. (2009). Standardized tests in education, civil service, and
the military. Psychological testing: Principles, applications, and issues (7 ed. pp. 325–327).
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

^ Raven, J. C. (1936). Mental tests used in genetic studies: The performance of related

individuals on tests mainly educative and mainly reproductive
John B. Carroll, in Human Cognitive Abilities (1993)