Raven’s IQ Test

The earliest version of a Raven’s IQ test was published by L. S. Penrose and John C. Raven in a 1936 article that appeared in the British Journal of Medical Psychology. Raven followed up with another study in 1939 in the same journal. These articles explained the basic format of the Raven’s.

Most items on the Raven’s IQ tests display a 3 x 3 grid of squares that has the bottom right square missing. The test taker must identify which option would complete the pattern. You can see an example item using this format below.

The item format became popular because it was believed to be a culture-free method of measuring intelligence. Later studies showed that the Raven’s and similar IQ tests were extremely good measures of g. Today, many tests -- including the Reasoning and Intelligence Online Test (RIOT) use “matrix reasoning” tasks that follow Raven’s same format. The example item above is taken from the RIOT’s Matrix Reasoning subtest, but it resembles items on the actual Raven’s tests very closely.

The Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) is the simplest Raven’s IQ test. It is designed for children, and consists of the simplest visual patterns. Color often is an important component of the questions on the Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices. Adults almost never take this version of the Raven’s IQ test, unless they have an intellectual disability, dementia, or another severe impairment.

The Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) is an IQ test that is popular for administering to the general adult population because it has items that are challenging for adults with a wide range of intelligence levels. The items on the SPM are all in black and white and greatly resemble the above example item.

The most difficult Raven’s IQ test is the Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM). It has the same format as the SPM, but is more difficult.

In 2018, the publisher of the Raven’s issued a new revision called the Raven’s 2. The Raven’s CPM, SPM, and APM are still used, but the Raven’s 2 is appropriate for people in age range of 4 through 98. This eliminates the need for having three tests. The Raven’s 2 also color throughout the test and can be administered electronically.