About the Raven's Progressive Matrices
Raven's Progressive Matrices is a nonverbal reasoning test created by British psychologist John C. Raven in 1936 that uses visual pattern-completion puzzles to measure abstract reasoning and general intelligence (Spearman's g) with minimal reliance on language.
John C. Raven was a young British psychologist working with Lionel Penrose on hereditary mental defect studies in the early 1930s. The two needed a non-verbal cognitive measure that could be administered through a translator if necessary - the Stanford-Binet was too verbal, and the existing performance tests (Pintner-Paterson, Kohs) required physical materials that were hard to transport to fieldwork sites. Raven set out to build a non-verbal test that used only printed pages.
Raven's solution was a series of 3x3 grids of abstract visual patterns. Each grid had one cell missing; the subject had to identify the underlying rule and select the missing piece from 6-8 options. The format was elegant: completely non-verbal, easy to administer, and capable of measuring abstract reasoning ability without relying on cultural knowledge. Raven published the Standard Progressive Matrices in 1938.
The Progressive Matrices became the most-administered non-verbal intelligence test in the world. They have been used in cross-cultural research, clinical practice, military classification (UK, France, many others), and educational assessment for nearly a century. The 1947 Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM) extended the difficulty range to discriminate at the high end. The 1947 Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) adapted the format for children under 10 and for clinical populations.
Despite the test's massive influence, the actual Raven items remain under Pearson copyright. The matrix format itself - 3x3 grids with one missing cell - is not patentable, and many similar tests exist (Cattell Culture Fair Intelligence Test 1949 also uses matrices). But Raven's specific items are not freely available.
The 3 subtests
Sample Items (Illustrative)
Items are presented as visual puzzles where test-takers must select the correct piece that completes a pattern or sequence. Scoring is based on the number of correct responses, with increasing difficulty across items.
These are illustrative samples, not actual items from the protected test.
Source
All test materials and historical content on this page are transcribed from:
John C. Raven (1936). Raven's Progressive Matrices.
Raven's Progressive Matrices and all derivatives remain under active copyright (Pearson Assessment, formerly Harcourt). We cannot provide the actual items. This page documents the test's history and significance.
Frequently asked questions
What is Raven's Progressive Matrices?
Raven's Progressive Matrices is a nonverbal intelligence test that presents a series of visual patterns, each with a piece missing, and asks the test-taker to choose the option that correctly completes the pattern. Because it relies on shapes and logic rather than words or numbers, it measures abstract reasoning ability with very little dependence on language, education, or cultural background. The puzzles get progressively harder, which is why it is called 'progressive.'
Who created Raven's Progressive Matrices and in what year?
The test was created by British psychologist John Carlyle Raven, who first published it in 1936. Raven developed it as part of his research with Lionel Penrose, drawing on Charles Spearman's theory of general intelligence. It is named after him and remains one of the most influential psychometric instruments of the twentieth century.
What does Raven's Progressive Matrices measure?
It measures fluid intelligence, which is the capacity to reason abstractly, perceive relationships, and solve novel problems independently of prior knowledge. More specifically it is considered one of the purest available measures of Spearman's g, the general factor of intelligence. It assesses what Raven called 'eductive ability,' the ability to make sense of complex and confusing situations, as opposed to recalling learned information.
Is Raven's Progressive Matrices still used today?
Yes. Despite originating in 1936, it remains one of the most widely used nonverbal reasoning tests in the world, applied in education, clinical assessment, occupational selection, and intelligence research. It is frequently cited as one of the best single measures of fluid intelligence, and updated, restandardized editions are still published and administered today.
Why is Raven's Progressive Matrices considered culture-fair?
Because the test uses only abstract visual patterns and requires no reading, writing, arithmetic, or spoken instructions to solve the items, it minimizes the influence of language and formal schooling. This makes it relatively culture-fair and suitable for testing people across different languages, ages, and educational backgrounds. No test is entirely free of cultural influence, but Raven's matrices are among the most language-independent measures available.
How is Raven's Progressive Matrices scored, and are there modern versions?
The raw score is simply the number of matrices completed correctly, which is then converted into a percentile or standardized score by comparison with normative data for the test-taker's age group. Higher percentiles indicate stronger fluid reasoning. Several modern versions exist, including the Coloured Progressive Matrices for young children and older adults, the Standard Progressive Matrices for the general population, and the Advanced Progressive Matrices for high-ability adults, all descended from Raven's original 1936 design.
Cite this page
This page is part of the Historical IQ Tests Archive. Editorial content, transcription notes, and curation are released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0). Public-domain primary sources retain their public-domain status. BibTeX · RIS
Historical test materials are obsolete and are not valid modern IQ assessments. This page is preserved for educational, research, and historiographic purposes.
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The instrument documented above is a historical document. Modern IQ scoring uses contemporary norms (mean 100, SD 15). Our free full IQ test is available separately.