Made at Teachers College, by a student and a son
Both authors came out of Edward L. Thorndike's circle at Teachers College, Columbia University. One was his protégé and the other his son.4,3
Two batteries at five levels
The 1954 test measured the general abstract reasoning that matters at school. Its verbal and nonverbal batteries each gave a score, and the two combined into an overall intelligence score.1 Library and copyright records list the batteries by level and form, such as "Level 1, form B, nonverbal battery" and "Level 5, form A, verbal battery". Riverside Press was the publisher.6,7
The item types and time limits of the 1954 batteries, and which grades each level covered, aren't given in these sources.
Answer questions about things that don't exist
Robert Thorndike was one of the first to write about test-wiseness: finding the right answer from how tests are written, without knowing the subject.3 Every word below is made up, but each question has a cue that points to the answer. After each one, the page shows the cue you could have used.
Written for this page to illustrate the idea. These aren't Lorge-Thorndike items; good tests are written to remove cues like these.
From Lorge-Thorndike to CogAT
Our archive timeline calls the Lorge-Thorndike the dominant US group IQ test for school-age children from 1954 to the 1970s. None of the sources used here back that claim, so it's left out of this page until it can be checked.
References
- [1]Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT). EBSCO Research Starters: Health and Medicine.ebsco.com
- [2]Wikipedia contributors. Cognitive Abilities Test (accessed 30 Sept 2026).en.wikipedia.org
- [3]Wikipedia contributors. Robert L. Thorndike (accessed 30 Sept 2026).en.wikipedia.org
- [4]Wikipedia contributors. Irving Lorge (accessed 30 Sept 2026).en.wikipedia.org
- [5]Lorge, I., & Thorndike, R. L. Lorge-Thorndike intelligence tests; specimen set, levels 1–5; verbal and nonverbal batteries; form A. WorldCat record.search.worldcat.org
- [6]Lorge-Thorndike intelligence test. Level 1, form B, nonverbal battery. Copyright renewal RE148974. Stanford Copyright Renewal Database.exhibits.stanford.edu
- [7]Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Tests, Riverside Press, 1954. Testing Center Sample Tests Collection, MS-0351, Box 4, Folder 30. San Diego State University Special Collections.archives.sdsu.edu
- [8]Cognitive Abilities Test. In Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics. SAGE Research Methods.methods.sagepub.com
- [9]Intelligence and the individually administered tests and group administered tests. A Primer on Psychology (2019).funpsychology.wordpress.com
Related historical tests
The one-to-one children's test from five years earlier. The WISC needed a trained examiner for each child; the Lorge-Thorndike could test a whole classroom with booklets.
Wechsler's revised adult scale, published a year later. It shows the individual-testing side of mid-1950s intelligence testing while group batteries like this one spread through schools.
Thurstone's multi-score classroom battery. Where the PMA reported several separate abilities, the Lorge-Thorndike stuck to verbal, nonverbal and a total.
A post-war multi-aptitude battery for school counselling. It shares the Lorge-Thorndike's group format but gives eight scores for career guidance.
The WWI picture test for recruits who couldn't read English. Its idea of a separate nonverbal group test survives in the Lorge-Thorndike's nonverbal battery.
A 1949 test built only from shapes. Compare it with the Lorge-Thorndike, which kept a verbal battery alongside its nonverbal one.