The Raven Matrices

Cognitive Psychology 41, 1–48 (2000) doi:10.1006/cogp.1999.0735, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on

The Raven’s Progressive Matrices: Change and Stability over Culture and Time

John Raven

30 Great King Street, Edinburgh EH3 6QH, Scotland Data relating to the stability and variation in the norms for the Raven’s Progressive Matrices Test (a well-validated measure of basic cognitive functioning) for different cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups on a worldwide and withincountry basis are first summarized. Subsequent sections deal with variation over time. A possible explanation for the variation in norms over time and between ethnic groups within countries is offered. © 2000 Academic Press

RAVEN’S PROGRESSIVE MATRICES AND MILL HILL VOCABULARY SCALES: THE INSTRUMENTS AND THEIR THEORETICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Raven’s Progressive Matrices and Mill Hill Vocabulary Scales were developed for use in fundamental research into the genetic and environmental determinants of ‘‘intelligence.’’ Raven (J. C. Raven, 1936; Watt, 1998) set out with the specific intent of developing tests which would be easy to administer and also easy to interpret in a clear, theoretically relevant way. Put another way and with the benefit of hindsight, what he did was make the two main components of ‘‘general intelligence’’ (which, as we shall shortly see, have been strongly confirmed in subsequent research) directly measurable (as distinct from calculable only by the application of complex, factor-analytically based, weighting procedures) and measurable through using procedures almost as robust and directly interpretable as those used to measure height or temperature. The tests he produced have been widely applied in both practice and research and a vast pool of data has now accumulated. Inspection of these data appears to reveal that the abilities that are most often thought to lie at the heart of ‘‘intelligence’’ are much more open to environmental influence than had previously...