What is the Raven test? Development and characteristics

How smart am I? It is a question that has generated internal conflicts in the human being since the concept was established. However, the determination and assignment of a intelligence value It is not easy at all, since its measurement is not simply the reading of a value in some determined instrument. Everything would be very easy, if the intelligence scale could be read directly, just as through a thermometer we read the value of the temperature in a body or medium.

The difficulty in assigning an intelligence value lies in the fact that intelligence is a subjective term, and there is no general consensus that fits all the areas it covers.

In general, intelligence can be defined as the faculty of the mind to reason, understand and acquire some knowledge and with the purpose of designing precise measurement mechanisms, the well-known cognitive tests have been developed, and among them the test of Raven, which determines, through the application of matrices, the g factor of intelligence.

Test development

The tests were developed by John Raven for research purposes; But this test, in which the level of culture and the use of a spoken language were not considered as limiting elements, would become a valuable test in the educational field. Another aspect that determined the great acceptance of the Raven test was the simplicity of its application and interpretation. Over time, different versions were created, the use of which is determined by the age and abilities of the subject to be examined.

It measures the general intellectual capacity (factor g), using the comparison of forms and reasoning based on analogies, regardless of the knowledge acquired. Through its application, information is obtained on the ability to think, forcing analog reasoning, perception and the capacity for abstraction to be set in motion.

Raven's test characteristics

Cognitive tests were developed to measure different, and often contrasting factors of the cognitive part, the areas where development measurement is focused are par excellence the following:

• Logical-mathematical ability.
• Verbal fluency.
• Space vision.
• Memory.

Raven's test focuses on the measurement of the analog reasoning, the capacity for abstraction and perception.

Using matrices

The fundamental objective that has guided the development of the Matrices has been to provide professionals in Psychology, Psychiatry and Neurology, Education and the field of human resources with a new generation test with which to obtain estimates. of general intelligence quickly, easily and accurately. To do this, an attempt has been made to offer effective answers and solutions to the needs for evaluating this aspect in various professional fields. Among the most relevant contributions of the Matrices to this purpose, the following stand out:

• Intelligence estimation based on non-verbal stimuli
• Very wide scope of application, involving subjects between the ages of 6 and 74, which allows a person to be followed for long periods of their life cycle using a single test.
• It finds its greatest utility in the area of ​​application of tests for educational purposes, since it constitutes an instrument to assess the progress of a student, throughout their school education.
• Work with different levels, designed to fit the fitness level of different age groups. Matrices are developed at six levels, intended to evaluate schoolchildren in the different stages of their cognitive evolution.
• Matrix-based tests are characterized by presenting a positive correlation in the results, which determines that a trend is maintained in the verdict of the test that defines the intellectual level of the person, whatever the test to which they are submitted.

G factor evaluation

The G factor constitutes an artifice developed with the purpose of acting as a measure of general intelligence, in the execution of investigations psychometric on human cognitive abilities. It is a variable that condenses various positive correlations between different cognitive tasks and that shows that two individuals can be compared based on how they perform in the execution of a task, even when the nature of it is different for each one.

The g factor is derived from a statistical device, called factor analysis, by which it is possible to group observable variables into a set of latent variables, which are dimensions not susceptible to measurement. The use of this construct was extended by the British psychologist Charles Spearman, who determined as its basis two elements, considered by the psychologist as determinants of human intelligence:

• The ability to think clearly in complex situations.
• The potential for storing and reproducing information.

The factor g represents the predictive value that is usually the base on which psychological tests are built, since it has the particularity of explaining most of the differences between individuals. in the performance of various mental tests, regardless of the content of the test.

Non-verbal test

During its development, a series of 60 plates are presented with images that must be interpreted correctly, in order to complete the sequences that are presented. It works with patterns that must be deciphered by the person being evaluated. Written language is not used, so it can be implemented in children who have not yet developedThey learn literacy skills.

Tests eductive ability

The eductive capacity is defined as the ability to extract relationships and correlations from information that is presented in a disorganized and unsystematic way. The Raven test measures the ability to decipher those relationships that are not immediately apparent to the observer.

The development of this ability is linked to the intellectual capacity to compare shapes and to analogical reasoning, with total independence from the knowledge acquired, being a determining factor in high-level cognitive functioning.