Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test Research Articles

Reliability and Individual Specificity of EEG Microstate Characteristics.

Electroencephalography (EEG) microstates (MSs) are defined as quasi-stable topographies that represent global coherent activation. Alternations in EEG MSs have been reported in numerous neuropsychiatric disorders. Transferring the results of these studies into clinical practice requires not only high reliability but also sufficient individual specificity. Nevertheless, whether the amount of data used in microstate analysis influences reliability and how much individual information is provided by EEG MSs are unclear. In the current study, we aimed to assess the within-subject consistency and between-subject differences in the characteristics of EEG MSs. Two sets of eyes-closed resting-state EEG recordings were collected from 54 young, healthy participants on two consecutive days. The Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices test was conducted to assess general fluid intelligence (gF). We obtained four MSs (labeled A, B, C and D) through EEG microstate analysis. EEG MS characteristics including traditional features (the global explained variances, mean durations, coverages, occurrences and transition probabilities), the Hurst exponents and temporal dynamic features (the autocorrelation functions and the partial autocorrelation functions) were calculated and evaluated. The data with a duration greater than 2 min showed moderate to high reliability and individual specificity. The mean duration and coverage of MS C were significantly correlated with the gF score. The dynamic features showed a higher identification accuracy and were more significantly correlated with gF than the traditional MS features. These findings reveal that EEG microstate characteristics are reliably unique in single subjects and possess abundant inter-individual variability.

How knowing the rules affects solving the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test

The solution process underlying the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) has been conceptualized to consist of two subprocesses: rule induction and goal management. Past research has also found a strong relation between measures of working memory capacity and performance on RAPM. The present research attempted to test whether the goal management subprocess is responsible for the relation between working memory capacity and RAPM, using a paradigm where the rules necessary to solve the problems were given to subjects, assuming that it would render rule induction unnecessary. Three experiments revealed that working memory capacity was still strongly related to RAPM performance in the given-rules condition, while in two experiments the correlation in the given-rules condition was significantly higher than in the no-rules condition. Experiment 4 revealed that giving the rules affected problem solving behavior. Evidence from eye tracking protocols suggested that participants in the given-rules condition were more likely to approach the problems with a constructive matching strategy. Two possible mechanisms are discussed that could both explain why providing participants with the rules might increase the relation between working memory capacity and RAPM performance.

Item Response Theory analysis and Differential Item Functioning across age, gender and country of a short form of the Advanced Progressive Matrices

Item Response Theory (IRT) models were applied to investigate the psychometric properties of the Arthur and Day's Advanced Progressive Matrices-Short Form (APM-SF; 1994) [Arthur and Day (1994). Development of a short form for the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices test. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 54, 395–403] in order to test if the scale is a reliable and valid tool to assess general fluid ability in a short time frame. The APM-SF was administered to 2264 high-school and university students. Once attested the one-factor structure of the scale, unidimensional IRT analyses for dichotomous data were applied to investigate the increases in item difficulty levels, Test Information Function, and Differential Item Functioning across age, gender, and country (comparing Italian and British respondents). Additionally, validity measures were reported. Findings attest that the Arthur and Day's APM-SF is a sound instrument for assessing fluid ability within a short time frame.

Identity maintenance and cognitive test performance

Identity maintenance processes can affect performance when that performance is relevant to an important self-identity, including performance on standardized tests of mental ability. Affect control theory proposes that individuals’ performances are motivated to maintain concordance between fundamental sentiments about identities and contextually driven transient meanings. An experimental test used the college major identity and randomly assigned participants to different instruction sets that made an aptitude test either relevant to their major or a contrasting major (All participants took the Raven advanced progressive matrices test.). Participants who took a test of mental ability that they expected would verify their identity scored two and a half points higher than did participants who took a test of mental ability expected to verify a contrasting identity. Results strongly support the fundamental validity of affect control theory’s predictions about situational meaning maintenance [Heise, David R., 1979. Understanding Events: Affect and the Construction of Social Action. Cambridge University Press, New York; Heise, David R., 1985. Affect control theory: respecification, estimation and tests of the formal model. Journal of Mathematical Sociology 11, 191–222; Heise, David R., 2007. Expressive Order: Confirming Sentiments in Social Actions. Springer Science + Business Media, LLC, New York; Heise, David R., MacKinnon, Neil J., 1988. Affective bases of likelihood judgments. In: Smith-Lovin, Lynn, Heise, David R. (Eds.), Analyzing Social Interaction: Advances in Affect Control Theory. Gordon and Breach, New York, pp. 133–152].

The 20-Minute Version as a Predictor of the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test

The Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test (APM) is a well-known measure of higher order general mental ability. The time to administer the test, 40 to 60 minutes, is sometimes regarded as a drawback. To meet efficiency needs, the APM can be administered as a 30-or 40-minute timed test, or one of two developed short versions could be used. In this study, the 20-minute timed version of the APM is compared to the untimed APM as a measure of intellectual ability in 1st-year psychology students. This 20-minute timed version proves to be an adequate predictor of the untimed APM score.

Comparing overexcitabilities of gifted and non‐gifted 10th grade students in Turkey

The study compares overexcitability scores of Turkish 10th graders who are grouped in terms of their intellectual abilities, motivation, creativity and leadership as well as gender. 711 students who were administered Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test (APM) were divided into three intellectual ability categories. From this pool, 105 subjects were selected as the sample of the study. Teacher Observation and Evaluation Form (TOEF) was used for categorizing students in terms of motivation, creativity and leadership. On the other hand, Overexcitability Questionnaire (OEQ) was administered to the sample for assessing their overexcitabilities. According to the findings of the study, overexcitability scores of highly intelligent, motivated, creative and leader students in some overexcitability areas are significantly greater than those of their lower counterparts. No gender differences are found in regard to overexcitabilities.

Stereotype threat undermines intellectual performance by triggering a disruptive mental load.

Research on stereotype threat has repeatedly demonstrated that the intellectual performance of social groups is particularly sensitive to the situational context in which tests are usually administered. In the present experiment, an adaptation of the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test was introduced as a measure of cognitive ability. Results showed that individuals targeted by a reputation of intellectual inferiority scored lower on the test than did other people. However, when the identical test was not presented as a measure of cognitive ability, the achievement gap between the target and the control group disappeared. Using heart rate variability indices to assess mental workload, our findings showed that the situational salience of a reputation of lower ability undermined intellectual performance by triggering a disruptive mental load. Our results indicate that group differences in cognitive ability scores can reflect different situational burdens and not necessarily actual differences in cognitive ability.

Understanding the Stereotype Threat Effect With "Culture-Free" Tests: An Examination of its Mediators and Measurement

This experiment examined the mediation of the stereotype threat effect and explored the relationship of 2 different types of stereotype threat: stereotype threat-specific (threat that results specifically from the testing environment) and stereotype threat-general (a global sense of threat that individuals carry across situations) on Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices test performance. As predicted, there was a significant interaction between race (African American or White) and test diagnosticity (intelligence or perceptual ability), such that African Americans experienced more stereotype threat-specific when told the test measured intelligence. Further, both stereotype threat-specific and stereotype threat-general negatively related to test performance. Finally, 3 structural equation models (1 for stereotype threat-specific, 1 for stereotype threat-general, and 1 examining the joint effect of these 2 constructs) simultaneously integrating the proposed mediators failed to find evidence of mediation.

On the correlation between working memory capacity and performance on intelligence tests

A ubiquitous finding in intelligence research is that there is a substantial correlation between working memory (WM) capacity and general (fluid) intelligence tests (e.g., [Intelligence 14 (1990) 389]). The standard explanation for this correlation is as follows: People with high WM capacity can keep in memory many elements and are therefore good at storing subresults needed within an item. We argue that another factor may be partly responsible for this correlation, namely, that people with a high WM capacity can store many solution principles over items. Two experiments (with N=42 and N=52, respectively) are conducted that validate this alternative explanation in two particular tests, the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test (RPM) [Raven, J. C. (1965). Advanced progressive matrices, set II. New York: Psychological Corporation], and a number series test constructed by ourselves, but resembling standard number series intelligence tests (e.g., [J Educ Psychol 75 (1983) 603]).

College-Sample Psychometric and Normative Data on a Short Form of the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test

The Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test (APM) is a popular measure of higher-order general mental ability (g). Its use in both basic research and applied settings is partially attributable to its apparent low level of culture-loading. However, one disadvantage curtailing its more widespread use may be its protracted administration time. Arthur and Day addressed this issue by creating an APM short form. The present study provides college-sample normative data on this 12-item short form of the APM that demonstrates psychometric properties similar to those of the long form, but with a substantially shorter administration time. These data will facilitate the use and interpretation of short form test scores in research settings where administration time is a major concern.

Development of a Short form for the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test

The Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test (APM) is a popular measure of higher order general cognitive ability (g). Its use in both basic research and applied settings is partially attributable to its apparent low level of culture loading. However, a major drawback curtailing more widespread use is its length; the APM is a 36-item power test with an administration time of 40-60 minutes. The present study reports on the development of a 12-item short form of the APM that demonstrates psychometric properties similar to the long form, but with a substantially shorter administration time. The ultimate goal is to provide researchers and practitioners with a version of the APM that can better meet their needs by providing a sound assessment of general intelligence in a shorter time frame than is available with the present form.

Evoked potential augmenting-reducing and personality differences

Normal volunteers ( N = 120) were screened on the evoked potential (EP) measure of augmenting/reducing introduced by Buchsbaum and Silverman (1968). Extreme augmenters were compared with extreme reducers on the Zuckerman Sensation-seeking Scales, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) and a measure of pain sensitivity. Reducers are more extraverted and more sensation-seeking than augmenters; they are also less sensitive to pain and they have higher scores on the RAPM test. The fact that individuals selected for contrasting EP response patterns differ on these psychological variables supports the idea that there is a neurophysiological basis for individual differences in personality, pain perception and intelligence.