The Raven test will help assess whether a person can think logically. How to conduct the test and interpret the results will be discussed in the article.

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Varieties of the Ravena test series

The "Raven's progressive matrix" test was developed in accordance with the traditions of the English school of studying human intelligence. According to these traditions, the best way to measure the "g" factor is to identify the relationship between a set of abstract figures. The Raven test can be used to test a person's ability to perceive specific forms, to cover their characteristics, mutual relations and character. The author himself does not believe that absolute intelligence can be accurately assessed in this way. Therefore, the result of the Raven test technique is best considered in conjunction with other studies.

Raven's intelligence test consists of 60 tables or 5 series. In each series - tasks of increasing difficulty. The tasks become more difficult from series to series. The subject is presented with drawings with figures that are related to each other. One shape is missing, but at the bottom it is located among 6-8 other elements. The task of the candidate or employee is to establish a pattern that connects the figures in the figure itself.

Example of a task from series A of J. Raven's test

On the questionnaire, you need to indicate the number of the item you are looking for from the proposed options. When solving tasks, three mental processes appear: attention and attentiveness; perception and receptivity; thinking and comprehension.

  1. Color is intended for children from 5 to 11 years old, but sometimes it is used for people over 65 years old.
  2. Black and white is ideal for evaluating adolescents aged 14-16, as well as adults aged 16 to 65.

The test subject must know the description of the Raven test in order to cope with the task. Often a person cannot find out what is required of him.

Raven's test: download sample assignments

Raven's test: description and questions from different series

In series A apply the principle of establishing the relationship of elements in the matrix structure. The task is to supplement the empty part of the image with one of the fragments shown in the table. To solve the problem, the candidate needs to carefully analyze the structure of the image and find features in one of the fragments. Then merge the fragment with the general picture, compare with the environment of the table part.

Series B Raven's test is built on the principle of analogy between several figures. A candidate or employee who is being tested finds the principle of constructing a separate figure, and then picks up the missing piece. In this case, it is necessary to determine the axis of symmetry along which the figures are located.

Example assignment from series B psychological test Ravena

Serie C based on the principle of progressive changes in matrix elements. These figures become more complex, their continuous development takes place. The enrichment of figures with additional elements obeys a specific principle, finding which, it will be possible to pick up the missing figure and successfully pass the Raven test.

Example task from series C of Raven's progressive test

SeriesD is made according to the principle of rearrangement of elements in the matrix. The person must find the regrouping taking place horizontally as well as upright.

Series E is based on the principle of decomposing the figures of the image into separate elements. The missing figures can be found by understanding the principle of figure synthesis and analysis.

Example of tasks from series D and E of the Ravena aikyu test

Raven's progressive test must be performed correctly, otherwise the results will be unreliable. At the same time, it can be noted that not all people are able to successfully pass it, since it is difficult. For this reason, it is advisable to conduct testing in conjunction with other methods in order to fully assess the applicant for the position.

Raven's matrix: how to test

The Raven test will give reliable results if the candidate or employee solves tasks in good faith, thoughtfully, sincerely and accurately. The test is designed to determine the consistency of thinking. Keep in mind that if you conduct various tests too often, but do not explain their purpose to specialists, they will be suspicious of them. A number of employees will lose loyalty and the psychological climate will worsen.

Explain to staff and candidates how to get tested. Please note that the Raven test can be taken online. But in this case, you need to talk about the rules. When conducting the Raven test, take the table and open the first page for display: “The figure is missing one shape. On the right there are 6-8 figures with numbering, but only one of them is the desired one. It is necessary to determine the pattern that connects the figures, and then indicate the number of the element in the sheet. "

During the execution of tasks, it is required to control so that employees do not cheat from each other. After the expiration of the time, issue the command: "Close tables!". Collect the forms. Check that in the upper right corner of the form is the subject's number, otherwise it will not be possible to establish which person's test with the answers of Raven scored the most points.

The test is regulated in time - 20 minutes are given to complete all tasks. It will be possible to keep the time if you make sure that the subject does not open the tables and peep before the command "Proceed to execution". After 20 minutes, the command "Everyone close tables" is sent.

The combined version of the Ravena test is also common: candidates and employees complete tasks without a time limit, but note exactly how much was completed in the first 20 minutes. It turns out that the test can be used to assess the speed of thinking and performance. The choice of the mode is carried out depending on the goals and conditions.

Raven's test: interpretation of results

The correct solution to the task is estimated at one point, then the total number of points is calculated according to tables and series. The resulting indicator is considered as an index of a person's intellectual strength, as well as his mental performance.

The performance indicators of tasks by series are compared with the average statistical results, but the difference between them is taken into account. This difference helps to judge the reliability of the data obtained. Wherein interpretation of results Raven's test is often difficult, so it should be carried out by an expert who is well versed in all the nuances.

Raven's matrix: test with answers

When solving problems, attention is tense, supports the desire for solutions. The test requires high concentration. With a decrease in attention, errors appear. The matrix test is not a test of "general intelligence", but helps to assess the acuity and accuracy of attention, clarity of thinking... In this case, we are talking about determining the existing ability to systematize in thinking, planning and methodology, and not about intelligence. Keep this in mind when interpreting the Raven's test with answers. If a person scored a small number of points, one cannot say with certainty about low intelligence.

Never directly use the results of an assessment to decide whether to promote or fire an employee. If you are faced with the need to dismiss, then it is unlikely that this can be solved with the help of an assessment. Because most often, when dismissing, it is not the level of knowledge that is taken into account, but how a person approaches the matter. If we talk about an increase, then they happen through open competitions, without taking into account the results of the assessment.

The correct solution to each task is estimated at one point, then the total number of points is calculated for all tables and for individual series. The resulting general indicator is considered as an index of intellectual strength, mental performance of the respondent. The performance indicators for individual series are compared with the average, taking into account the difference between the results obtained in each series and the control ones obtained by statistical processing in the study of large groups of healthy subjects and, thus, regarded as expected results. This difference makes it possible to judge the reliability of the results obtained (this does not apply to mental pathology).

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The resulting total indicator on a special table is converted into percent.

At the same time, 5 degrees of intellectual level are distinguished on a special scale:

1st degree - more than 95% - high intelligence; 2nd degree - 75-94% - intelligence above average; 3rd degree - 25-74% - average intelligence; 4th degree - 5-24% - intelligence is below average; Grade 5 - below 5% - defect.

The key to the test

Scoring table

Normal eyeglass composition

Expected points for each series

Points total

Stimulus material

Raven progressive matrices (Raven test) Series A

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Raven's progressive matrices (Raven's test)

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Raven's progressive matrices (Raven's test)

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Raven's progressive matrices (Raven's test)

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Raven's progressive matrices (Raven's test)

17. "Find the missing part" (matrices by J. Raven)

Aimed at studying the formation of the processes of analysis and synthesis.

Equipment: 12 tablets series A and AB. It is desirable that the cards are colored, then the child is less tired.

Instructions for P.: P. takes into account the number of correct solutions to this problem. If the child easily copes with the first four works, then you can immediately give number 7, where it is necessary to distribute attention to two details located in the horizontal and vertical planes. If the child coped with No. 7, then No. 11 and 12 are given immediately / as more difficult /. The AB series is more difficult than the A series. It tests thinking, analysis and synthesis.

Instructions for P.: “Now I’ll show you a picture. Imagine that mom bought a rug and hung it up on the wall. In the morning you wake up and see that there is a hole in the rug. And he took this piece and ran away and hid among the other 6 parts. Help me find the fugitive! " / 1 var. / “Mom washed the rug and wanted to iron it. But then the phone rang and my mother left a hot iron on the rug. He burned a hole in the rug. Let's help mom patch up the rug. "

If the child is silent, then P. adds: "If you find this piece and" mentally "put it in place, then the rug will turn out to be whole, and if not, then patched."

According to all methods, P. has the right to provide indirect assistance, which consists in such matters as:

Did you do everything right? - Are you sure? - That's for sure?

Moreover, more than 2 times indirect assistance is not provided. If the child does not respond to indirect help, the technique is terminated. Children with Z.P.R. easily react to indirect help and other help. Children with mental retardation do not accept help.

Assessment of results

10 points - the child completed the task in less than 10 seconds.

8-9 points - the child coped with the task in a time from 21 to 30 seconds.

6-7 points - time of work on the task from 31 to 40 seconds.

4-5 points - child's work time from 41 to 50 sec.

2-3 points - the child spent 51 to 60 seconds on work.

0-1 point - the child did not complete the task in more than 60 seconds.

Conclusions about the level of development

10 points is very high.

8-9 points - high.

4-7 points - average.

2-3 points - low.

0-1 point is very low.

Ravenna tables (scale of progressive matrices)

The technique is designed to study the logic of thinking and determine the intelligence quotient. The subject is presented with drawings with figures connected with each other by a certain dependence. One piece is missing, and below it is given among 6-8 other pieces. The subject's task is to establish a pattern connecting the figures in the figure, and on the questionnaire indicate the number of the desired figure from the proposed options.

When solving tasks, there are 3 main mental processes:

1) attention, attentiveness (attention is separated from perception and thinking);

2) perception - perception, receptivity;

3) thinking, comprehension.

When solving problems, attention is very tense, it supports the desire (interest) to solve. In the process of completing the task, attention is required and its distribution. With a decrease in attention, errors always appear. In addition to attention, will and emotions matter.

Therefore, the test by progressive matrices of Ravenna is not a test of "general intelligence", but examines the ability to systematized, planned intellectual activity. It would be a mistake if Ravenna tests were considered intelligence tests. In this case, we are talking about determining the ability to systematize in thinking, to be planned and methodical, and not about the intellect itself. Ravenna's tests are non-verbal tests indicating that verbalization as a thought process does not matter in their solution.

The matrix scale consists of 5 series (60 tables), which Raven ordered according to the following principles:


A - the principle of interconnection in the matrix structure;

B - analogy between pairs of figures;

C - the principle of progressive changes in matrix shapes;

D - the principle of regrouping figures;

E - the principle of decomposing figures into elements.

IN series A the test value consists in complementing the missing part of the sample (main image) or matrices. Its figures are static.

When solving tasks in series A, 2 thought processes occur:

Raven Progressive Matrices is a test designed to measure the level of intellectual development. Proposed by L. Penrose and J. Raven in 1936, Raven's Progressive Matrices were developed in accordance with the traditions of the English school of intelligence studies, according to which the best way to measure the factor "g" is to identify the relationship between abstract figures.

According to Raven, this is a test of the ability to perceive certain forms, to cover their characteristics, character, mutual relations or ensemble, a set of relations, and therefore it requires a method of logical reasoning for individual tasks. The author does not believe that in this way it is possible to measure a certain absolute intelligence, however, the existing results make it clear that the opinions and skills measured by the test represent intelligence to a certain extent.

The perceptual matrix scale is based on or is based on 2 theories:
a) on the theory of the perception of forms, developed by gestalt psychology;
b) on the theory of neogenesis by K. Spearman.

When solving tasks, 3 main mental processes appear:
1) attention, attentiveness (attention is separated from perception and thinking);
2) perception, receptivity;
3) thinking, comprehension.

When solving problems, attention is very tense, supports the desire (interest) to solve. It requires concentrated attention in volume and distribution. With a decrease in attention, errors always appear. In addition to attention, will and emotions appear. Therefore, the test of Raven's progressive matrices is not a test of "general intelligence", but tests the sharpness and accuracy of attention and clarity of thinking. In this case, we are talking about determining the ability to systematize in thinking and planning or methodicality, and not about the intellect itself. Raven's tests are non-verbal tests indicating that verbalization as a thought process does not matter in their solution.

There are two test options:
1. Color version (intended for children from 5 to 11 years old and sometimes recommended for people over 65 years old).
2. Black and white (for examining adolescents 14-16 years old and adults from 16 to 65 years old).

The black-and-white material consists of 60 matrices with missing elements. The tasks are divided into 5 series (A, B, C, D, E), 12 matrices of the same type, but increasing in complexity in each series. The difficulty of the tasks also increases with the transition from series to series.

Description of episodes:

The subject is required to complete the missing part of the image. When working with matrices of this series, the following thought processes are realized:
1) differentiation of the basic elements of the structure and disclosure of the connection between them;
2) identification of the missing part of the structure and their comparison with samples.

Psychological significance: The decision depends on the level of attentiveness, the level of statistical representation, imagination and the level of visual difference (discrimination)


Reduced to finding analogies between two pairs of figures. The subject reveals this principle by gradually differentiating the elements. The solution uses the ability to comprehend the symmetry between the figures.

Psychological meaning: the ability to linear differentiation and judgment (inference) based on linear relationships.


The tasks in this series contain complex changes of figures in accordance with the principles of their continuous transformation and development vertically and horizontally and the summation of these new elements in the final missing figure.

Psychological meaning: the ability to dynamic (fast) observation and tracking of continuous changes, dynamic attentiveness and imagination, the ability to imagine is manifested.


Compiled according to the principle of permutation of the matrix figures in the horizontal and vertical directions. The solution requires tracing the logical sequence and alternation of figures in a holistic structure.

Psychological significance: the decision depends on the ability to grasp quantitative and qualitative changes in the ordering (compilation) of figures according to the laws of the changes used.


The process of solving problems consists in analyzing the figures of the main image and then assembling the missing figure in parts (analytical and synthetic activity of the brain). Here you need to add and subtract the elements of the figures, mix the parts according to the algebraic principle. The missing member of the structure can be found using algebraic operations with the rest of the structure members.

Psychological significance: the ability to observe the complex quantitative and qualitative development of kinetic, time series. The highest form of abstraction and dynamic synthesis.

Raven's technique is a technique that is designed to assess visual-figurative thinking in preschoolers and schoolchildren primary grades (most often the ability of children aged 5 to 10 is assessed). In addition, the Raven test can be used when working with the elderly and people with intellectual disabilities.

The history of the creation of the technique

The "Raven's Progressive Matrices" technique was proposed back in 1936 by J. Raven and his colleague L. Penrose and subsequently became one of the most common methods for studying non-verbal intelligence.

J. Raven strongly disagreed with experts who stated that intelligence is an innate and unchanging phenomenon. In the course of his research, he came to the conclusion that it was necessary to create tests that would help assess the causes (both genetic and environmental) of intellectual disability. Fundamentally important, in his opinion, for such tests was the limited time and the absence of discrimination in assessment, regardless of education, origin, standard of living and experience of the tested.

J. Raven's test was created to assess the ability to perceive abstract forms, their individual characteristics and relationships, which is why it requires the use of the method of logical reasoning. In other words, matrices allow you to evaluate the process of making a logical decision in such conditions under which the adoption of this decision is associated with the choice of the best option in the shortest possible time. The results obtained are not determined by the erudition of the subjects and in no way do not depend on their level of education... The result depends only on the ability for logical analysis, on spatial imagination and the characteristics of a person's holistic perception of the image.

A distinctive feature of Raven's matrices is that for almost 50 years they have been used in their standard form... And this is despite the fact that over time a large number of interpretations and modifications of the matrices themselves have appeared (including Raven's colored progressive matrices, as well as an electronic version of the test).

When performing test tasks in a person, the processes of perception, attention and figurative thinking are activated. Performing a color matrix test requires maximum concentration and attention, since a decrease in these indicators will certainly lead to errors. In addition, willpower and emotions are of great importance. Raven matrices are usually used when working with people belonging to different linguistic structures, including dumb ones, since this technique does not require verbalization and this is its main convenience.

The test is based on the use of verbal instructions, as well as the use of non-verbal tasks, that is, to complete it, it is not necessary to be able to write or read (which can be very convenient when working with young children).

Currently, the Raven Progressive Color Matrix test is one of the most famous and frequently used tests among psychologists, used when working with various population groups. The test can be used when conducting large-scale research related to the field of psychology and pedagogy.

Test structure

Text collection includes 60 tasks, divided into 5 series (A, B, C, D, E), each series, in turn, consists of 12 tasks. Each task consists of matrices that contain various figures and their aggregates, composed so that they form a logical whole, the elements of which are arranged in a certain pattern according to specific rules.

One figure is missing, but it is located below, surrounded by other figures that do not fit here. The main task of the test taker is to identify the pattern that connects the figures in the figure and the figures given below, and choose from the proposed options the number of the figure that is not in the figure and logically fits there.

  • Serie A

The task consists in the need to supplement the main image with one of the above, suitable for a specific image, fragments. Successful completion of the task requires a thorough analysis of the constituent parts of the main image and the detection of similar details in one of several fragments.

Value: an assessment of the level of alertness, as well as statistical representation, imagination and visual discrimination.

  • Series B

Series B tasks are based on the principle of finding similarities in pairs of figures. It is necessary to understand the principle in accordance with which the figure is built and, on the basis of inference, pick up the missing fragment. The important thing here is to determine the axis of symmetry, in accordance with which the figures are located in the main sample.

Value: the ability for linear differentiation and the search for inference, which should be built on the basis of linear relationships, are assessed.

  • Series C

The tasks of the C series are based on the principle of "progressive" changes in matrix shapes. The matrices in the figure are gradually becoming more complex, they are constantly "overgrown" with new elements. There is a clear principle for a figure to acquire new elements, and only by understanding it, you can choose the missing figure.

Value: identifying abilities for dynamic observability and tracking continuous changes, dynamic mindfulness and imagination, the ability to imagine.

  • D series

In series D, tasks are structured according to the principle of regrouping figures within one specific matrix. The regrouping occurs in a vertical and horizontal position, and the subject's task is to find it.

Value: the decision depends primarily on the ability to determine both quantitative and qualitative changes in the figures, according to the patterns of changes used in the construction of the figures.

  • Series E

In the E series, the principle is to decompose the main image into its constituent elements. The opportunity to find missing figures will appear when the tested person discovers and understands the principle of synthesis and analysis of figures.

Value: the ability to detect complex quantitative and qualitative development of kinetic as well as time series.

Test time is strictly limited: 20 minutes.

Before the start of the test, it is fundamentally important to keep it secret and impossible to spy on. During the test, it is necessary to exclude the possibility of cheating.

The test is possible both in individual and group form.

Each test taker an answer sheet is distributedto be filled out. The form must indicate the date of the test, the surname and name of the test taker, his gender and age, as well as the place of work (study).

In addition, answers to test items are entered into this form, total timespent on the test, and the total number of points scored.

The answers obtained as a result of testing are compared with the key. For each correct answer, one primary score, then these points are checked against the table and, according to the final result, make their comments.


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