What One Intelligence Test Measures: A Theoretical Account of the Processing inthe Raven Progressive Matrices Test

摘要

This paper analyzes the cognitive processes in a widely used, non-verbal test ofanalytic intelligence, the Raven Progressive Matrices Test (Raven, 1962). The analysis determines which processes distinguish between higher-scoring and lower-scoring subjects and which processes are common to all subjects and all items on the test. The analysis is based on detailed performance characteristics such as verbal protocols, eye fixation patterns and errors. The theory is expressed as a pair of computer simulation models that perform like the median or best college students in the sample. The processing characteristics that is common to all subjects is an incremental reiterative strategy for encoding and inducing the regularities in each problem. The processes that distinguish among individuals are primarily the ability to induce abstract relations and the ability to dynamically manage a large set of problem-solving goals in working memory. Keywords: Reasoning; Individual differences. (KR)