Measuring general cognitive ability in early elementary students: A shortened version of the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices

Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) is widely used to assess fluid intelligence in developmental and educational research. Several short forms of the 60-item SPM have been proposed to address its lengthy design. However, an SPM short form for early elementary children is lacking, which is important given their distinct developmental milestones. To bridge this gap, the current study developed a 15-item SPM short form for children aged 6–8 years. The short form displayed a strong correlation with the 60-item SPM (r = 0.85). Monte Carlo simulation, Item Response Theory, and other validation methods collectively supported the short form as a reliable alternative to the full form SPM. Significant positive correlations between the short form with working memory and academic achievement dimensions further supported the validity of the short form. The current study complemented Langener, Kramer, van den Bos, and Huizenga (2022) to offer a complete collection of SPM short forms for developmental populations, enabling researchers to efficiently measure intelligence in these samples. The current short form minimizes participant fatigue intelligence assessments and facilitates more informative research designs, contributing to enhanced progress across developmental and educational research.