Variations in Raven's Progressive Matrices scores among Chinese children and adolescents

Several studies have assessed intelligence using Raven's Progressive Matrices (RPM) across the life span. However, limited research has been done on the current Chinese population. This study recruited 6970 children and adolescents (age = 8-16 years) from eastern China to investigate intelligence and its variations. The results showed that Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) scores are correlated to Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) scores for 8-16 year olds (P < 0.05). The 50th percentile of both the SPM and CPM scores could be an effective indicator of the cognitive growth curve increase from ages 8 to 16 years. The CPM test, a simple version, may be applicable for children under 10 years of age, and the SPM scores could be used for the transformation of the IQ score. Girls slightly outperformed boys with two IQ points at age 13 and15 to 16 years. In addition, day students had an advantage of 1-2 SPM scores and 2-4 IQ points compared to boarding school students between the ages of 12 to 14 years. In general, our results agree with sex differences on the RPM, especially at ages 13, 15 and 16 years. Further research is needed to enhance performance on the intelligence tests.