Question
What is a nonverbal IQ test?
Short answer
A nonverbal IQ test measures reasoning with shapes, patterns and figures instead of words. The classic example is Raven’s Progressive Matrices, first published in 1938. Because it needs little reading, a nonverbal test leans on fluid reasoning, working out new problems, and depends less on vocabulary and schooling, though no test is entirely free of culture.
Want your own number? The test is 25 visual puzzles, about 12 minutes, no sign-up.
What makes a test nonverbal
The items are pictures, not sentences. Common formats are 3x3 matrix puzzles, sequences of figures, figure analogies, mental rotation and odd one out. Number series are often included too, since they need numbers rather than words. You can try every one of these in the puzzle library.
Raven's Progressive Matrices, developed by John C. Raven in the 1930s and first published in 1938, are the best-known nonverbal test and are widely used as a measure of fluid, culture-reduced reasoning (Wikipedia: Raven's Progressive Matrices).
Try one · Abstract Reasoning
Which tile completes the grid?
Tap the option you think is right, or show the answer.
Show the answer
The missing tile has two solid circles (option 1).
How to solve it
- Start with the first row and name what changes from tile to tile.
- Every row and every column contains each shape (circle, star and triangle) exactly once.
- Every row and every column contains each number of shapes (one, two and three) exactly once.
- The fill (solid) stays the same in every tile.
- Check the rules on the second row, then apply them to the third.
- So the missing tile has two solid circles.
That was 1 puzzle. The full test has 25.
What it measures
Mostly fluid intelligence: reasoning with new material, as opposed to crystallized intelligence, the knowledge you have built up (Wikipedia: Fluid and crystallized intelligence). That makes nonverbal tests a good fit for comparing people whose education or first language differ. It also means they miss abilities a verbal test would capture, such as vocabulary.
Nonverbal tests and Mensa
Mensa UK quotes a qualifying score of 132 on the Culture Fair test, the 98th percentile on that test's scale (Mensa UK). See what IQ you need for Mensa.
Try one
The free non-verbal reasoning practice test mixes ten visual items with a timer and an instant practice score. For the background on culture and testing, read culture-fair IQ tests, and see what kinds of questions are on an IQ test for examples of each type.
Sources
- Raven's Progressive Matrices. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raven%27s_Progressive_Matrices
- Fluid and crystallized intelligence. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluid_and_crystallized_intelligence
- IQ tests. British Mensa. www.mensa.org.uk/iq-tests