Please read Dr. Daw’s article in Behavior Research Methods titled, “An item response theory analysis of the matrix reasoning item bank (MaRs-IB).“
Matrix reasoning tasks are among the most widely used measures of cognitive ability in the behavioral sciences. Much of their popularity undoubtedly reflects their versatility of use. Matrix reasoning tasks are strong (albeit impure) indicators of general intelligence and working memory capacity. They are predictive of important real-world outcomes such as childhood academic achievement and performance on college entrance exams. In low-stakes testing settings (i.e., where participants incur little or no cost for poor performance), matrix reasoning tasks can additionally function as measures of motivation, willingness to expend mental effort, and other facets of personality. In studies of psychiatric populations, performance on matrix reasoning tasks have also been used to control for general disruptions to cognitive ability when specific domains of cognition are of primary interest. To read the full article.
An item response theory analysis of the matrix reasoning item bank (MaRs-IB). Zorowitz S, Chierchia G, Blakemore SJ, Daw ND. Behav Res Methods. 2023 Apr 5. PMID: 37020082 DOI: 3758/s13428-023-02067-8