Performance of Greek and American Students on the Matrix Analogies Test

Abstract

Despite the documented evidence for the need of psychological tests in Greece, state support for the development and standardization of such instruments has been limited. The majority of instruments are adaptations of foreign tests and range from a mere translation of the instrument to limited standardization effort with children residing in the capital of Greece, Athens. The present study investigated the performance of 731 children of various ages from five cities on the Matrix Analogies Test-Short Form as measure of nonverbal intelligence. Data analyses revealed that the performance of the Greek sample was very similar to the USA standardization sample with significant differences obtained for two (8 and 9 years old) out of 12 age groups. Mean scores for the Greek sample were somewhat lower, an average of 21.7 raw score points. These differences might be due to sampling error, and/or to the structure of the Greek educational system. The study's findings suggest that the MAT-SF can be used as a screening measure of nonverbal intelligence with Greek children using the US norms until Greek norms become available.