Origin
Abstract reasoning is the purest expression of fluid intelligence (Gf) — the capacity to identify patterns and solve novel problems independently of acquired knowledge. The construct was articulated in Cattell's (1963) distinction between fluid and crystallised intelligence, and its canonical measure is Raven's Progressive Matrices (Raven, 1938), a series of figural matrices with a missing element to be inferred.
Structure
Items present sequences or grids of shapes governed by one or more hidden rules; the respondent selects the option that completes the pattern. Because the content is figural and language-free, abstract-reasoning tests aim to minimise the influence of vocabulary, schooling and cultural knowledge, isolating rule-induction itself.
Psychometric standing
Raven's matrices are among the most g-saturated tests available and are widely treated as a culture-reduced index of fluid reasoning. The construct is also central to the Flynn effect — the generational rise in test scores has been most pronounced on fluid-reasoning measures — which underscores that even "pure" reasoning scores are shaped by environment and are not fixed.