Generally the Raven’s test results appear unambiguous and easy to explain. The most significant
improvements made were in question sets A and B as would be expected, that is, the
least challenging of the progressively more difficult sets of questions. However, the statistically
significant improvement in question set D requires some thought. The suggested explanation
is that even though the mean initial (pre-test) scores were low, there were groups of pupils
who were already scoring fairly well on question sets A and B and who were able to improve
on their post-test scores in question set D, possibly as a result of intellectual stimulation. As
the scores in question set D started from a very low base (pre-test data), an improvement in
scores by a relatively small number of participants could possibly produce a statistically significant result. Also, as with improvements recorded in question sets A and B, this could be
attributed, in part at least, to the environmental influences and cultural opportunities alluded to
by Raven, Court and Raven (1995) - in this case taken to be exposure to classroom discussion
activities.