What is the RIAS?
The RIAS Test (Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales) is a brief intelligence test used as a measure of verbal and non-verbal intelligence. RIAS also includes a a co-normed, supplemental measure of memory.
The RIAS-2 is an objective, comprehensive assessment of intelligence and its major components. With a low emphasis on motor demand, it offers a more accurate and valid assessment than similar measures. It also uses the same, but updated, sub-tests that are listed below. It also includes a Speeded Naming Task and a Speeded Picture Search.
Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales™ (RIAS™) and Reynolds Intellectual Screening Test™ (RIST™) are trademarks of PAR, Inc. or its affiliate(s), or their licensors. TestingMom.com is not affiliated with nor related to PAR, Inc. or its affiliates (“PAR”). PAR does not sponsor or endorse any TestingMom.com product, nor have TestingMom.com products or services been reviewed, certified, or approved by PAR. Trademarks referring to specific test providers are used by TestingMom.com for nominative purposes only and such trademarks are solely the property of their respective owners. While the practice questions for the RIAS™ and RIST™ tests that TestingMom.com offers are representative of the types of questions your child may or may not see on the exam, they are not taken directly from the actual test.
Verbal Intelligence
Guess What – A child is given 2-4 clues to solve the concept or the object being described.
Verbal Reasoning – A child completes propositional statements that forms a verbal analogy. This section measures verbal-analytical reasoning ability.
Non-Verbal Intelligence
Odd Man Out – A child chooses which picture does not belong in a set of 5-7 pictures. It’s a form of non-verbal analogy that measures spatial ability, visual imagery and other non-verbal skills.
What’s Missing – A child figures out the missing element in an incomplete picture.
Composite Memory Index
Verbal Memory – A child listens to, memorizes and repeats back a series of sentences and stories that are read to them. Measures encoding, storing and recalling aspects of memory.
Non-Verbal Memory – A child is shown a picture for 5 seconds and then identifies the same picture among a series of different set of pictures. Measures encoding, storing and recognition of visual stimuli.
What’s New in the RIAS-2?
The Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales™ test or RIAS test is a brief, individually-administered intelligence test that is used as a measure of verbal and non-verbal intelligence. It provides an objective, reliable assessment of intelligence and its major components. The RIAS test is often used by itself to qualify children for a gifted and talented program. Sometimes it is given as a “pre-qualifier.” A child who does very well on the Reynolds Intelligence Test (RIAS) may then be invited to go on for more thorough testing, in many cases with a complete IQ test.
The Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales™, Second Edition (RIAS-2™) is even faster than its predecessor. In less than 15 minutes a g score can be attained. It contains new normative data and updated content, while requiring less reliance on motor skills. Due its decreased emphasis on motor function, the RIAS-2 offers a more accurate and valid assessment of true intelligence. It can be used as a stand-alone intellectual assessment or as part of a larger battery to diagnose specific disorders, such as intellectual disabilities or learning disabilities, and as a way to determine educational placement, like for gifted and talented programs.
Skill Assessment
There are three scores for the Reynolds Test – the RIAS Verbal score, the RIAS Non-Verbal score, and the RIAS Memory score. The RIAS intelligence subtests include Verbal Reasoning (verbal), Guess What (verbal), Odd-Item Out (nonverbal), and What’s Missing? (nonverbal). Memory subtests include Verbal Memory and Nonverbal Memory.
For the RIAS-2, it retains all four core and two memory subtests from the original RIAS; however, individual harder and easier items were added to provide greater range, and other items were revised to allow for more up-to-date and acceptable responses. Two supplemental speeded processing subtests – verbal and nonverbal – combine to create the Speeded Processing Index (SPI).
The benefits of the RIAS Assessment
- RIAS assesses both verbal and nonverbal intelligence. Verbal intelligence is assessed by measuring verbal problem solving and verbal reasoning, where acquired knowledge and skills are important; nonverbal intelligence is assessed by measuring reasoning and spatial ability, using novel situations and stimuli that are predominantly nonverbal.
- RIAS takes a quick memory assessment. The RIAS provides a basic, overall measure of short-term memory skills (e.g., working memory, short-term memory, learning); measures recall in the verbal domain; and evaluates the ability to recall pictorial stimuli.
- RIAS is fast. Administration of the four intelligence subtests takes approximately 20-25 minutes; administering the memory assessment adds only 10 minutes.
- There is a screening version available. Derived from the RIAS, the Reynolds Intellectual Screening Test™ (RIST™) consists of one verbal subtest and one nonverbal subtest. This brief screening measure takes only 10 minutes to administer and helps to quickly identify individuals who need a more comprehensive intellectual assessment or an intellectual reevaluation.
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