Miller Analogies Test

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The Miller Analogies Test (MAT) is a standardized test used primarily for graduate school admissions in the USA. Created and still published by Harcourt Assessment, the MAT consists of 120 questions in 60 minutes (formerly 100 questions in 50 minutes).

1 Content and Use
2 Format and Scoring
3 See also
- 3.1 References

[edit] Content and Use

The exam aims to measure an individual's logical and analytical reasoning through the use of partial analogies. An example test question might be:

Bach : Composing :: Monet :

a. painting
b. composing
c. writing
d. orating

This should be read as "Bach is to (:) Composing as (::) Monet is to (:) _______." The answer would be a. painting because just as Bach is most known for composing music, Monet is most known for his painting.

Unlike analogies found on the GRE and the SAT, the MAT's analogies demand a broad knowledge of Western culture, testing subjects such as science, music, literature, philosophy, mathematics, art, and history. Thus, exemplary success on the MAT requires more than a nuanced and cultivated vocabulary.

The MAT has fallen out of favor among some admissions departments, yet it is still widely accepted in the social sciences, education, and occasionally in the humanities. For most graduate programs the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) is the most common qualifying exam.

[edit] Format and Scoring

In the fall of 2004, the exam became computerized; test-takers can now opt to take it as a Computer-Based Test (CBT), although the pen-and-paper exam still exists.

Out of the 120 questions, only 100 count in the test taker's score. The remaining 20 questions are experimental. There is no way for test takers to identify any of the 20 experimental questions on a given test form, as the two types of questions are intermingled.

Tests taken before October 2004 were scored simply by the number of questions the test-taker answered correctly, with a range from 0-100. Scores using this metric have historically been known as "raw" scores.

Tests taken in October 2004 or later have a score range from 200 to 600. The median score is 400, with a standard deviation of 25 points^[1] These scores, based on a normal curve, are known as "scaled" scores. Because of their grounding in this model, scaled MAT scores of 500-600 are extremely rare, as they would be more than four standard deviations above the norm of 400.

Percentile ranks are also provided along with the official score report. Test takers receive an overall percentile rank as well as a percentile rank within their intended graduate school discipline.

The Miller Analogies Test is accepted by Mensa for its admission requirements. For tests administered during and after October 2004, MENSA requires a score in the 95th percentile for admission.^[2] For tests administered prior to October 2004, a raw score of 66 is required for MENSA qualification.