Porteus Maze Test

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The Porteus Maze Test (PMT) is a nonverbal test of intelligence developed by University of Hawaii psychology Professor Stanley Porteus (April 24, 1883 - October 21, 1972).[1] The Maze test consists of a set of paper forms on which the subject is required to trace a path through a drawn maze of varying complexity. There is no time limit for this test. The subject must avoid blind alleys and dead ends; no back-tracking is allowed.[2]

The test is suitable for people of age 3 and up. The simplest maze is a diamond shape. The original Porteus Maze Test was developed by Porteus as a young man when he was head teacher of the Victorian Education Department's first special school in Melbourne, Australia. Porteus developed his idea further when he migrated to Vineland NJ, then Hawaii. A well known version is called the "Vineland Series", after the Vineland Training School in New Jersey where Porteus first worked when he arrived in the US from his native Australia. Additional mazes were provided in the Extension to the Porteus Maze Test, and the Supplement to the Porteus Maze Test.

The test is currently published by Harcourt Assessment.

The test results produced using Porteus' instructions consist of a "Qualitative" or "Q" score, and a test age.

The Porteus Maze Test has an average correlation score with verbal intelligence tests of about 0.50. The Porteus Maze Test has a high correlation with other nonverbal intelligence tests such as Kohs Blocks and Knox Cubes.

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  1. ^ The Porteus maze test and intelligence, Stanley Porteus, Pacific Books, Palo Alto, Calif., 1950, OCLC: 1901115
  2. ^ Neuropsychological characteristics of adolescents with conduct disorder: association with attention-deficit-hyperactivity and aggression, Michele Dery, Jean Toupin, Robert Pauze, Henri Mercier, Laurier Fortin, Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, June, 1999

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