Retest effects are common in higher order cognitive tasks, reflecting the effects of practice. One such task is Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (Raven's), the gold standard for tests of fluid intelligence. This study examines two questions concerning retest effects in Raven's: whether the underlying mechanisms include item memory, strategy learning, or both, and whether learning on Raven's affects its validity as a predictive test. We conducted a two-session, remotely administered study in which participants performed either identical Raven's forms in each session, alternate Raven's forms in each session, or a control task in Session 1 and Raven's in Session 2. Raven's form was fully counterbalanced. At the end of Session 2, participants completed tests of fluid intelligence. Results suggest strategy learning, not item memory, is responsible for retest effects. Additionally, correlations between Raven's and the criterion tasks increased between sessions. The experimental results suggest strategy learning may be responsible for this increase, although transient error across sessions may also play a role.
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