The RIAS-2 is an intelligence test that a qualified examiner gives one person at a time, and PAR lists it at Qualification Level C. This page explains what its eight subtests and five indexes measure, what the Normative Update changed, how the scores are read, what research on the RIAS scales shows, and what an adult who searched for it can take online.
PAR lists the RIAS-2 for ages 3 to 94, with 8 subtests and an administration time of under an hour.
0 The short answer
The RIAS-2 is the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales, Second Edition, a PAR test that a qualified examiner gives to one person at a time, for ages 3 to 94, with eight subtests that PAR says take less than an hour and that yield a Verbal Intelligence Index, a Nonverbal Intelligence Index, a Composite Intelligence Index and two supplemental indexes for memory and speeded processing. PAR lists it at Qualification Level C and now steers buyers to the RIAS-2 Normative Update, so an adult who wants one has to ask a psychologist or clinic, because the PAR pages we opened list no self administered or free edition. A normed online battery is a different test, not a RIAS-2: ACIS Quick costs 15 dollars one time and takes about 45 minutes (prices read October 29, 2026). The decisive limit is that the RIAS-2 is an examiner test with eight subtests behind its scores, and an unsupervised online battery cannot stand in for it when a decision about a person depends on the result.
8
Subtests that PAR says can all be given in less than one hour, read on October 29, 2026.
3 to 94
Ages covered by the RIAS-2 and the RIAS-2 Normative Update according to PAR.
1,053 dollars
Lowest price PAR lists for a RIAS-2 NU administration kit, read on October 29, 2026, for qualified buyers.
1 What Is the RIAS-2, and What Is the RIAS-2 Normative Update?
The RIAS-2 is an individually administered intelligence test written by Cecil R. Reynolds and Randy W. Kamphaus and published by PAR, and PAR now recommends its Normative Update, the RIAS-2 NU, which keeps the structure of the test and replaces the norms.PAR's product page for the RIAS-2, which we opened on October 29, 2026, says the test assesses intelligence and its major components, lists print and digital formats and ages 3 years to 94 years, and gives an administration time of 20 to 25 minutes for the intelligence assessment, 10 to 15 minutes for memory and 5 to 10 minutes for speeded processing. It is also a legacy page: PAR states that it recommends transitioning to the RIAS-2 NU and the RIST-2 NU, and that the legacy RIAS-2 and RIST-2 materials are no longer available for online purchase.
The test is a revision of the first RIAS. A PAR press release dated October 15, 2015, which we read on October 29, 2026, lists what was new: two speeded processing subtests, one verbal and one nonverbal, that PAR describes as low in motor demand; new normative data; updated item content; and revised basal and ceiling rules. PAR's RIAS-2 and RIST-2 fact sheet, a PDF we opened the same day, says all eight subtests can be completed in less than an hour and that the screening measure, the RIST-2, provides a g score in less than 15 minutes. Those are the publisher's descriptions, not independent findings.
The Normative Update is the version a buyer meets now. PAR's product page for the RIAS-2 NU, opened on October 29, 2026, lists the same ages (3 to 94), the same eight subtests, print and digital formats, and a normative sample of 2,793 cases based on 2023 U.S. Census data. PAR's blog post introducing the NU, whose address shows February 27, 2026 although the page prints no date, lists what changed: updated norms, a new index abbreviated PVI that compares a person's pattern of subtest scores with same age peers, digital administration through PARiConnect, remote administration with a modified record form and a remote stimulus book, and updated examples of acceptable verbal responses. It says the NU retains the efficient administration, the low reading and motor demands and the age coverage. The two PAR pages expand the abbreviation PVI differently, so the manual is the place to confirm what it stands for. The RIST-2 NU is the short screening companion, with two subtests (Guess What and Odd-Item Out) and a time of 10 to 15 minutes according to the same post.
The RIAS-2 is one of several short tests that adults search for, and each has its own page on this site. The KBIT-2 page covers Pearson's three subtest brief test and its qualification level, and the Shipley-2 page covers a different brief instrument on its own terms. This page stays with the RIAS-2.
2 Who May Buy and Give the RIAS-2, and What Does a Kit Cost?
PAR lists the RIAS-2 and the RIAS-2 NU at Qualification Level C, which PAR defines as all the qualifications of Level B plus an advanced professional degree, so the test is meant for trained psychologists and not for private purchase.PAR's page on qualification levels, which we opened on October 29, 2026, says Level A needs no special qualifications and allows only Level A products, Level B starts from a degree from an accredited four year college or university in psychology, counseling, speech language pathology or a related field and allows Level A, S and B products, and Level C requires all of the Level B qualifications plus an advanced professional degree and allows all products PAR sells. The legacy product page prints "Qualification Level C" and the NU product page lists Level C as well.
Price is the second barrier. The NU page lists four kits. The RIAS-2 NU Print Administration Kit with Score Reports and the matching Digital Administration Kit are each 1,053 dollars. The two RIAS-2 NU and RIST-2 NU kits whose names say "with Reports" are listed at 1,178 dollars. These prices were read on October 29, 2026, and they are what a clinician or school pays for materials. They are not what a client pays for an assessment, and PAR does not publish what an examiner charges. The 2015 press release quoted a lower price for the comprehensive kit of the first RIAS-2 release, but that figure predates the Normative Update and should not be read as a current price.
The qualification rule is not red tape for its own sake. The PAR sample interpretive report, a PDF we read on October 29, 2026, says its scores rest on the assumption that the examiner was appropriately qualified, and that the report is intended only for people qualified and credentialed to interpret the RIAS-2 under the laws of their jurisdiction. The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA and NCME, 2014), which we read in their open access edition, say in Standard 7.7 that test documents should specify the qualifications needed to administer and score a test and those needed to interpret the scores accurately. Standard 9.1 adds that all special qualifications specified in the test manual should be met, and Standard 10.1 says those who use psychological tests should confine their testing to areas of competence shown through education, training, experience and appropriate credentials. The American Psychological Association's APA Guidelines for Psychological Assessment and Evaluation (2020), which we read as a local copy of the PDF, ask in Guideline 1 that psychologists develop and maintain competence in selecting, using and interpreting measures.
For an adult the practical reading is direct. The person who gives you a RIAS-2 should be able to tell you their qualification, which edition they used and what the score is for. The page on what a professional IQ test involves lays out the standards behind a session, and the page on the process, cost and wait for adult IQ testing covers booking one.
3 What Are the RIAS-2 Subtests and Indexes?
The RIAS-2 has eight subtests: four core subtests that form the intelligence indexes, two memory subtests and two speeded processing subtests, and PAR reports the results as five indexes plus a score for each subtest. The NU product page names the core battery as Guess What, Odd-Item Out, Verbal Reasoning and a fourth subtest that PAR's report describes as measuring spatial and visualization abilities. The names of the other four, Verbal Memory, Nonverbal Memory, the Speeded Naming Task and the Speeded Picture Search, and the way the indexes are built, appear in a PAR sample interpretive report that we read on October 29, 2026. The table shows the structure and uses only PAR's own wording about what each part provides.
Index
Subtests
What PAR says it provides
Verbal Intelligence Index (VIX)
Guess What, Verbal Reasoning
Verbal reasoning with the ability to access and apply prior learning in language tasks; PAR calls it a reasonable approximation of crystallized intelligence
Nonverbal Intelligence Index (NIX)
Odd-Item Out, the spatial visualization subtest
Nonverbal reasoning and spatial ability; PAR calls it a reasonable approximation of fluid intelligence
Composite Intelligence Index (CIX)
The VIX and NIX subtests together
An overall estimate of general intelligence (g) that PAR describes as stronger and more reliable than either index alone
Composite Memory Index (CMX)
Verbal Memory, Nonverbal Memory
A supplemental index that PAR describes as a reliable assessment of working memory
Speeded Processing Index (SPI)
Speeded Naming Task, Speeded Picture Search
A supplemental index of speeded processing
Two features of the structure matter for a reader. First, the CIX is built from the four core subtests only. The memory and speeded processing indexes are reported next to it, not inside it, so a Composite Intelligence Index says nothing specific about either. Second, the tasks vary with the age of the examinee. According to the sample report, the verbal memory subtest uses sentences, age appropriate stories or both, read aloud, followed by recall; the nonverbal memory subtest shows pictures of objects or abstract designs for five seconds and then asks which one was shown; and the speeded tasks use different material at different ages. This page describes these formats and shows no item.
The times in the table of subtests come from the NU page: 20 to 25 minutes for the intelligence assessment, 8 to 10 for memory and 8 to 10 for speeded processing, and under one hour for all eight. The older fact sheet gave 25, 15 and 10 minutes for the three parts, which is why the same test can appear with different times on different PAR pages.
4 What Does the RIAS-2 Measure in CHC Terms?
The RIAS-2 samples crystallized knowledge and reasoning in words, reasoning and visualization with pictures, short term memory and speeded processing, and it leaves out quantitative knowledge, so it is a compact look at general ability and not a full profile. PAR's own sample report links its two intelligence indexes to the two broad abilities that the Cattell-Horn-Carroll model calls crystallized knowledge (Gc) and fluid reasoning (Gf), saying the VIX is a reasonable approximation of crystallized intelligence and the NIX of fluid intelligence. The page on the CHC model explains these abilities, and the page on what IQ measures covers the general factor that the composite tries to estimate.
The report also describes what each subtest is meant to capture. Guess What measures vocabulary knowledge combined with reasoning that rests on language development and acquired knowledge, which is close to Gc. Verbal Reasoning measures analytical reasoning in the verbal domain and, in PAR's words, also requires English vocabulary knowledge. Odd-Item Out measures analytical reasoning in the nonverbal domain, which is the reasoning family that CHC places in Gf. The fourth core subtest measures spatial and visualization abilities, which is the territory CHC calls visual processing (Gv). The ACIS page on Vocabulary describes a knowledge based verbal subtest in Gc terms, the page on Matrix Reasoning describes visual pattern reasoning in Gf terms, and the page on Visual Puzzles describes Gv. They show how such tasks are read, and none of them is a description of a RIAS-2 subtest.
The supplemental indexes need more care. PAR describes the memory index as a reliable assessment of working memory, yet the formats it describes are recall of sentences or stories that were read aloud and picking out which picture was shown for five seconds. Those tasks ask a person to retain what was just presented. The ACIS page on Digit Span describes a task that includes backward recall, which asks the person to hold digits and transform them, and that is the more demanding sense in which CHC uses working memory (Gwm). That is a difference in what the task requires, not a claim that either test is better. For the speeded index, PAR says the Speeded Naming Task measures the ability to differentiate and recognize simple stimuli verbally under time constraints and the Speeded Picture Search does the same visually. A CHC reader would place the visual search task near processing speed (Gs) and would treat rapid naming as a mix of speed and language retrieval. That classification is ours and not PAR's. The ACIS page on Symbol Search shows how a visual scanning speed subtest is described.
What the RIAS-2 leaves out is as important as what it contains. None of the eight subtests that PAR names is built for quantitative knowledge, and the two intelligence indexes together rest on four subtests, two on each side. A battery that separates fluid reasoning, visual processing, working memory and processing speed into their own indexes gives a different kind of answer. The page on verbal IQ tests explains what a verbal score does and does not tell you, and the page on nonverbal IQ tests covers the uses and limits of nonverbal measures.
A word on the labelsVerbal and Nonverbal are PAR's labels for the kind of content the tasks use. PAR itself adds that the VIX and NIX are approximations of crystallized and fluid intelligence, and the studies in a later section of this page suggest that the second approximation is the weaker one. Neither label is a statement about how a person thinks.
5 How Is the RIAS-2 Scored, and How Do You Read the Result?
A RIAS-2 result is a set of index scores on a scale with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, plus age adjusted T scores for the subtests, and the sound way to read it is as a position within an age group with a range around it and not as a fixed fact about a person. PAR's sample report says each index is expressed as an age corrected standard score with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, that these scores are essentially normally distributed, and that they can be converted to other metrics. PAR's fact sheet lists percentile ranks, 90 percent and 95 percent confidence intervals, T scores, z scores, normal curve equivalents and stanines as available for the index scores. The sample report words its intervals as the chances out of 100 that the true index falls within a range, which is the same idea as a confidence interval: the obtained score is one reading, and the band shows how far the reading could plausibly sit from the underlying level.
Subtest results are on a different scale. The sample report prints age adjusted T scores for each subtest. By the usual convention a T score has a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10, so it relates to an index score by simple arithmetic. The table shows five anchor points. The percentiles are our arithmetic on an ideal normal curve and are not taken from any PAR table, which is built from the norm sample and can differ slightly. They show the shape: an index of 130 is not 30 percent higher than 100, it is two standard deviations above the group mean.
T score
Index score at the same distance
Distance from the mean
Percentile on an ideal normal curve (our arithmetic)
30
70
2 standard deviations below
2.3
40
85
1 standard deviation below
15.9
50
100
At the mean
50.0
60
115
1 standard deviation above
84.1
70
130
2 standard deviations above
97.7
The pages on why the standard deviation is 15 and on IQ scores versus percentiles explain the scale and why scores and percentiles cannot be averaged together. A percentile calculator converts any standard score into a percentile on the same ideal curve. When you receive a report, read in this order: which edition produced the norms, which of the five indexes the report gives, what interval surrounds each, and which subtests stand behind each index.
The word composite deserves a second look. The Composite Intelligence Index combines the verbal and nonverbal indexes, so it inherits the strengths and weaknesses of four subtests together. PAR's sample report says that combining the two indexes yields a stronger, more reliable assessment of general intelligence than either alone, and that is a reasonable design argument for a composite. It also means that when the verbal and nonverbal indexes differ a good deal, the single composite hides the difference, and the number to look at is the gap, which a later section treats on its own terms.
6 Why Do the RIAS-2 Norms and the Edition Matter?
A RIAS-2 index is a position within the norm group of its edition, so the same performance can sit at different positions in the original norms and in the Normative Update, and a report that names no edition leaves the reader unable to say which group the score was compared with. According to PAR's fact sheet, the norms of the RIAS-2 are based on a sample of 2,154 individuals aged 3 to 94 from 32 states, representing 2012 U.S. Census proportions, with data also gathered from 12 clinical groups that include stroke, dementia, intellectual disability, traumatic brain injury, learning disability, ADHD, gifted and hearing impaired. According to PAR's NU product page, the updated sample has 2,793 cases based on 2023 U.S. Census data and includes new concurrent measures (the WISC-V and the WAIS-5) and updated test-retest cases. The two census years are 11 years apart, which is our arithmetic from the printed dates.
PAR's legacy page explains how the two editions coexist in practice. Record forms from the original can be used until inventory runs out, but scoring must be done through PARiConnect to use the new normative sample, and the NU product page adds that hand scoring is not supported. That means a report produced after the update should rest on the new sample, and a report produced before it rests on the earlier one. Ask which. The page on how IQ scores are normed explains why an IQ is always a position within a reference group and never a free standing number.
The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA and NCME, 2014) give several reasons to ask. Standard 5.8 says norms should refer to clearly described populations that include the people with whom users ordinarily wish to compare their examinees, and Standard 5.9 asks that norming reports specify the population sampled, the sampling procedures, any weighting, the dates of testing and descriptive statistics. A comment on Standard 4.24 says that if an older version of a test is used when a newer one is available, the users are responsible for providing evidence that the older version is as appropriate for that use. Standard 4.25 asks that users be informed of the changes to a revised test and of the degree of comparability of scores from the original and revised versions. The introduction to the chapter on psychological testing and assessment adds that, for tests that have been revised, the editions currently supported by the publisher usually should be selected, and that professionals should guard against reliance on test scores that are outdated.
7 Can You Take the RIAS-2 Online, for Free, or Practice With Its Questions?
You cannot take the RIAS-2 yourself online or for free, because PAR sells an examiner administered test to Level C buyers, and the online parts its pages describe are digital stimulus books, digital record forms, online scoring and remote administration by an examiner. PAR's NU page lists print and digital formats and says remote administration is available using a modified record form and stimulus book. It adds that a 2018 equivalency study by Wright found digital and paper formats equivalent for all subtests except speeded processing, which is excluded from remote use, and that all scoring and report generation happen in PARiConnect. In every one of those descriptions an examiner runs the session. None of the PAR pages we opened lists a self administered edition, a free edition or a trial.
That answers three of the most common searches. "RIAS-2 test online" means, in PAR's terms, a session an examiner runs remotely or on a screen, scored in PARiConnect. "RIAS-2 test free" has no publisher version behind it, and the legacy materials are not even sold online any more. "RIAS-2 test questions" is the search to treat most carefully. The items of a test like this are secure, and the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, in their discussion of fairness, say that unauthorized distribution of items to some examinees but not others, or unproctored administrations where standardization cannot be ensured, could provide an advantage to some test takers and that in those situations results should be interpreted with caution. A person who has seen the real items before a session would produce a score that no longer means what the norms assume. For that reason this page describes formats only, and it names no item, answer or scoring key.
A reader who wants to know whether a test of this kind suits them has better routes than hunting for questions. One is to ask the psychologist or clinic what they will use and why. Another is to try a normed online battery whose publisher shows its format without its items, which the ACIS subtest pages do. The page on a free IQ test online covers the free ACIS route, and the page on every way to take an IQ test lays out in person and online routes side by side. A free trial is a taste of a different test, not a RIAS-2, and a result from it should never be reported as one.
8 Which Real Options Give an Adult an IQ Estimate, and How Do They Compare?
The real options differ in whether an examiner is present, in how many subtests stand behind a score and in who the score is compared with, and the RIAS-2 trades some breadth for speed and for the widest age range in the table. The table compares the RIAS-2 NU with the examiner administered tests on Pearson's pages for the KBIT-2 Revised, the WASI-II and the WAIS-5, which we opened on October 29, 2026, and with the three ACIS forms. Every PAR and Pearson fact and price comes from a page opened that day, prices can change, and where a page printed no price for the examiner the cell says so.
Option
What it measures
Normed against whom
Supervised
Time
Cost, read October 29, 2026
What you receive
RIAS-2 NU, given by a qualified examiner
VIX, NIX and CIX from 4 core subtests, plus memory and speeded processing indexes from 4 more
PAR sample of 2,793 cases based on 2023 U.S. Census data, ages 3 to 94
Yes, Level C
20 to 25 minutes for the intelligence assessment; under one hour for all eight subtests
Kit with score reports 1,053 dollars for the buyer's materials; the examiner's fee is not published by PAR
Index scores, subtest T scores, intervals and percentile ranks
KBIT-2 Revised, given by a qualified examiner
Crystallized (Verbal) and Fluid (Nonverbal) scales from 3 subtests, plus an IQ Composite
Pearson norms from 2021, ages 4 to 90
Yes, Level B
About 20 minutes
Complete kit 446 dollars for the buyer's materials
Standard scores and percentile ranks by age
WASI-II, given by a qualified examiner
VCI, PRI and FSIQ from 4 subtests
Nationally representative sample of about 2,300 people aged 6 to 90, standardized January 2010 to May 2011
Yes, Level C
30 minutes for 4 subtests, 15 for 2
Complete kit 530.40 dollars for the buyer's materials
VCI, PRI and FSIQ (FSIQ-4 and FSIQ-2)
WAIS-5, given by a qualified examiner
Primary index scores and a Full Scale IQ
Pearson norms for ages 16:0 to 90:11
Yes, Level C
45 minutes for the 7 subtest FSIQ, 60 for the 10 primary index subtests
Complete kit in print 1,784 dollars for the buyer's materials
Primary index scores and an FSIQ
ACIS Quick
6 subtests in 3 domains
Adult norms covering ages 16 to 90
No, online
About 45 minutes
15 dollars one time
Full Scale IQ with its 95 percent confidence interval
ACIS Optimized
13 subtests in 5 domains
Adult norms covering ages 16 to 90
No, online
About 110 minutes
30 dollars one time
Full Scale IQ with its 95 percent confidence interval
ACIS Full Scale
All 20 subtests in 6 domains
Adult norms covering ages 16 to 90
No, online
About 175 minutes
50 dollars one time
Six indices and a Full Scale IQ with its interval
Three readings follow. First, the RIAS-2 has the widest age range in the table, ages 3 to 94, which fits its stated uses in school and clinical settings, and its fact sheet names school gifted and talented programs among them. Second, the Wechsler counterparts are the WASI-II for a short estimate and the WAIS-5 for a full battery, and the WASI-II page owns that comparison in depth. Third, ACIS Optimized and Full Scale take longer than the RIAS-2 and sample more domains, while ACIS Quick is closer to it in length, but none of the ACIS forms is supervised or a replacement for an examiner administered result. The page on the best online IQ tests compares the online options, and the page on official routes to an IQ score covers the routes institutions recognize.
The peer reviewed research we could open concerns the first RIAS and not the RIAS-2, and it supports reading the Composite Intelligence Index as the main score while urging caution with the verbal and nonverbal indexes and with single subtests. The first RIAS is the 2003 edition from the same authors. PAR states that the RIAS-2 indexes correlated highly with the RIAS indexes, which supports a degree of continuity, but that is the publisher's statement and we did not open a peer reviewed study of the RIAS-2 itself. What follows is therefore evidence about the family of scales and not about the Normative Update.
Jason Nelson and Gary Canivez studied the first RIAS in a 2012 article in Psychological Assessment, of which we read the abstract. Their sample was 521 adolescents and adults seeking psychological evaluations at a university based clinic. They report that exploratory factor analysis indicated only one factor, that confirmatory analysis found the one factor model a good fit and a better fit than a two factor model, and that a hierarchical analysis showed the general intelligence factor accounted for the largest amount of variance. Correlations with other measures supported the convergent validity of the Verbal Intelligence Index but not the Nonverbal Intelligence Index, and Odd-Item Out was found to be a poor measure of nonverbal and fluid intelligence. The Composite Intelligence Index explained a medium to large portion of academic achievement variance, and the two other indexes explained a small amount of what remained.
A 2009 article in the Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment by Dombrowski, Watkins and Brogan, whose abstract we read, reached a similar position. They report that the RIAS is a single factor test, that their analyses support interpretation at the composite index level and suggest caution at the verbal and nonverbal index levels, that the memory subtests should stay separate from the main IQ battery because of poor g loadings, and that interpretation at the subtest level should be avoided. A study of university students by Krach, Loe, Jones and Farrally in the same journal, also read as an abstract, reports moderate to high correlations between the CIX and VIX and the corresponding Woodcock-Johnson III scores, and a substantially lower correlation between the NIX and the Woodcock-Johnson III fluid ability scores.
One study looked at adults at the low end of the scale. In a 2008 article in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, of which we read the abstract, Umphress gave 20 people with suspected intellectual disability both the first RIAS and the WAIS-III. The RIAS Composite Intelligence Index scores were significantly higher than the WAIS-III Full Scale IQ scores, while there was no significant difference between the RIAS verbal index and the WAIS-III Verbal Scale IQ. The abstract says the results raise questions concerning test selection for diagnosing intellectual disability. A sample of 20 describes a group at one clinic, not any person, and the finding concerns the first edition, so it cannot be transferred to the Normative Update. It does show what to ask of any intelligence test: how closely it tracks another test for the kind of person in front of you, and for what decision.
PAR's fact sheet adds claims of its own about the RIAS-2: that internal consistency studies for the indexes exceed .90 across age groups, and that the indexes correlated strongly and as expected with the WISC-IV, WAIS-IV and other measures. These are the publisher's statements, and this page reproduces none of the manual's tables. The page on reliability and validity explains why a score can be consistent without measuring what a reader assumes.
10 How Precise Are Gaps Between the Verbal, Nonverbal, Memory and Speed Scores?
A gap between two RIAS-2 scores has to be larger than measurement error, rare in the norm group, and built from scores precise enough to compare, and the report can show the first two tests while the third needs the manual. PAR's sample report prints a discrepancy table whose columns give the score difference, whether it is statistically significant and its prevalence in the standardization sample. It compares the verbal and nonverbal indexes, the composite intelligence index with the memory index and with the speeded processing index, the two memory subtests with each other, and the two speeded subtests with each other. Statistical significance asks whether a gap exceeds error. Prevalence asks how often a gap of that size occurs among people in the norm group. They are separate questions, and a gap can pass one and fail the other.
The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA and NCME, 2014) are direct on why the third question matters. Standard 2.3 says that for each total score, subscore or combination of scores that is to be interpreted, estimates of relevant indices of reliability and precision should be reported, and its comment adds that reporting them only for total scores is not sufficient when subscores are also interpreted. Standard 2.4 asks for reliability and precision data, including standard errors, for the differences between two observed scores when the interpretation emphasizes such differences, and its comment notes that differences between verbal and performance scores on intelligence tests are often used in the diagnosis of cognitive impairment and learning problems. Standard 1.14 asks that when interpretation of subscores, score differences or profiles is suggested, the rationale and relevant evidence in support of the interpretation should be provided, and that where composites are developed, the basis and rationale for them should be given.
The research in the previous section is the reason for care. If the first RIAS behaves as one general factor with a weaker second dimension, then a verbal minus nonverbal gap carries less information than the labels suggest, and the memory subtests were judged by Dombrowski and colleagues to have poor g loadings. That does not make the supplemental indexes useless, it means a gap involving them is a question for further evaluation and not an answer. The KBIT-2 page works through with invented numbers why a difference between two short scores has a wider band of error than either score, and the same logic applies here, with the manual's real values replacing the invented ones.
A composite that leaves out memory and speed is a design choice that other batteries make as well. The page on the General Ability Index explains why Wechsler style batteries report a composite built from the reasoning and knowledge subtests only, alongside the Full Scale score and not instead of it, which is the same logic the RIAS-2 uses when it keeps the memory and speeded indexes outside the CIX. The page on how common index score differences are covers how often large gaps appear among people with ordinary profiles.
11 How Does ACIS Compare With the RIAS-2, and Which Route Fits an Adult?
ACIS and the RIAS-2 both report normed scores, but they differ in who gives them, how many subtests stand behind the result and who may take them, so one cannot stand in for the other and neither should be reported as the other. The comparison uses only what each publisher states and says nothing about which is more accurate, because accuracy depends on evidence that this page does not report for either test.
Feature
RIAS-2 NU
ACIS Quick
ACIS Full Scale
Administration
Qualified examiner, in person, on screen or remote
Self administered online, unsupervised
Self administered online, unsupervised
Subtests
8 (4 core, 2 memory, 2 speeded)
6
20
Scores reported
VIX, NIX, CIX, CMX, SPI
Full Scale IQ with its 95 percent confidence interval
Six indices and a Full Scale IQ with its 95 percent confidence interval
Ages
3 to 94
Adult norms covering ages 16 to 90
Adult norms covering ages 16 to 90
Time
Under one hour
About 45 minutes
About 175 minutes
Cost, read October 29, 2026
Kit 1,053 dollars for the buyer's materials
15 dollars one time
50 dollars one time
The overlap is in verbal knowledge and reasoning. ACIS Quick uses Similarities and Vocabulary for verbal comprehension, Matrix Reasoning and Figure Weights for fluid reasoning, and Digit Span and Alphanumeric Sequencing for working memory, and two of those subtests present their items as audio and need working sound. The Full Scale form adds quantitative reasoning, which the RIAS-2 does not sample, and separate visual spatial, working memory and processing speed domains, which the RIAS-2 reaches only through one visualization subtest and its supplemental memory and speeded subtests. The page on the Verbal Comprehension Index shows what an index built from several verbal subtests returns, which is a wider sample of crystallized knowledge than two subtests give. A RIAS-2 report comes from an examiner who can observe how a person approached the tasks. An ACIS result comes from a session nobody watched, and the closing section states that plainly.
Four cases cover most readers who searched for the RIAS-2. If the score is for a school, a workplace, a medical file or a legal matter, the route is a psychologist, who chooses the instrument, carries responsibility for administration and interpretation and can tell you which edition produced the norms. If a parent or an adult is asking about giftedness, the page on a gifted test for adults explains what an adult can usefully do to confirm where they stand, since the school programs where the RIAS-2 is used are aimed at students. If the concern is attention, memory, an injury or a medical condition, a general intelligence estimate is not the tool, and the page on neuropsychological testing for adults explains the scope and cost of the evaluation that is. If you are 16 or older and curious about where you stand, the page on IQ tests for adults covers what an adult can take online, and the page on an example of a full IQ test report shows what a full report contains before you pay for anything.
Conditions matter in an unsupervised session. The Standards say in Standard 6.4 that the testing environment should furnish reasonable comfort with minimal distractions to avoid construct irrelevant variance, and that technology based administrations should avoid distractions such as equipment or connectivity failures. For ACIS this means a working device, a quiet room, no one helping you and working sound for Digit Span, Alphanumeric Sequencing and Arithmetic. ACIS allows breaks, saves progress between subtests and gives 30 days to complete a form. ACIS is English only, and its manual says verbal and knowledge tasks are affected by English proficiency and educational exposure. PAR's sample report likewise notes that the Verbal Reasoning and Verbal Memory subtests require English vocabulary knowledge.
ACIS is an online, unsupervised, English only battery of cognitive tasks with adult norms, it is not a RIAS-2 and not a clinical screener, and a buyer should treat its result as a normed look at where they stand and not as an official or diagnostic score. The limits come first. ACIS is not a clinical or diagnostic instrument. It is not for hiring, for school accommodations or for admission to high IQ societies. It cannot tell you whether you have a learning disability, an attention condition or an intellectual disability, and a score on any single test, including a RIAS-2, cannot either. The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA and NCME, 2014) ask, in Standard 10.2, that those who select tests and draw inferences from scores be familiar with the relevant evidence of validity and reliability for the intended uses and be prepared to articulate a logical analysis that supports the inferences made. The APA Guidelines for Psychological Assessment and Evaluation (2020) add, in Guideline 6, that psychologists select tools with sufficient validity evidence for their uses and sufficient score reliability, in Guideline 7 that they use multiple sources of relevant and reliable information, and in Guideline 8 that selection, scoring and administration reflect the appropriate normative comparison and standardized administration as indicated.
The strengths are real and bounded. Every ACIS form reports a Full Scale IQ with its 95 percent confidence interval against adult norms that cover ages 16 to 90, and the Full Scale form measures all 20 subtests in six domains. It is a one time payment with no subscription: Quick costs 15 dollars, Optimized 30 dollars and Full Scale 50 dollars, all read on October 29, 2026, and prices can change. A free trial needs no card. The Custom Test lets a buyer pick subtests at 5 dollars each. The refund wording is: "Full refund within 5 days if the report does not deliver the features described at checkout or a technical issue prevents you from accessing your results." That is a conditional refund, not an unconditional money back guarantee. The technical manual documents the instrument, and this page quotes no statistic from it.
The concrete next step depends on the goal. If the result must satisfy a school, an employer or a clinician, ask a psychologist which test they will give and why, using the questions in this page: which edition, which norms, which indexes, which interval. If you want to see where you stand, open the Quick example report to see what a short form prints, start the free trial with no card, and choose the form that covers the domains you care about. Do not report any online result as a RIAS-2.
13 Sources Behind This Page
Every third party fact and figure on this page comes from the documents below, opened or verified on October 29, 2026, and any figure we calculated ourselves is labeled in the text as our arithmetic. Where we read only an abstract, the entry says so. The PAR and Pearson pages were read as published that day, and prices and policies on commercial pages change, so check the page before you pay.
PAR (2026). Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales, Second Edition (RIAS-2), legacy product page. Authors, formats, ages, times, qualification level and the notice recommending the Normative Update. Read on October 29, 2026. https://parinc.com/RIAS-2
PAR (2026). RIAS-2 NU (Normative Update), product page. Subtests of the core battery, times, formats, norm sample, remote administration, scoring and kit prices. Read on October 29, 2026. https://www.parinc.com/products/RIAS-2-NU
PAR. Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales, Second Edition (RIAS-2) and Reynolds Intellectual Screening Test, Second Edition (RIST-2): Overview and What's New, fact sheet, PDF. Norm sample, score metrics and the publisher's reliability and validity statements. Read on October 29, 2026. https://www.parinc.com/Portals/0/Webuploads/samplerpts/Fact%20Sheet%20RIAS2.pdf
American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and National Council on Measurement in Education (2014). Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Washington, DC: AERA. Standards 1.14, 2.3, 2.4, 4.24, 4.25, 5.8, 5.9, 6.4, 7.7, 9.1, 10.1 and 10.2, and the introductions to the chapters on fairness and on psychological testing and assessment. Open access edition: https://www.testingstandards.net/open-access-files.html
American Psychological Association (2020). APA Guidelines for Psychological Assessment and Evaluation. Approved by the APA Council of Representatives, March 2020. Guidelines 1, 6, 7 and 8. Read from a local copy of the PDF, because the apa.org address refused our automated request. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/guidelines-psychological-assessment-evaluation.pdf
Nelson, J. M., and Canivez, G. L. (2012). Examination of the structural, convergent, and incremental validity of the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS) with a clinical sample. Psychological Assessment, 24(1), 129 to 140. Abstract read through PubMed; full text not opened. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024878
Dombrowski, S., Watkins, M., and Brogan, M. (2009). An exploratory investigation of the factor structure of the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS). Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 27(6), 494 to 507. Abstract read through Crossref; full text not opened. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282909333179
Krach, S., Loe, S., Jones, W., and Farrally, A. (2009). Convergent validity of the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS) using the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability, Third Edition (WJ-III) with university students. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 27(5), 355 to 365. Abstract read through Crossref; full text not opened. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282909331749
Umphress, T. (2008). A comparison of low IQ scores from the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Third Edition. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 46(3), 229 to 233. Abstract read through Crossref; full text not opened. https://doi.org/10.1352/2008.46:229-233
14 Frequently Asked Questions
What is the RIAS-2 test?
The RIAS-2 is the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales, Second Edition, an intelligence test published by PAR that a qualified examiner gives to one person at a time. It has eight subtests, covers ages 3 to 94 and reports verbal, nonverbal and composite intelligence indexes with memory and speeded processing indexes.
What does RIAS stand for?
RIAS stands for Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales, named for Cecil R. Reynolds, who wrote it with Randy W. Kamphaus. The first edition appeared in 2003, and the RIAS-2 is the second edition, which PAR released in 2015 and later updated with new norms as the RIAS-2 NU.
Is there a RIAS-2 test online?
Not as a self test. PAR offers digital stimulus books, digital record forms, PARiConnect scoring and examiner led remote administration, but none of those lets a private person take the test alone. A website offering a quick RIAS-2 is not offering the publisher's test, and a normed online battery is a different test.
Is the RIAS-2 test free?
No free edition appears on the PAR pages we opened on October 29, 2026, which list kits for qualified professionals starting at 1,053 dollars. A free online quiz may feel similar, but it has different norms and tasks, so its result should never be reported as a RIAS-2 score.
Where can I find RIAS-2 test questions?
You should not expect to find them legitimately. The items are secure test materials, and the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing warn that unauthorized distribution of items can advantage some test takers. A page that shows real items is not a reliable preview, and seeing them first could invalidate a later score.
How is the RIAS test scored and interpreted?
An examiner scores the responses, and PARiConnect generates the reports. Index scores use a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, and subtest scores are T scores. Read each index as a position within an age group with a confidence interval around it, not as a fixed fact.
What is the RIAS-2 IQ test used for?
PAR describes it as suitable for clinical and educational settings, including school gifted and talented programs, and for private practice clinicians, school psychologists and neuropsychologists. It estimates general intelligence and its components, and it is a first source of information, not a diagnosis, because a decision should rest on several sources.
What are the RIAS-2 subtests?
There are eight. The core four are Guess What, Verbal Reasoning, Odd-Item Out and a spatial visualization subtest. The supplemental four are Verbal Memory, Nonverbal Memory, the Speeded Naming Task and the Speeded Picture Search. PAR uses different material at different ages.
What indexes does the RIAS-2 report?
It reports a Verbal Intelligence Index, a Nonverbal Intelligence Index and a Composite Intelligence Index built from the four core subtests, plus a Composite Memory Index and a Speeded Processing Index from the supplemental subtests. The memory and speeded indexes sit beside the composite rather than inside it.
How long does the RIAS-2 take?
PAR lists 20 to 25 minutes for the intelligence assessment, 8 to 10 minutes for memory and 8 to 10 for speeded processing on its Normative Update page, and says all eight subtests take less than one hour. Older PAR documents give slightly longer times for the supplemental parts, so check the edition.
What ages does the RIAS-2 cover?
PAR lists ages 3 to 94 for both the RIAS-2 and the RIAS-2 NU. One test therefore spans young children to older adults, and a person aged 16 or older falls well inside it. For an adult the practical questions are who may give it and which edition supplies the norms.
What is the RIAS-2 Normative Update?
It is the version PAR now recommends, which keeps the eight subtests and replaces the norms with a sample of 2,793 cases based on 2023 U.S. Census data. It adds an index abbreviated PVI, digital record forms and remote administration support, and it must be scored through PARiConnect.
What is the RIST-2?
The RIST-2 is the Reynolds Intellectual Screening Test, Second Edition, a short companion to the RIAS-2. PAR says it uses two of the subtests, Guess What and Odd-Item Out, and takes 10 to 15 minutes. PAR's fact sheet says it provides a g score in less than 15 minutes, and it is a screening measure.
Who can give the RIAS-2?
A professional who meets PAR's Level C requirement, which PAR defines as all the Level B qualifications plus an advanced professional degree. Ask any examiner what they hold, which edition they use and what the score is meant for before you rely on it. PAR's own report is intended for qualified professionals.
How much does the RIAS-2 cost?
PAR lists the RIAS-2 NU print or digital kit with score reports at 1,053 dollars, read on October 29, 2026. The kits that add the RIST-2 NU with reports are listed at 1,178 dollars. Those are materials prices for a professional. PAR does not publish what an examiner charges a client for a session.
How accurate is the RIAS-2?
PAR states that its index internal consistency studies exceed .90 across age groups, but that is a publisher statement, and the manual holds the evidence. The independent studies we could open concern the first RIAS and support the composite more than the narrower scores. Treat every score as an estimate.
Can the RIAS-2 diagnose giftedness or an intellectual disability?
No test score alone diagnoses anything. PAR describes the RIAS-2 as a tool for assessing intelligence, and the APA guidelines ask psychologists to use multiple sources of information. A high or low result raises a question that a fuller evaluation by a psychologist can answer, with the score as one input.
How is the RIAS-2 different from the KBIT-2 and the WASI-II?
The RIAS-2 has eight subtests, takes under an hour and covers ages 3 to 94 at Level C. The KBIT-2 has three subtests, takes about 20 minutes and sits at Level B. The WASI-II has four subtests, takes 30 minutes and covers ages 6 to 90. None is a full battery.
Is ACIS the same as the RIAS-2?
No. ACIS is an online, unsupervised, self administered battery with adult norms covering ages 16 to 90, while the RIAS-2 is a PAR test given by a qualified examiner. ACIS is not a clinical screener, and a result from either one should never be reported as a score from the other.
What can an adult take instead of the RIAS-2?
An adult can see a psychologist for an examiner administered test or take a normed online battery. ACIS Quick costs 15 dollars one time and takes about 45 minutes, read October 29, 2026, and a free trial needs no card. Online results are not official or diagnostic, so choose by purpose.
How should I read a gap between the verbal and nonverbal index?
Treat it as a question, not an answer. Ask whether the gap is statistically significant, whether it is rare in the norm group, and whether the scores behind it are precise enough to compare. The Standards say the reliability of score differences is critical when interpretation centers on them.
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