>> IQ tests used to tend towards Q&A with increasingly obtuse twists.
>> In more recent times there seems to have been a large swing towards
>> pattern matching and similar.

That's to minimise educational and cultural bias/advantage. The older
style of IQ test disadvantaged those with poor numeracy and literacy
skills or were otherwise not well-educated or experienced. None of
those disadvantages are indicators of low intelligence. The pattern-
matching type tests reasoning, not knowledge, broadly speaking

For example

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raven's_Progressive_Matrices

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wechsler_Adult_Intelligence_Scale
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