An Introduction to PASS Theory

 Thefirst part of this transcribed lecture discusses psychologists’ and clients’ systems of beliefs about intelligence and intelligence testing. However, this post (the second part of the lecture) can also be understood without reading Part One.

Intelligence and cognitive abilities can be conceptualized from several theoretical perspectives. Some of them are the SNP model—the School Neuropsychology Model developed by Daniel Miller, the CHC model, the CPM—the Cognitive Performance Model developed by Richard Woodcock, and Robert Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Successful Intelligence.

In this post we will discuss the PASS model of intelligence.

The existence of several different models of intelligence is a positive development. In psychotherapy, a clinical case can be analyzed according to different theories—for example, from a psychodynamic, narrative, or structural family-therapy perspective. Each theoretical approach sheds a different light on the case and leads to a different style of intervention.

In diagnostic assessment, too, we would like to be able to conceptualize a case according to different theories, each of which might lead to a different understanding and a different direction for intervention.

This situation already exists with regard to the emotional and personality-related aspects of assessment. We can interpret projective tests, for example, from various theoretical perspectives, including Object Relations theory, Self psychology, and theories of defense mechanisms.

We are less accustomed to thinking in this way about the cognitive domain. However, doing so could greatly enrich our diagnostic work. One step we can take toward achieving this is to become familiar with PASS theory.

The PASS Theory

PASS stands for Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive.

The theory is reflected in the Kaufman tests—the KABC and KABC-II—and in the CAS and CAS2, the Cognitive Assessment System.

The developers of PASS theory boldly ventured into uncharted territory. They were the first to construct a theory of the structure of intelligence. The Kaufman test was the first intelligence test to be developed on the basis of a theory.

(Click on the slides to enlarge them.)

PASS theory is based on the ideas of the renowned Soviet neuropsychologist Alexander Luria, who worked during the period following the Second World War.

The modern version of the theory was developed by three educational psychologists: John Kirby, Jack Naglieri, and J. P. Das.

PASS theory views intelligence as consisting of three systems: the planning system, the attention system, and the information-processing system. Each system is associated with a particular area of the brain, as one might expect from a theory based on Luria’s work.

The planning system is associated with the frontal lobe. It controls the other systems. It is responsible for allocating limited attentional resources, planning, regulation and monitoring, impulse control, and solving new and complex problems. It is also responsible for synthesizing information from the external world.

If this sounds familiar, that is no coincidence: this system is similar to what we generally call executive functions. Executive functions is not a term belonging to PASS theory, but it can help us remember what the planning system does.

The attention system is located in the brainstem. It is responsible for regulating arousal and attention, inhibiting irrelevant stimuli, directing selective attention, resisting distraction, and maintaining concentration on a task over time.

An example of a task that assesses the attention system is the Stroop test, in which the child must inhibit the tendency to read a word and instead name the color in which the word is printed.

The information-processing system is concerned with processing information that reaches us from the external world. We process information in two ways: simultaneously and successively, or sequentially.

Simultaneous Processing

Simultaneous information processing is associated with the occipital lobe. It is the ability to integrate separate stimuli into a whole and understand the relationships among them.

The key word I suggest for understanding simultaneous processes is space. These are stimuli that appear together in space.

However, the word “space” is only a metaphor. Simultaneous information processing is not limited to visual stimuli.

An example of a task that assesses simultaneous processing is a Gestalt completion test, in which the child sees a number of colored patches and must identify the complete object that these patches form.

Successive or Sequential Processing

Successive or sequential information processing is associated with the temporal lobe. It is the ability to integrate stimuli into an ordered sequence that progresses like a chain.

There is no logical relationship between successive elements, but the order of the elements is important.

For example, when we think of a particular melody, there is no causal relationship between one note and the next. There is no formula that allows us to predict which note will follow any given note. However, changing the sequence of notes changes the entire melody.

The key word I suggest for understanding successive processes is time. Successive processes generally unfold over time.

An example of a task that assesses successive processing is a digit-span test.

These three systems—the planning system, the attention system, and the information-processing system—operate against the background of the individual’s knowledge base, or crystallized knowledge.

According to PASS theory, the knowledge base is not a cognitive system and is not itself part of intelligence. It develops as a result of the operation of the other systems.

The knowledge base can, however, influence the functioning of those systems. Knowledge about a particular subject may guide the planning system in deciding where attention should be directed when we read about that subject.

Let's Practice

Does this drawing represent a successive or a simultaneous process?

The process is simultaneous, because if we look at each circle separately and successively, we will not be able to perceive the cube.

When I was a young girl, we used to play with a secret language – the B-language. To create this language, we simply inserted a b-syllable after each other syllable. For example, the sentence "My dog loves Swiss cheese" would sound like this: "Mabay dobog libikes Swibish cheebeese". I created this sentence using successive processing. The first-prize winning “A-Ba-Ni-Bi” Eurovision song is written partly in the B-language. Of course, we can create such secret languages using every consonant.

Successive or simultaneous?

Here we see wordplay based on integrating stimuli into a whole and understanding the relationships among them. This is a simultaneous process.

A problem in successive or simultaneous processing?

These particular blind men have a difficulty with simultaneous processing. Each of them touches one part of the elephant and draws an incorrect conclusion about the whole.

By analogy, we can think of difficulties in reading comprehension that arise when a child draws an incorrect conclusion about the meaning of a text from one particular item of information, without integrating it with the other main items of information in the text.

In Part Three, we will become acquainted with two important advantages of PASS theory and see how the theory can be used.