The PASS theory of intelligence and the acquisition of a complex skill: a criterion-related validation study of Cognitive Assessment System scores

This study extends the empirical research on the planning, attention, simultaneous, and successive (PASS) theory of intelligence and its assessment via the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS) by examining the criterion-related validity of CAS scores with respect to the acquisition of a complex skill. Accordingly, 92 young adult males completed 7 h of training on a computer-based task that simulated the demands of a dynamic aviation environment. Cognitive and skill-based learning were assessed. Although the CAS Full score was correlated with learning, there were differences in the predictive value of the CAS scales. Successive processing was the only CAS scale to explain a unique proportion of variance in all the learning measures. Scores on simultaneous processing made important contributions to cognitive learning, and attention scores were an important contributor to skill-based learning. Planning scores were not significantly related to any of the learning criteria.