PASS Theory and Special Educational Needs: A European Perspective

Abstract

This chapter gives an overview of European studies that have investigated the cognitive profiles of students with special educational needs within the context of the PASS (Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive) theory of intelligence. Several studies from the Netherlands, Italy, and Cyprus have been conducted on children with (1) mathematical learning disabilities, (2) nonverbal learning disabilities, (3) mild mental retardation, (4) giftedness, (5) attention deficits, and (6) ethnic minority children. Most of the reviewed studies have compared children’s Cognitive Assessment System (CAS; Naglieri & Das, 1997) profiles to WISC profiles or profiles emerging from other screening instruments. The results of these studies show that CAS profiles are more strongly associated with academic performance and provide more detailed information about the educational needs of children than other tests. Furthermore, CAS profiles can be used to define subgroups within children with learning disabilities. Implications for assessment, diagnosis, and remediation are discussed.