Which abilities does the PASAT test?

Learning of three-term contingencies correlates with Raven scores, but not with measures of cognitive processing

“…In Experiment II, we again investigated the relation between learning rate and Raven scores, while adding four additional cognitive processing tasks which, unlike paired-associates and free recall list learning, have been shown to be correlated with intelligence scores. The tasks were the ZahlenVerbindungen Test (ZVT), which involves connecting numbered circles according to an arithmetic rule (Vernon, 1993), card-sorting, with or without a competing backward counting task (Beh, Roberts, & Stankov, 1988), inspection time for identifying the missing side of a square (Zhang, 1991), and the PASAT task, in which the subject must sum a current number and the preceding number from a random string of digits (Deary, Langan, Hepburn, & Frier, 1991). All of these tasks have been reported to correlate with intelligence scores at a magnitude of 0.5 or higher.…”

Cognitive Ability and Brain Structure in Type 1 Diabetes

“…• Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) (44). PASAT was used to assess the ability to sustain attention and concentration.…”

Are PASAT Scores Related to Mathematical Ability?

“…The gradually accumulating body of evidence concerning PASAT's validity as a test of attention indicates that PASAT performance may depend on intelligence (Brittain et al, 1991;Deary et al, 1991;Egan, 1988), on the age of subjects (Brittain et al, 1991), and on the amount of practice subjects have had with the test (Feinstein et al, 1994). We now suggest that PASAT scores are also likely to be influenced by mental arithmetic ability.…”

“…A certain amount of empirical evidence speaks against this possibility. Deary et al (1991) have shown that four-choice reaction times do not significantly correlate with PASAT performance. In addition, a recent unpublished pilot study conducted in our laboratory has attempted to assess the question of whether PASAT scores are related to response times for a non-mathematical decision-making task.…”

“…Some of these claims have recently been questioned, however. Brittain, La Marche, Reeder, Roth, and Boll (1991), Deary, Langan, Hepburn, and Frier (1991), and Egan (1988) have all observed significant correlations between PASAT performance and various measures of intelligence, including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R). In addition, Feinstein, Brown, and Ron (1994) have demonstrated that the practice effect may extend over five testing sessions separated by 2-4 week intervals.…”