Psychology : Intelligence Theory PASS Model

Planning, Attention-arousal, and Simultaneous-successive (PASS) Model of Intelligence

This model has been developed by J.P. Das, Jack Naglieri, and Kirby (1994). According to this model, intellectual activity involves the interdependent functioning of three neurological systems, called the functional units of brain. These units are responsible for arousal/attention, coding or processing, and planning respectively.

Arousal/Attention : State of arousal is basic to any behaviour as it helps us in attending to stimuli. Arousal and attention enable a person to process information. An optimal level of arousal focuses our attention to the relevant aspects of a problem. Too much or too little arousal would interfere with attention. For instance, when you are told by your teacher about a test which s/he plans to hold, it would arouse you to attend to the specific chapters. Arousal forces you to focus your attention on reading, learning and revising the contents of the chapters.

Simultaneous and Successive Processing : You can integrate the information into your knowledge system either simultaneously or successively. Simultaneous processing takes place when you perceive the relations among various concepts and integrate them into a meaningful pattern for comprehension. For example, in Raven’s Progressive Matrices (RPM) Test, a design is presented from which a part has been removed. You are required to choose one of the six options that best completes the design. Simultaneous processing helps you in grasping the meaning and relationship between the given abstract figures. Successive processing takes place when you remember all the information serially so that the recall of one leads to the recall of another. Learning of digits, alphabets, multiplication tables, etc. are examples of successive processing.

Planning : This is an essential feature of intelligence. After the information is attended to and processed, planning is activated. It allows us to think of the possible courses of action, implement them to reach a target, and evaluate their effectiveness. If a plan does not work, it is modified to suit the requirements of the task or situation. For example, to take the test scheduled by your teacher, you would have to set goals, plan a time schedule of study, get clarifications in case of problems and if you are not able to tackle the chapters assigned for the test, you may have to think of other ways (e.g., give more time, study with a friend, etc.) to meet your goals.

These PASS processes operate on a knowledge base developed either formally (by reading, writing, and experimenting) or informally from the environment. These processes are interactive and dynamic in nature; yet each has its own distinctive functions. Das and Naglieri have also developed a battery of tests, known as the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS). It consists of verbal as well as non-verbal tasks that measure basic cognitive functions presumed to be independent of schooling. The battery of tests is meant for individuals between 5 and 18 years of age. Psychology 10 The results of assessment can be used to remedy cognitive deficits of children with learning problems. This model represents the information processing approach to intelligence.

Theory of Bureaucracy by Max Weber

"Bureaucratic administration means fundamentally domination through knowledge."

— Max Weber

Modern bureaucracies arose as the government of states grew larger during the modern period, and especially following the Industrial Revolution. During the ongoing rationalization of western society, Weber saw bureaucratisation as the most efficient and rational way to organise. According to him bureaucratization was the key part of the rational-legal authority.

Weber listed several precondititions for the emergence of the bureaucracy.

• The growth in space and population being administered;
• The growth in complexity of the administrative tasks being carried out;
• The existence of a monetary economy.

With the advent of modern mode of transportation and digital information technologies, quick and efficient administration became possible. Also, Democratization and rationalization of culture demanded that the new system treats everybody equally.

"The decisive reason for the advance bureaucratic organization has always been its purely technical superiority over any other form of organization."

Features of Weber's bureaucratic model

Fixed division of labour

No confusion over roles and official duties + With repeatedly performance at a particular job s/he become efficient at it + minimize arbitrary assignments of duties visible traditional structures.

Hierarchy

There is a chain of command so that Each office should be controlled and supervised by a higher ranking office. However, lower offices should maintain a right to appeal decisions made higher in the hierarchy.

Rational-legal authority

This type of authority rests on the belief in the "legality" of formal rules and hierarchies. Authority is given to officials based on their skills, position and authority placed formally in each position.

Rules

Management follows a set of rules, known to all employees. Rules prevent arbitrariness since they equally applicable to everyone + Help in increasing efficiency and to avoid mistakes.

Impersonality

To carry out their duties without allowing themselves to be influenced by their personal likes and dislikes.

Expertise

Employees selected on the basis of technical qualification + through a competitive examination + Official selected then appointed and not elected.

Career System

A well structured career path is constituted + Employee expects to be promoted from lower position to higher position + Promotion is based upon merit and seniority.

Written Documents

Every transaction , decision and order of organisation is recorded + Files and computer records constitutes 'memory' of organisation + Help in efficient decision-making in the future.

Efficiency

Most efficient form of organisation + just like machines are more productive, bureaucracy is more efficient. Both Machines and Bureaucracy , have the advantage of technical superiority.

While recognizing bureaucracy as the most efficient form of organization, and even indispensable for the modern state, Weber also saw it as a threat to individual freedoms, and the ongoing bureaucratization as leading to a "polar night of icy darkness", in which increasing rationalization of human life traps individuals in the aforementioned "iron cage" of bureaucratic, rule-based, rational control.

In order to counteract bureaucrats, the system needs entrepreneurs and politicians.

"It is hard to imagine today, but a hundred years ago bureaucracy meant something positive. It connoted a rational, efficient method of organization – something to take the place of the arbitrary exercise of power by authoritarian regimes. Bureaucracy brought the same logic to government work that the assembly line brought to the factory. With the hierarchical authority and functional a specialization, they made possible the efficient undertaking of large complex tasks."

-Gaebler

Among the scholars of his contemporaries are, Frederick Taylor (1856-1915), Henri Fayol (1841-1925), Elton Mayo (1880-1949), and later scholars, such as, Herbert A. Simon (1916-2001), Dwight Waldo (1913-2000).