Task analysis is an applied behaviour analysis process for identifying and sequencing the components of a skill or task. It involves breaking a skill down into teachable steps. The steps can then be joined together to perform a new skill or routine. It can be used for teaching a variety of skills such as daily living activities, motor tasks, academic tasks and routines, social skills, developing problem solving skills and vocational skills.

There are two types of task analysis. A specific task analysis is used if the steps are the same for each activity such as hand washing, baking cookies or putting on a jacket. A general task analysis is used when the general expectations are the same but that specific skills may vary such as meal routines or community outings.

When designing a specific task analysis i, the first step is to determine the end behavior (what you want your child to be able to do independently such as putting on and zipping up their jacket) and how accurate they need to be in completing the task. Next think about the prerequisite skills that your child would need to be able to complete the task (fine motor skills to zip) and what materials are needed for the task (jacket).

To determine how to do the task, one can either watch your child or someone else do the task or perform it yourself. Once you know what steps are involved it is helpful to write them down or take photos of each step (a great visual support for your child when they are completing the task). In some cases, adaptations may need to be made such as an additional tab added to the zipper to make it easier to find or pull. When teaching the task, prompting may be required to ensure success. Prompts might be physical (assisting your child to put his/her arm in the sleeve) or verbal (“put your arm in your sleeve”) or gestural (indicating where their arm goes) or you may use a picture sequence. Whatever type of prompt you decide to use, it’s also a good idea to think about how you are going to reduce your prompts over time and what type of reinforcement you will offer your child as an incentive to keep on trying to perform the task. When supporting your child to perform the task, it is a good practice to have them complete every step even if it means that some of the steps require you to provide some prompting as this give them more rehearsal opportunities with the total task.

For situations where the general expectations are the same but specific skills might vary, designing a general task analysis would be more suitable. To understand the steps in the task, observing others doing the task would be appropriate (such as family members or your child’s peers). In these situations, general expectations or rules are identified and recorded. At mealtimes some expectations may be sitting at the table until your meal is finished, asking to be excused, using utensils, washing hands before or after eating). Just as for specific tasks, prompting and reinforcement techniques are used for general tasks. To assist your child in becoming independent, visuals such as photos or written expectations are helpful reminders of the expectations.
For ideas using a task analysis approach to learning cooking skills, please refer to a visual cook book such as The Picture Cookbook, No-Cook Recipes for the Special Chef by Joyce Dassonville and Ehren McDow or Visual Recipes : A Cookbook for Non-Readers by Tabitha Orth. Other sources for task analysis examples can found at www.behavioradvisor.com or POPARD’s elearning lesson “Goal Setting and Program Monitoring for Functional Skills, Part 4” at www.popard.ca.

We’d welcome hearing from you if you have used task analysis when teaching new skills to your child.