Task Analysis

Description of the Strategy

Many everyday responses are really sequences of small units of behavior. A sequence of such responses is a behavioral chain. Although the chain of responses may appear to be one unit of behavior, most behaviors are really a complex series of responses. For example, responses such as getting dressed, completing homework, and completing an algebra problem consist of a sequence of responses, not just one response.

When teaching a behavioral sequence, it is often advantageous to break down the chain of responses into precise individual components, in their proper order. This procedure is called task analysis, subdividing a response into individual, discrete, and orderly steps. The complex target behavior is thus broken down into the specific sequence of behavior ...