Behavioral Task Analysis

This chapter begins by defining a few key concepts that are critical to understanding the nature of tasks and task analysis. A brief overview of the development of task analysis and the distinction between behavioral task analysis and cognitive task analysis is presented. The general questions that behavioral task analysis helps answer is listed describing the typical stages involved in conducting a behavioral task analysis. Following the general discussion, several cases illustrating specific applications are presented as well as some limitations and pitfalls. Finally, a brief overview of tools that are available to assist in conducting a task analysis is given. Published as Chapter 6, in the Handbook of Improving Performance in the Workplace p184-226, 2010.