Running head: TASK ANALYSIS 1

The Task Analysis and Chaining of Tying Shoes

Katie Burke

EDU 347
TASK ANALYSIS 2

Student Information

Cindy, a Caucasian 4-year-old, is in a Pre-Kindergarten classroom at an early learning

center. Cindy comes from a suburban family home and she lives with both of her parents as well

as her three siblings. Cindy is a loving, caring, and sometimes shy girl who makes good choices

and encourages her peers to make good choices as well. She loves to draw and play in the

kitchen play center during her free-play periods. In school, Cindy typically scores 3s and 5s on a

1-5 academic scoring scale. The majority of her difficulties with school lies with her speech and

language. She scored the lowest in this section with a 1 in alphabetic awareness, 3 in writing

production, and 3 in speaking. She was also given the Goldman Fristoe 2 Test in which she

scored in the 11th percentile of her age. Despite her difficulties with language and literacy, she

does well in other academic areas. It was also observed that she has difficulty answering “how”

and “why” questions when asked and does not seem to have the skills to answer those questions.

However, she can move independently through transitions without arguing and will help others

clean up during this time.

Targeted Task

The targeted task chosen for Cindy is tying shoes. After this task analysis and chaining

procedure, Cindy will be able to tie her shoes independently with 80% accuracy. Since Cindy is

4 years old, this can be a difficult task for her to complete since it involves careful fine motor

skills that are not yet developed. Despite this, tying shoes is a skill that must be learned by the

end of kindergarten and is an important life skill that Cindy will use multiple times throughout

her life. By practicing and learning this skill early, Cindy will be able to develop her fine motor

skills and will be able to generalize this skill and apply it to other tasks that involve tying. Cindy

also often asks a teacher to tie her shoes for her multiple times throughout the day. By learning
TASK ANALYSIS 3

this task, it will increase her independence. This task was recommended by her teacher and was

something that her teacher believes is a great skill to begin learning. For the overall procedure, it

may be difficult for Cindy to remain on task because this procedure will be conducted during

playtime which is the majority of the allotted. Due to the allotted time, Cindy may become easily

distracted by other students and other occurrences that happen during playtime (i.e. behavior

problems, assessments being conducted, visitors). Cindy may find a few tasks difficult,

specifically pinching the loop, wrapping the lace around the loop, pushing the lace through the

hole under the loop, and grasping both loops to finish the task because of the specific fine motor

skills needed. Due to those needed fine motor skills, this skill is a long-term goal for Cindy in

which the skill should be learned before first grade. It is encouraged that she continues to

practice tying her shoes, when needed, with guidance from her teachers or parents.

Task Analysis

For Cindy to be successful in learning tie her shoes, a task analysis was conducted before

the chaining procedure. According to Bancroft, Weiss, Libby, and Ahearn (2011), a task analysis

is commonly conducted to break the chain of responses into a series of manageable steps that can

be taught individually. A task analysis is a method in which students can learn a skill effectively

and productively without becoming overwhelmed with the skill itself. Typically, a task analysis

is conducted to teach an individual a self-help skill (i.e. tying shoes, washing hands, toileting).

Self-help skills require multiple steps for the skill to be completed which is why it is necessary to

teach these skills in its smaller components. Task analyses have been found to be successful and

effective when teaching self-care skills (Bancroft, Weiss, Libby, & Ahearn, 2011). By teaching

the skill in its smaller components, it reveals the areas that cause the student difficulty and

maybe preventing him or her from completing the task ineffectively. If there are these areas of
TASK ANALYSIS 4

difficulty, the proper reinforcement, instruction, and prompting can be provided to help the

student succeed. After developing an initial task analysis, a revised version may be needed after

the task analysis is implemented (Miltenberger, 2016). Once a task analysis is implemented and

the training begins, other steps may need to be included in the task analysis or steps may need to

be retracted depending on the student’s response and needs. For example, if a student is having

difficulty with a specific component, that component may need to be broken down into two or

more individual components (Miltenberger, 2016). Due to the diversity of every child, the task

analysis should be individualized according to the student’s needs and abilities.

The task analysis that was used for this chaining procedure can be found in the following

table.

Table 1
Sample Task Analysis for Tying Shoes
1. Pull both laces tight
2. Cross one lace in front of the other
3. Take the lace in right hand and put it under the cross
(through the hole)
4. Pull tight
5. Take the lace in your right hand and make a loop
6. Wrap the other lace around the loop in your right hand
7. Put the wrapped lace through the hole
8. Grasp the lace in the hole and the other lace
9. Pull tight
Table 1. Example of task analysis used for the chaining procedure.

When developing the task analysis for Cindy, a few considerations were made according

to previous observations and Cindy’s individual needs. While observing Cindy perform the task

individually, it was found that she is never encouraged to try and tie her shoes independently.

Instead of attempting to teach Cindy the skill and encourage independence, her teacher and the

teacher’s aide reluctantly tie her shoes for her. Although this is a skill that does not have to be
TASK ANALYSIS 5

learned until the end of kindergarten, many children are taught ahead beforehand and it is no

excuse to put-off the early instruction of the skill. When Cindy was observed a second time, it

was found that she had already mastered the skill of grasping the right lace in her right hand and

the left lace in her left hand. Due to this observation, the task analysis began with the individual

component of Pull both laces tight rather than instructing her to grab each lace with the correct

hand.

To be successful, Cindy will need specific fine motor skills to complete the task of tying

her shoes. Cindy must have developed a strong pincer grasp to grasp the laces at specific points

in the task analysis. Cindy must also have a high level of dexterity to be successful in developing

this skill being that it relies on the use of the hands. According to Cindy’s Goldman Fristoe 2

Test results, her fine motor skills were scored with a 3 on a 1-5 rating scale and that she has

refined wrist and finger movements. This shows that her skills have progressed enough to be

successful in developing this skill.

Data will be collected on Cindy tying her shoes an average of three times a day, twice a

week and recorded by the percentage of opportunity. Since it is not guaranteed she will need to

tie her shoe each day during the procedure, each session will be conducted throughout the day

and separated by approximately 30-minutes. The steps in the task analysis will be marked

independent or with a verbal, gestural, model, visual, partial physical, or full physical prompt.

Chaining Procedure

Following a task analysis and collecting baseline data, a chaining procedure is conducted

to then teach the task that the task analysis breaks down. Chaining involves breaking a task down

into individual components via task analysis and teaching each individual component to reach

mastery of the task (Slocum & Tiger, 2011). Before conducting a chaining procedure, it is
TASK ANALYSIS 6

important to choose what type of chaining to use depending on the task and the individual needs

of the student. The three variants of chaining are forward chaining, backward chaining, and total

task (Slocum & Tiger, 2011). For this chaining procedure, forward chaining was chosen and

found to be the best fit for the student and this specific task. Forward chaining is when the initial

step in the task analysis is taught first and then teaching the sequential steps (Slocum & Tiger,

2011). Once a step is mastered, it is required to be accurately completed for it to be considered

correct (Slocum & Tiger, 2011). Forward chaining was chosen for Cindy because after collecting

baseline data, it was found that she can complete the first few steps independently or with

minimal prompting according to the hierarchy of prompting. However, the following steps were

not mastered and needed intervention for those components to reach mastery. Due to the data

collected during baseline, it was decided to use forward chaining to build off of what Cindy

already knows.

Praise is highly motivating for Cindy and it always holds her attention in hopes of

receiving more praise. Throughout the chaining procedure, Cindy was given verbal, Behavior

Specific Praise (BSP) and stickers as reinforcement, continuously. According to Haydon and

Musti-Rao (2011), BSP has positive effects on behavior outcomes and in academics. Since

Cindy is motivated by verbal praise, BSP was utilized continuously to keep her motivated and

willing to participate. Continuous reinforcement involves 100% contingency in which every

correct response is reinforced (Segers et al., 2018). By continuously reinforcing Cindy with BSP

and stickers, she was able to willingly participate during each session.

Throughout the procedure, response prompts were given as needed and followed the

hierarchy of response prompts. Response prompts use verbal instructions, modeling, and

physical guidance to teach and guide the student through learning the new task (Seaver &
TASK ANALYSIS 7

Bourret, 2014). For the student to learn the task, the prompts must be gradually taken away

through prompt fading. The different types of facing are least-to-most fading, most-to-least

fading, and delay fading (Seaver & Bourret, 2014). The type of fading is chosen depending on

the student’s individual needs and the task that is being taught. For this chaining procedure,

least-to-most fading was chosen because Cindy has already developed some independence with

this task and has already mastered a few steps. Least-to-most fading is when there is no prompt

initially, but the intrusiveness of the prompts increases as necessary (Seaver & Bourret, 2014).

This was found to be the most effective way for Cindy to be successful in learning to tie her

shoes.

Results

After completing five baseline sessions and ten intervention sessions, the data collected

was used to depict Cindy’s progress in Figure 1.

Steps Completed Independently
9 Baseline Intervention
Number of Steps Completed

8
7
6
Independently

5
4
3
2
1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Sessions

Figure 1. AB graph showing the number of steps Cindy completed

independently during baseline and chaining intervention.

Looking at the graph as a whole, there is a low-to-moderate level change within the

baseline and intervention data. During the baseline phase, there is a low level of tasks completed

independently, with an average value of 1.2. This can be compared to the moderate level of tasks
TASK ANALYSIS 8

completed independently in the intervention phase, with an average value of 4.1. There is no

trend in the baseline data, but an upward trend found in the intervention phase. There is a slight

variability in both phases, particularly in the baseline data. It can also be seen that there is some

overlap among the two phases with a slight immediacy of effect.

The results of this data were fairly successful, and if this intervention was implemented

for a few more days, Cindy could have mastered the entire task. During the baseline phase,

Cindy had some difficulty and was only able to complete two or less independent tasks. It was

observed that Cindy attempted to do the task independently, but she soon became confused as to

which lace went where during specific steps. It was hard for her to pinch and grasp at the laces

and she often stopped attempting to tie her shoes to instead ask for help. However, it was

observed during the baseline phase that Cindy could do the first two steps independently or with

a verbal prompt. During the intervention phase, Cindy increased her ability to do steps

independently and gradually gained confidence in her ability to tie her shoes. Cindy developed

her ability to make the loop, wrap the lace around the loop, and grasp both loops to finish off the

bow. However, Cindy found the most difficulty with putting the wrapped lace through the hole

underneath the loop to finish off the bow. She was consistently prompted for that step and

usually needed partial or full physical assistance. As Cindy went through intervention, her need

for a prompt slowly decreased and the number of independent steps increased as shown in Figure

2. Throughout the chaining procedure, Cindy was easy to work with and was often excited to

work on this skill; however, there were a few sessions in which she was not motivated and

became easily frustrated, which resulted in more prompts. This can be seen in Session five and

six in which there is a low level of independent tasks and a high level of verbal prompts.
TASK ANALYSIS 9

Prompts Given Each Session

Frequency of Prompts Given Per
10
8
6
Session

4
2
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Sessions
Independent Verbal Gestural Model Visual P. Physical F. Physical

Figure 2. Bar graph showing the number of specific prompt types used.

Overall, Cindy made great strides in her ability to tie her shoes independently. Although Cindy

did show progress, this task should continue to be taught for her to be able to tie her shoes with

full independence.

Future Recommendations

Moving forward, I think it would be best if Cindy was encouraged to practice this task

whenever the task is presented or practiced daily as needed. When Cindy needs her shoes tied,

her teacher and parents should encourage her to tie her shoes independently rather than simply

tying them for her. She will never continue to be successful, and eventually complete the task

100% independently, if she is not encouraged to do so. It would also be helpful if her parents or

teacher continue to track her progress to target the step in the task that is the most difficult for

her. Since she has been able to develop her fine motor skills through this task, I think her next

step would be buttoning her coat. Cindy often wears a jean jacket to school that buttons up. The

fine motor skills she has developed through tying her shoes could help her in this new task. If her

parents or teacher were to continue tracking her progress, they should find a new reinforcer.
TASK ANALYSIS 10

Although stickers were fairly motivating, she could benefit from a preference assessment to find

the most effective reinforcer for her.

While there were successes throughout this project, I also encountered a few challenges.

At the beginning of this projected, my biggest challenge was finding a student. There were not

many students in my class, with a disability, that needed to learn a new task. All of the students

knew how to wash their hands and while some of them omitted a few steps, they knew what to

do to successfully complete the task. The other task of zipping up a coat was also fairly well

known among the students as well. It was discouraging not knowing what I was going to do, so I

was excited to find a student who needed to learn to tie their shoes. It was also difficult to create

a task analysis for tying shoes. It was harder to put into words exactly what was required to

complete the task. This also made it more difficult to verbalize exactly what I wanted Cindy to

do to complete each step.

If I were to do this project again, I would change the wording I used for the task analysis.

While it was good, I could have been more specific with my language, especially with the more

difficult tasks. I think that, if I used more specific language, Cindy could have completed more

tasks independently. I also would have chosen a different reinforcer. Although Cindy did like the

stickers, I think I could have found a better way to reinforcer her, in addition to the BSP I was

giving her.

Overall, I think that this chaining procedure was successful. I am happy to see that Cindy

was able to complete seven tasks independently. I think that it was helpful to have a highly

motivated student and since she already had some independence, she was excited to learn to tie

her shoes to gain more independence. I also think that I was able to build a good rapport with

Cindy which made the chaining procedure easier because she enjoyed learning from me. I am
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happy with how well this project went and I feel excited that I was able to teach a student a self-

help skill. I learned immensely about how to teach a student and I look forward to using chaining

in my future career.
TASK ANALYSIS 12

Bibliography

Bancroft, S. L., Weiss, J. S., Libby, M. E., & Ahearn, W. H. (2011). A comparison of procedural

variations in teaching behavior chains: Manual guidance, trainer completion, and no

completion of untrained steps. Journal of Applies Behavior Analysis, 44(3), 559-569.

Haydon, T. & Musti-Rao, S. (2011). Effective use of behavior-specific praise: A middle school

case study. Beyond Behavior, 20(2), 31-39.

Miltenberger, R. G. (2016). Behavior modification: Principles and procedures (6th ed.). Boston,

MA: Cengage Learning.

Seaver, J. L. & Bourret, J. C. (2014). An evaluation of response prompts for teaching behavior

chains. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 47(4), 777-792.

Segers, E., Beckers, T., Geurts, H., Claes, L., Danckaerts, M., & van der Oord, S. (2018).

Working memory and reinforcement schedule jointly determine reinforcement learning in

children: Potential implications for behavioral parent training. Frontiers in Psychology,

9(394), 1-11.

Slocum, S. K. & Tiger, J. H. (2011). An assessment of the efficiency of and child preference for

forward and backward chaining. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44(4), 793-805.
TASK ANALYSIS 13

Appendices

A. Teacher Interview Form

Student Pseudonym: Cindy

Grade: Pre-K
Age: 4
Environment: Urban Rural Suburban Other:
Parents/Guardians: 2 married parents
Siblings: 3 Siblings
Current Grades in School: 3’s and 5’s (on a 1-5 academic rating scale)
Present Level of Performance:
Reading: identifies name, common words (i.e. stop)
Spelling: spells name
Writing: writes first name
Math: counts to 13
Any adaptations in place for taking assessments?
No
Academic Strengths:
Writing, creativity, counting
Academic Areas for Improvement:
Science, answering “how” and “why” questions
Behavioral Strengths:
Makes good choices, helps others make better choices
Behavioral Areas for Improvement:
None
Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP)? Yes No
If Yes, please describe:
N/A
Describe the level of independent functional skills.
Moves independently through routines such as meals, toothbrushing, clean-up
Describe social skills and relationships with peers:
Works well with others
Describe organization and decision-making skills:
Makes good choices, keeps toys that she’s using around her (in the correct center), and cleans up
Describe things that he/she finds motivating and reinforcing:
Loves art
Goals or aspirations the parents have for their child for this school year:
Writing first and last name, counting to 20, identifying letters and numbers
Additional Information:
Kind, works well with others, great leader
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B. Review of Records

1. What items did you review (e.g., sample work, report card, progress reports,
behavioral records, IEP, BIP, FBA, anecdotal notes, etc.)?
I reviewed Cindy’s IEP and Early Learning Reporting System (ELRS) scores.
2. Record information on the student’s current level of performance as it related to
their grades, goals, and current level of development.
-Was given the Goldman Fristoe 2 Test-provides information about a child’s
articulation ability by sampling spontaneous and imitative sound production:
scored a 49 which yielded a standard score of 72 and placed her in the 11th
percentile (t/k cup, t/f telephone, d/g girl, y/z zipper, y/s scissors, w/v
vacuum, y/l lamp, w/r rabbit, d/voiced th f/voiceless, th t/sh fishing, ch
distortion and l,r and s-blends)
-Deleted middle and final consonants in words
-Most trouble with articulation- can adversely affect her progress in the general
education program

Goal 1: student will increase speech intelligibility by using less phonological

processes and by producing more accurate variety of sound sin words when
speaking as a result of training through imitation and speech stimulation with
90% accuracy.
Goal 2: students will correctly produce the f, k, g, v, l, sh, ch, z, s, th,r and blends/
sounds with consistent accuracy across all phonemic contexts and word positions
in all training levels with 90% accuracy
ERLS Scores:
Mathematics
Number and Numerical Operations
Functional Counting: 5 (counts up to 15-knows number words)
Numerical Operations: Not Observed
Written Numbers: 5(Identifies and writes numbers; understands
they represent a quantity)
Classification and Algebraic Thinking
Classification:5(Determines how to classify a group if items and tells
about the groups using relevant vocabulary)
Algebraic Thinking: 3(Identifies missing parts of a simple pattern or
replicates/extends simple patterns
Geometry and Measurement
Identifying and Using Shapes: 3(Identifies common shapes;
turns/flips shapes intentionally to solve a puzzle)
Measurement: Not Observed
Scientific Inquiry
Observation and Reporting: Not Observed
Prediction: Not Observed
Investigation: Not Observed
Behavior
Self-Regulation
TASK ANALYSIS 15

Independent Behavior: 5(Moves through classroom routines,

demonstrates self-help skills)
Regulation of Emotions and Behaviors: 5(Expresses needs/feelings
verbally without being aggressive, suggest solutions, coping skills)
Prosocial Behavior: 5(Takes turns in play and conversations, shares at
times, empathizes with feelings of others)
Social Problem Solving: 3(can resolve social conflict with adult
guidance)
Play
Quality and Attributions of Engagement and Exploration: 5(explores
and experiments with a variety of materials; engages in purposeful
activity
Quality and Attributions of Cooperative Play: 5(Successfully enters
play, expresses ideas for activities, acknowledges accomplishments,
negotiates roles/set up events
Quality and Attributions of Sociodramatic Play: 5 (Play has defined
roles
Language and Literacy
Oral Language
Speaking: 3(responses using simple sentences; responses to low-level
questions
Story Retelling: Not Observed
Phonological Awareness
Language Manipulation: 5(Separates words into syllables, creates own rhymes
and alliteration)
Print Awareness
Alphabetic Awareness: 1 (Identifies few, if any, letters, particularly 1-4 letters)
Prints Knowledge: 3(Recognizes prints has meaning; recognizes some prints
in classroom including own name
Writing
Composing: 3(verbally labels own ‘writing’ and drawing; provides direction
to adult to write on work
Production: 3(Makes forms that resemble letters, may write own name
Health
Fine Motor: 3 (Uses refined wrist and finger movements)
Gross Motor: 5
Health Development: 5
Safety Practices: 5
3. Does the student receive any accommodations or modifications in the classroom or
during assessments?
There are no modifications or accommodations in the classroom or during
assessments for the student. Her teacher says that she is very intelligent, but
just has a lot of trouble with oral language abilities.
4. How much of the school day does the student spend in the general education
environment per the IEP?
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The student had an IEP for speech and spends the majority of her time in the
general education classroom. However, she is expected to go to speech-
language therapy 120 minutes/ month (0.5 hours a week)
5. Does the student have a completed FBA, BIP, or another behavior-specific plan?
The student does not have a FBA, BIP, or behavior-specific plan. She has no
specific behavior needs.
6. After reviewing the information, what was most helpful and interesting? What
impact, guidance, or influence does it have on your chaining project?
It was very helpful to review her assessment results. The assessment covered
academics, social emotional development, and physical development. While reviewing
the results, I was able to see how her fine motor development is and how well she is
progressing with fine motor skills. Since my chaining project involves fine motor skills,
this was helpful information.
7. What additional information would you be interested in obtaining?
Has she practiced tying her shoes before?
What step of tying shoes does she already know?
TASK ANALYSIS 17

C. Data Collection Document