Task analysis

About: Task analysis is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 10432 publications have been published within this topic receiving 283481 citations.

A Task Contingent Model of Work-Unit Structure.

Abstract: The authors are grateful for support of this research from the Wisconsin Employment Security Division, Department of Industry, Labor, and Human Relations, and the Center for Business and Economic Research, Graduate School of Business Administration, Kent State University Appreciation is also extended to Elmer Burack, Anant Negandhi, Johannes Pennings, Richard Schoenherr, and Joseph Schwitter for helpful comments on previous drafts of this paper A model for explaining structural variations between work units within the complex organization is presented Based upon an analysis of the impact of task difficulty and task variability on intraorganizational structure, a taxonomy of alternative work-unit structures is derived The taxonomy suggests that work units within a complex organization can be classified into three basic structural modes: (1 ) a systematized mode, (2) a service mode, and (3) a group mode; with variations in each mode However, the structural distinction between modes is one of kind or "type," while the distinctions within modes is one of degree Data on 120 work units within a large government employment-security agency are presented Empirical support was found for the taxonomy The work units sampled at six different levels of structure did discriminate empirically on the bases of task difficulty and variability using a fixed-effects model, and were shown to fit in different cells of the taxonomy as predicted

Uses and interpretations of non‐word repetition tasks in children with and without specific language impairments (SLI)

Abstract: Background: The non-word repetition task (NRT) has gained wide acceptance in describing language acquisition in both children with normal language development (NL) and children with specific language impairments (SLI). This task has gained wide acceptance because it so closely matches the phonological component of word learning, and correlates with measures of phonological working memory, a deficit in which is hypothesized to underlie SLI. Aims/Methods & Procedures: Recent uses of the NRT seem to accept it as a measure of phonological working memory capacity in spite of the fact that researchers have consistently acknowledged that the task taps many language processes, including speech perception, phonological encoding, phonological memory, phonological assembly and articulation. This paper reviews the literature on the use of the nonword repetition task (NRT) in children with NL and children with SLI, emphasizing the component skills necessary for successful repetition. Main Contribution: For children with NL, discussion has focused on (1) the relationship between non-word repetition ability and vocabulary, and (2) lexical and sublexical influences on repetition accuracy. For children with SLI, discussion has focused on these factors as well, but has also considered other component skills that support non-word repetition. Researchers have examined speech perception and discrimination, phonological encoding, phonological memory, phonological assembly, motor planning, and articulation, and have found evidence that children with SLI exhibit impairments in each of these supporting skills. Conclusions: Because repetition accuracy depends on lexical and sublexical properties, the NRT can be used to examine the structural properties of the lexicon in both children with NL and with SLI. Further, because the task taps so many underlying skills, it is a powerful tool that can be used to identify children with language impairments.

Task Revision: A Neglected Form of Work Performance

Abstract: This study addressed the problem of task revision, a virtually unresearched issue in the work performance literature. We defined task revision as action taken to correct a faulty procedure, an inaccurate job description, or a role expectation that is dysfunctional for an organization. Two experiments were constructed to measure task revision and test for its determinants. Results showed that goal setting inhibited task revision: instructions to "do your best" were superior to a specific goal. Facilitators of task revision were the salience of alternatives and being in a supervisory position with accountability pressures. We discuss the implications of these results in terms of the functions of counter-role behavior for organizations and the need to broaden the construct of work performance. Work performance has long occupied a central role in organizational research. It was the primary issue during the beginnings of industrial psychology (e.g., Munsterberg, 1913), of major concern during the human relations movement (e.g., Likert, 1961), and at center stage as empirical research blossomed in organizational behavior (e.g., Vroom, 1964). Now voluminous, the literature on work performance ranges from the extensive study of organizational and social factors that influence work behavior to the analysis of cognitive processes underlying task effort. In recent years, the most common form of performance research has translated the issue into a cognitive question. The aim has not only been to find conditions under which people will work harder, but to explain the mental processes underlying task activity. For example, early versions of need theory, which emphasized stages and growth in human desires, have gradually given way to expectancy models in which valued outcomes are a part of a cognitive calculus hypothesized to precede behavior. Likewise, reinforcement theory, with its emphasis on external incentives and behavioral learning, has been overtaken by goal-setting approaches in which salient outcomes serve as mental targets for behavior. Though we do not yet know exactly how individuals process information in performance contexts,