Task analysis guidance for number of and readability of steps for individuals with intellectual disabilities.
Keep task analyses to seven or fewer steps written at or below 7th-grade reading level for learners with intellectual disabilities.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Barnard-Brak et al. (2023) asked how many steps and how hard the words should be in a task analysis.
They worked with adults who have intellectual disability.
The team tested different step counts and reading levels to see which mix made tasks easiest to finish.
What they found
People did best when the task had seven or fewer steps.
The words had to be at or below seventh-grade reading level.
More steps or harder words made errors go up fast.
How this fits with other research
Williams et al. (1986) already showed that detailed step-by-step beats broad lists when you teach.
Lucy’s work sharpens that idea: keep the list short and the words simple.
Boudreau et al. (2015) reviewed self-instruction studies and found adults can learn long tasks if they talk themselves through each step.
That seems to clash with Lucy’s short-list rule, but the difference is who drives the steps.
In Lucy’s study the paper held all the steps; in self-instruction the learner controls the pace and can repeat any step aloud.
Both papers agree: break the task down, just don’t overload the page at one time.
Why it matters
Next time you write a task analysis, count the steps. If you hit eight, split it into two chains. Run the text through a free readability checker; aim for grade seven or lower. Your learner will finish faster and make fewer errors.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
We examined the relationship of number of and readability of content of steps of task analyses with subsequent task performance. The results of the current study indicate that the number of and readability of steps were significantly associated with task performance via a non-linear, quadratic relationship. From our results, we suggest that task analyses may consider up to seven steps with a grade level of content (i.e., readability) of up to approximately 7th grade without diminishing task performance. These results do not provide final guidance as to the suggested number of steps or readability of content for task analyses but some initial guidance, especially in the absence of well-established task analyses. We suggest results should be used for those practitioners seeking guidelines for content development in the absence of well-established task analyses for suggested values for number of and readability of steps.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2023 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2022.104411