Running head: TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 1

Task Analysis and Chaining of Shoe Tying

Kathleen Thompson

EDU 347
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Task Analysis and Chaining of Shoe Tying

Jane is a five-year-old Caucasian female student who attends a Head Start preschool in an

urban area. She lives with her grandmother, but both of her parents are involved in her life. Her

mother is currently pregnant, and Jane already has an older sister. Jane has no diagnosed

disabilities but struggles with social-emotional skills and self-regulation. There is no IEP, FBA,

or BIP in place for this student nor does she require any modifications or services. Jane spends

all day in the general education classroom with her peers and has been in this classroom for two

years now. In the classroom there is an assistant teacher who supports all students, so Jane does

receive support from her, but not for anything specific. Academically, Jane is performing really

well. She can identify all the letters in her name, spell her first and last name, copy almost

anything written, write her first and last name letters, and count to twenty as well as identify

numbers one through ten. Her biggest strength is writing and copying and her biggest area for

improvement is predicting and reasoning in science. On an Early Learning Reporting System

(ELRS), which has a grading scale of one, three, or five, Jane scores all three’s and five’s in

academic areas. Behaviorally, Jane is great at helping others and being one of the older students

in the class, she is also a great role model for the other students. She struggles behaviorally in the

areas of social-emotional skills and self-regulation but has made a tremendous amount of

progress with this in the past year.

Targeted Task: Shoe Tying

The targeted task chosen for Jane is shoe tying. Jane will have the ability to tie together

two laces on a shoe, into a tight double knot, that sits on the top of the shoe, on both feet. For

Jane, being able to tie her own shoes is an important skill to learn. It can be used not only in the

classroom, but across many different environments. Everywhere she travels, she is wearing shoes
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whether that be to school, home, the store, or the park. Learning how to tie her own shoes will be

beneficial to her and others around her in all of these settings. Jane will be learning a functional

skill that she can add to her repertoire of other functional skills. She will also become more

independent because she will not have to rely on others in order to perform this skill. Moreover,

Jane will no longer have to stop what she is doing and find an adult to tie her shoes for her. For

instance, her parents or grandmother. The teacher has one less pair of shoes to tie, and her

grandmother can continue to help her get ready in the morning in other ways. In addition, this

skill is a short-range goal within the long-term goal of personal hygiene and daily living skills.

Since Jane is only in preschool, there are still some daily living skills that she has not learned.

However, once she learns this skill, she should be able to move on to more complex tasks.

Task Analysis: Shoe Tying

A task analysis breaks down a behavioral chain into individual components

(Miltenberger, 2012). When teaching a skill to a student, each behavior necessary to perform the

skill must be identified in order for the student to be able to discriminate between each

component (Miltenberger, 2012). There are a few ways to formulate a task analysis. Observing

the person engage in the task and recording the steps they take, performing the task yourself and

recording the steps taken, and asking an expert to explain the components are all ways that a task

analysis can be done (Miltenberger, 2012). The student must be considered when performing a

task analysis because one iteration may work for one particular learner, but that same iteration

may not work for the next. Since a task analysis may not work for every student, revisions may

need to be made. For example, in a study done by Chazin, Bartelmay, Lambert, and Juarez

(2017), a student was taught to follow a recipe to create pizza. Originally, the task analysis

included fifteen steps (Chazin et. al., 2017). For this particular student though, the task analysis
TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 4

had to be revised and expanded to forty-five steps (Chazin et. al., 2017). Overall, a task analysis

must be completed when teaching a behavioral chain in order to break the behavior into its

component parts.

In order for Jane to learn all the steps required to tie shoes, a task analysis was completed.

The task was broken down into ten steps as follows:

1. Grabs both laces with both hands.

2. Pulls laces tight.

3. Crosses left lace over right lace.

4. Threads left lace through the hole and pulls laces tight.

5. Makes a loop with the right lace and wraps the left lace around the loop.

6. Takes the left lace and pushes it through the bottom hole.

7. Grabs both loops with both hands and pulls knot tight.

8. Grabs both loops with both hands and crosses the left loop over the right loop.

9. Threads the left loop through the bottom hole.

10. Pulls both loops tight.

In order to complete the task analysis, Jane will need some prerequisite skills. She will

need to know her left from her right in order to know which laces and hands to move. Fine motor

skills are also necessary in order to manipulate and tie the laces together. Jane will also need to

understand the importance of being able to tie her own shoes. She needs to understand that she

wears shoes all of the time, and that those shoes must be tied in order to be safe and active. This

will give her the necessary motivation to learn the skill. Additionally, she may also struggle to
TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 5

generalize the skill into other settings such as the park, home life, recreational activities, and

everyday life.

There may be a few obstacles encountered during the task analysis. For instance, if she

does not wear shoes that tie to school, she will not be able to practice tying them which will

delay the teaching procedure. One other area that could be a challenge is frustration. Jane

struggles with emotional regulation so if she is not successful with the task analysis or runs into a

challenging part, she may become frustrated and have a hard time. To deal with this, lots of

behavior specific praise and reinforcement will need to be provided throughout the entire task

analysis.

Data was collected on the task analysis in two different ways. The first was an

observation of the student performing the task. Jane was observed tying her shoes how she saw

fit a total of three times. Each time, anecdotal notes were taken in detail on the process and

actions that Jane chose to use to tie her shoes. The second way data was collected was through

performing the task myself. I tied my own shoes using the method that Jane attempted and

recorded all of the necessary steps that I took. Some of the steps Jane was able to complete

correctly so breaking down some steps into smaller parts was not necessary. The data was then

combined to create the task analysis. On the data collection sheet, independent steps were scored

with an “I” and prompted steps were recorded with the corresponding letter. Prompts scored

were verbal (“V”), gestural (“G”), partial physical (“PP”), and full physical (“FP”).

Chaining Procedure: Total Task

Chaining procedures break down a task into component parts and then teach those

components sequentially to mastery levels using prompts and reinforcement (Slocum & Tiger,

2011). Chaining procedures can be used with students of all ages, with any skill, and across
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disabilities including autism and other learning disabilities. Chaining procedures have also been

found to be effective when combined with other strategies including visual prompts and echoic

training (Valentino, Conine, Delfs, & Furlow, 2015). There are three types of chaining

procedures: forward, backward, and total task chaining. Forward chaining involves teaching the

first step of the task analysis first to mastery, and following with each succeeding step (Shrestha,

Anderson, & Moore, 2013). In order to move forward in the chain, learner performance of the

steps must be cumulative, meaning that in order to receive reinforcement and move on to the

next step, the student must independently perform all steps prior to and including the step being

worked on (Shrestha et al., 2013). Backward chaining has all the same elements as forward

chaining except that the final step of the task analysis is taught to mastery first and early

components are then progressively taught (Slocum & Tiger, 2011). As with forward chaining, all

taught steps are required to be completed in order for the learner to receive reinforcement in

backwards chaining (Slocum & Tiger, 2011). Total task chaining involves teaching a chain of

behaviors as a single unit (Miltenberger, 2012). Prompting is used to get the learner to engage in

every step of the behavior from start to finish and reinforcement is provided each time the learner

completes the task (Miltenberger, 2012). Each of the three chaining procedures can be successful

for any given behavior one must decide which to use based on observation of the student and

baseline data.

A total task chaining procedure was selected for the targeted skill of tying shoes in this

project. In a total task total chaining procedure, all of the steps in the chain are taught

simultaneously as the student completes the task. When a student can complete some of the steps

throughout the task analysis independently, a total task procedure is beneficial because they can

learn the skill all at once including the steps that they have already mastered. This procedure was
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chosen because of the steps that Jane could complete independently during the initial observation

of the skill. She was able to complete the first two steps of the task analysis independently, and

the fifth and tenth steps with only a verbal prompt. Since she completed some of the steps with

ease, a total task procedure was chosen so that she could learn the skill all at once and fill in the

gaps as needed.

Reinforcement for this chaining procedure was provided on a fixed interval schedule. The

reinforcement consisted of verbal praise and a high five after each session completed. Behavior

specific praise was provided during the session as well. A fixed interval schedule with

reinforcement provided after the task is completed was chosen because it is hard to stop in the

middle of tying a shoe to provide reinforcement. After each session, reinforcement was

necessary because there were times when the shoe would not tie but she still completed many of

the tasks and made progress. Other times, the shoe would tie normally, and reinforcement was

provided then as well. Behavior specific praise throughout the chaining procedure was also a

good motivator for Jane because sometimes, she would complete a step or attempt to thread the

lace through and was not successful, so either a partial or full physical prompt was necessary in

order for her to proceed. By providing behavior specific praise like, “I love how you made your

loop and went around that time,” and then continuing to teach what went wrong, Jane showed

more compliance and less frustration. The reinforcement of verbal praise and a high five was

chosen because completing this chaining procedure and learning to tie her shoes was in itself a

source of reinforcement for her. She loves to help the teacher and other students and gets great

satisfaction out of it. When Jane was asked to complete this chaining procedure, it was posed as

an opportunity for her to help the teacher. Jane quickly became motivated by this and was eager
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to tie her shoes every day. Since helping the teacher by tying her shoes is already very

reinforcing to her, additional, larger reinforcements were not necessary.

Results

Jane was very successful with the chaining procedure chosen. Figure 1 depicts the total

number of steps in the task analysis per session that Jane completed independently. Figure 1

displays an increasing trend and little variability with a low level in baseline and a high-level

during intervention. There is one point of overlap between the last session of baseline to the first

session of intervention. While the behavior did improve once intervention started, it was already

on the rise so there is not much immediacy of effect. Jane did not completely master the task by

the fifteenth session, but she did show significant improvement consistently performing eight of

ten tasks independently by the end as compared to two independent steps at the beginning.

Tying Shoes
9 Baseline Intervention
Number of Steps Completed

8
7
Independently

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

Figure 1. Independent steps for tying shoes. This figure illustrates the number of steps completed
independently per session for shoe tying.
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Jane responded positively to the total task chaining procedure and was very motivated to

learn how to tie her shoes. During baseline, Jane was not successful at tying her shoe and failed

to even create somewhat of a knot. Despite being unsuccessful, Jane remained resilient and was

eager to complete another session. Figure 2 depicts the number of various prompts provided per

session is depicted. During baseline and the first session of intervention, full physical prompts

were given but were no longer need throughout the rest of the intervention. Gestural prompts

were also given during baseline and the beginning of intervention but were not needed thereafter

until the final two sessions. Gestural prompts were needed at the end because the number of

partial physical prompts were decreased so Jane needed that gestural prompt for the steps that no

longer used the partial physical prompt. Partial physical prompts varied throughout this chaining

procedure mainly because Jane consistently needed the laces held together when crossed and on

occasion, would need one or two more partial physical prompts during steps like creating the

loop and threading the lace through. Verbal prompts were used the most often during the

procedure and they steadily decreased throughout baseline and intervention. Overall, by the end

of intervention, prompts were decreased to one verbal, one gestural, and two partial physical

prompts as compared to eight verbal, two gestural, two partial physical and three full physical

prompts at the beginning of baseline. Figure 2 shows that although Jane did not master tying her

shoe by independently completing all ten steps, the number of prompts that Jane required to

complete unmastered steps significantly decreased.

Shoe Tying
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
V G PP FP

Figure 2. Prompts for tying shoes. This figure illustrates the number of prompts given per
session for shoe tying.

The reinforcement provided for Jane during this procedure consisted of behavior specific

praise throughout and a high-five following each session. She responded very well to the

reinforcement and worked hard to get the high-five at the end. Participating in the chaining

procedure was reinforcement in and of itself to Jane because she enjoys helping others and

learning new things. A certificate with her name on it was provided to Jane when she finally tied

her shoes following the chaining procedure. Overall, Jane successfully learned this skill and was

heavily reinforced for it.

Future Recommendations

In the future, Jane must continue to practice this skill. She will need adult supervision and

assistance at first but will soon be able to tie her shoes on her own. She should practice tying her

shoes at least twice per day until the skill becomes second nature to her. Jane should also practice
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tying her shoes in natural settings as well. For example, whenever she puts her shoes on or

whenever they come untied, she should re-tie them. There should be no changes made to the

reinforcement associated with this task. Giving Jane a high five when she successfully ties her

shoes and providing praise as she is going through the shoe tying process are very reinforcing for

her. The most reinforcing aspect to this task is the teacher time and attention and giving her the

feeling that she is helping out by learning this skill. Since that is so reinforcing for her and she

has been successful thus far, no changes should be made to the reinforcement.

A few challenges were encountered throughout this project. During the task analysis, I

found it difficult to decide exactly how to break up the steps and which hand and lace should be

used in which part of specific steps. For example, choosing to cross the left lace over the right

lace. There were times during the initial evaluation where Jane would cross the left over the right

and other times where she would cross the right over the left. Since there was no pattern in her

behavior there, I had to just make up my mind which way I wanted to teach her. Collecting data

while at the same time trying to perform the task with the student was also a challenge. I could

not stop in the middle of the task at all times to record the prompts I was giving so I had to

continue the total task procedure. When she finished tying her shoe, I would go back and try to

remember the prompts that I gave and when which was at times difficult. Another challenge I ran

into was that there would be times where Jane would tie her shoe independently but when she

would pull the loops tight, the lace would thread itself all the way through and the knot would

come untied. It was difficult to re-assure her that she did it but that she just had to make her loop

tighter in the beginning. In the future, I would do a few things differently. I would add in a

modeling prompt and model the steps for her on my own foot. I think it would have really helped

her to see the process instead of having her hands and min on the same shoe. I would also not
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teach the skill so much in baseline and just begin to full physical the steps when Jane got stuck.

During the five baseline sessions, I began to teacher her how to tie her shoes with many different

prompts. She made a tremendous amount of progress during baseline alone because I taught the

skill too much instead of just stepping in and using a full physical when she could not perform

the step.

Throughout this chaining procedure, many things went really well. Going into this

process, I was worried about Jane and her compliance to the task as well as her abilities to

regulate her emotions and not become frustrated if she was not successful. But, Jane did not once

become overly frustrated when she did not succeed, nor did she ever give me any compliance

issues. Jane was also successful by the end of the chaining procedure. When she finally tied her

shoes for the first time by herself, she was ecstatic. She even went to all the other teachers in the

room and showed them how she could tie her own shoes. This was a delight to watch and made

me feel amazing that she was able to master a difficult functional skill like shoe tying. Finally,

this experience alone taught me so much about task analysis and chaining procedures. The ability

to apply my knowledge of this information in a practical way by doing something that will be

relevant later on in my teaching career was a great experience and very beneficial to complete.
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References

Chazin, K.T., Bartelmay, D.N., Lambert, J.M., & Juarez, N.J. (2017). Brief report: Clustered

forward chaining with embedded mastery probes to teach recipe following. Journal of

Autism Developmental Disorders, 47, 1249-1255. doi: 10.1007/s10803-017-3038-z

Miltenberger, R.G. (2012). Behavior modification: Principles and procedures. (6th ed.). Boston,

MA: Cengage Learning.

Shrestha, A., Anderson, A., & Moore, D.W. (2013). Using point of view video modeling and

forward chaining to teach a functional self-help skill to a child with autism. Journal of

Behavioral Education, 22, 157-167. doi: 10.1007/s10864-012-9165-x

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.

Valentino, A.L., Conine, D.E., Delfs, C.H., & Furlow, C.M. (2015). Use of a modified chaining

procedure with textual prompts to establish intraverbal storytelling. Analysis of Verbal

Behavior, 31, 39-58. doi: 10.1007/s40616-014-0023-x

Appendix
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