Running Head: TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 1

Task Analysis and Chaining of Zipping Up a Jacket

Kateri Spencer

EDU 347
TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 2

Student Information

Alicia is a three year old at a head start classroom with students of the same age. She

lives in a suburban home with both of her parents and no siblings. Thus far in Alicia’s

development, there is no evidence of her having any disability. Her participation in the

classroom does not include any accommodations or modifications for instruction, and she does

not have paraeducator support. She enjoys being outside, and having “choice time” where she

chooses to play wherever she wants within the confines of the student centers. In “choice time”

she normally plays in the home area where there is a toy kitchen and a living space.

Concerning her academic achievement, Alicia excels at concepts of print by holding

books correctly and recognizing her name. Her language development is on track, and she

speaks with clarity and assertiveness. She does not know her numbers one through ten, and

cannot yet recognize shapes. Her parents’ academic concerns for Alicia are that she learns her

alphabet and her numbers by the end of her year in the three-year old room. Alicia does well in

the realm of social and emotional development. The goal of the classroom’s environment and

schedule is to encourage positive social skills and emotional climate for the students. The

teachers described Alicia as being empathetic, assertive, and able to articulate her needs. She

knows how to share, and she is willing to take turns playing with other students. An area for

improvement would be using language to resolve conflicts among her and her peers. She follows

the routine and rules, and is respectful to the teachers. She also knows how to complete the

functional skills expected of the three year olds such as going potty, washing hands, and

brushing her teeth. The only records on Alicia that the head start provided were the Pre-

Kindergarten Family Report done in August of 2018. It stated all of the above information about

Alicia’s academic and social skills and how they should improve throughout the year.
TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 3

Targeted Task

The targeted task that Alicia will work on learning with the chaining intervention will be

putting on and zipping up a hooded jacket. These skills are important to learn so that she can

independently put on appropriate apparel for the temperature in the room or outdoors. In a

school environment, it will give the teachers more time during transition to help other students

with their jackets as well. At home, the student would be ready for the outdoors without a

parent’s or guardian’s assistance. If a student chooses to do activities in cooler weather without

adult monitoring, he or she would hopefully have the option of choosing to put on their jacket

because they know how to do so. The development of the student’s fine motor skills are also

being fostered through the task of zipping up their jacket. Alicia brings and wears a jacket to

school every day. When temperatures do not require a jacket, she still wishes to wear it during

outdoor time. Due to this, it would be important for her to learn how to put her jacket on

independently so that she is not consistently disrupting transition time by asking for help to put

on her jacket. It is a short range goal that will increase Alicia’s ability to do a task she wants to

do and needs to do for her health.

Task Analysis

A task analysis includes identifying the steps of a skill for a specific learner that will most

appropriately help the individual learner develop that functional, cognitive, social, or academic

skill (Jonassen, Hannum, & Tessmer, 1989). It helps the teacher identify the objectives the

learner needs to accomplish, and selecting those goals or objectives based off of the learner’s

level of development. For backwards chaining used in this chaining sequence with Alicia, the

teacher would use the last step of the task analysis and gradually teach the other components

included in the task analysis (Slocum & Tiger, 2011). Without a detailed task analysis, it could
TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 4

be difficult to identify the specific steps to work on sequentially for backwards chaining

(Jonassen, Tessmer, & Hannum, 1989).

Task Analysis used for the chaining procedure of zipping up a hooded jacket for Alicia:

1 Take hooded jacket off of the cubby hook.

2 Put jacket hood on head with the rest of the jacket behind.

3 Reach to the side and a little behind and put on left or right sleeve first.

4 Reach to the other side and a little behind with the other hand and put on other

sleeve.

5 Pinch very closely to the bottom tab of the opposite side of the zipper with the right

hand.

6 Pinch the tassel of the zipper with the left hand.

7 Pull the tassel of the zipper in the right hand over the tab close to the left hand. (or

slide the tab in the left into the tassel in the right).

8 Hold onto the very bottom tab of the zipper with the left hand.

9 Pull tassel up with the right hand.

10 Zip jacket up to chest.

Before learning how to put on a jacket and zip it, the student will have to know the

different parts of a jacket. Alicia has to be able to identify a hood, sleeve, and zipper of a jacket.

She also has to understand simple vocabulary such as “pull”, “connect”, “pinch”, and “tight”.

The task of zipping up her jacket may become difficult for Alicia, especially when she has to

slide the tab of the left part of the zipper into the tassel of the right. Jackets come with all kinds

of zippers, and there was the possibility that Alicia would bring a different jacket to school with
TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 5

a different zipper. If this is the case, the steps that include “Pinching tight, and pulling” need to

be emphasized greatly, because if she pinches tight enough and pulls hard enough she will be

able to zip up jackets with different or hard-to-zip zippers. Another challenge will be helping

Alicia to understand that she learning how to put on a jacket and not just getting ready to go

outside. Reinforcements will be used to help Alicia understand that she is partaking in a lesson,

instead of getting ready to be warm. Explaining to Alicia that she is doing an activity, instead of

having something come after putting on her coat, will help her realize the end result of the

activity is to learn how to zip up her jacket, especially if she is reinforced.

Data will be collected using percentage of opportunities of how many times Alicia does

the steps in the task independently. When she does not do the tasks independently, the prompts

used to help her complete the steps will also be added to the data. These will be collected using

“V” for verbal prompts, “G” for gestural prompts, “PP” for partial physical prompts, and “FP”

for full physical prompting. When Alicia does a step in the task analysis independently, it will be

marked with an “I” next to the step. Alicia will be pulled out of her daily activities four times in

one class day to gather baseline data. For the chaining intervention, Alicia will be pulled out of

her activities three six minute sessions a day for two days. Post-intervention data will be

collected over two days; Alicia will be pulled out of her daily activities three times a day.

Chaining Procedure

Behavior chaining will be used to teach Alicia the task analysis for zipping up a jacket

with a hood. Chaining procedures encompass the use of systematic prompting and fading to

each part of a chain that involves a stimulus response (Miltenberger, 2016). Each part of a chain

is detailed in a task analysis, which is used to break down the components for a chaining
TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 6

sequence (Miltenberger, 2016). Chaining makes learning a new skill more manageable because

each step is taught individually (Guercio & Cormier, 2015).

The type of chaining that will be used to teach Alicia how to zip up her jacket was

backwards chaining. When teaching a student to do a task with backwards, the instructor would

teach them the last part of the sequence, or task analysis first. After the student masters that last

step, the instructor would teach the step before it, continuing in a backwards fashion (Kazdin,

2013). For instance, the first step Alicia would learn is the last step in the sequence: zip up

jacket to chest. Backwards chaining differs from forward chaining in that the mastering of the

steps is reversed. In forward chaining the student must master the first steps before moving on to

the next step (Kazdin, 2013). Alicia will learn how to zip up her jacket with backwards chaining

so that, in the process of learning the last steps, Alicia will also give full physical prompts of

every previous step. This allows Alicia to start learning those steps without doing them. In

completion of the task analysis and baseline data collection, it was clear that Alicia could do

some of the process on her own. She could not, however, put her hands in the sleeves and put

the zipper together. Utilizing backwards chaining will allow Alicia to start to learn how to put

on her sleeves through the full physical prompting, while she is learning the second to last steps

in the sequence that involve putting the zipper together. While using backwards chaining, Alicia

will be given a small jar with her name on it. Every time she does the last step in the sequence

with minimal prompting, she will get to put a “pom pom” in the jar. Her goal is to fill up the jar

as she learns how to independently put on her jacket. This positive reinforcement was chosen

because, after observing Alicia in play, she appears to enjoy soft stuffed animals, colorful toys,

and using her hands to put things together. The jar allows her to put something soft in it on her
TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 7

own, a very small form of play in which she can get “a prize” for doing the steps in the sequence

correctly.

Results

Zipping Up a Hooded Jacket

10
Baseline Intervention
9
Number of Steps Completed Independently

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

Graph 1. This graph displays the number of steps Alicia could complete independently before

and after the chaining intervention.

Graph 1 above shows a rising variable trend of the number of times that Alicia completed

a step in the task independently. Completing the task after intervention required less prompts,

and the line depicting the task after intervention depicts that Alicia completed more steps

independently for seven out of the ten post-intervention trials. There is overlap in the data points

for the three sessions eight, nine and ten, because less steps were done independently during

those sessions.
TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 8

Zipping Up a Hooded Jacket

10
9
Numbero of Steps Prompted

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

Graph 2. This graph displays the number of times Alicia was prompted to complete a step.

Graph 2 depicts how many times prompts were used in order for Alicia to complete the

current step in the task. These prompts included verbal, gestural, partial physical and full

physical prompting. There is a trend in the graph that shows the prompting does decrease after

the chaining intervention. The session with the highest level of prompting occurred during the

third session of the baseline data collection when Alicia only completed the first and the last step

of the task independently.

The chaining intervention with Alicia improved her ability to put on her hooded jacket

and zip it. One task Alicia learned through numerous repetitions of chaining was how to put her

sleeves on, a task she formally did not complete independently. The poms poms used as

reinforcement for Alica worked very well during intervention. Alicia wanted to fill up the jar as

fast as possible and eagerly did the chaining sequence more than once in a session. When it was

time to collect data after intervention, she had filled up the jar and she was proud of all the pom

poms she received. The decrease in prompting occurred in large part because of the backwards
TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 9

chaining method. It was very difficult for Alicia to put the zipper together, so as she worked on

that step, she was also learning the other steps through prompting. The chaining did help her

understand how tight she has to hold onto each side of her jacket, in order to use the zipper.

Future Recommendations

One task Alicia could work on to enhance the skills she has learned is to start putting on

her own clothing. This might start with cardigans sweaters and eventually move on to pullovers

and other tops she can wear. Alicia also needs to work on connecting the zipper. This was a step

in the process that she struggled with the most. A helpful way to help her master the skill would

be to find a jacket with a larger zipper that she can more easily stick together with her small

fingers. Connecting the zipper of a jacket or coat should be something she practices doing every

day, especially in the colder weather. The reinforcement worked well for Alicia, but could be

adjusted to behavior specific praise if this task was practiced by Alicia on a daily basis.

Alicia only resisted to the data collection sessions and the chaining when it was “choice

time” in class. During “choice time” chaining and data collection sessions were shorter. This

presented a challenge because much of the time I was in the classroom was during choice time

and outside time. It was cold, and I would not ask Alicia to take her jacket off outside. Another

challenge was making sure Alicia would pinch as tight as she could. This was a fine motor skill

that Alicia needed to improve as well in order to better zip up her jacket. I learned that it does

take consideration of student interests in order for reinforcement to work, especially if

reinforcement is not food. I also learned that students want to learn everyday tasks that will help

them be independent if you encourage them. Alicia was excited when she could finally put on

her sleeves without any assistance. In the future, I would try to find a less distracting

environment to use when utilizing a chaining procedure for a student. I would also try to make
TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 10

sure that there were materials ready for the chaining lesson. This means that I would have a

jacket ready, just in case the student did not have their own for that day. Making sure the student

is reinforced in a manner that works for the student was effective and I learned the importance of

getting to know and understand the student.

TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 11

Bibliography

Guercio, J.M. & Cormier, R.J. (2015). Blending stimulus fading procedures with forward

chaining to address treatment resistance in an adult with an autism spectrum disorder.

Behavior Analysis in Practice 8(2), 215-218.

Jonassen, David H & Hannum, Wallace H & Tessmer, Martin (1989). Handbook of task analysis

procedures. Praeger, New York

Kazdin, A.E. (2013). Behavior modification in applied settings. Long Grove, IL: Waveland

Press.

Miltenberger, R.G. (2016). Behavior modification: Principles and procedures, sixth edition.

Boston, MA: Cengage Learnin.

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 AND CHAINING 12

Appendices

Baseline Data Collection Sheet

Time 10:57 11:10 11:45 12:20 12:25

Steps of the
Session 1 2 3 4 5
Chain
Date 10/17 10/17 10/17 10/17 10/17
1. I I I I I

V V V, G, V, G, V, G,
2.
PP FP FP
I V V, G, V V, FP
3.
FP
V, G, V, FP V, G, I I V, FP
4.
FP
I V, PP V, G, V I
5.
FP
I V V, G, V I
6.
FP
V, G, V V, G, V, G, V, G,
7.
FP FP FP FP
V, G, V, G, V, G, V, G, I
8.
FP FP FP FP
V, G, V, PP V V, G, V, G,
9.
FP FP PP
10. I I V I I

5/10 2/10 1/10 3/10 5/10

TOTAL out of _____
TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 13

Post-Intervention Data Collection Sheet

Steps of Time 11:35 11:38 11:50 11:54 12:15 12:20 11:15 11:23 11:40 11:51
the Session 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Chain Date 10/24 10/24 10/24 10/24 10/24 10/28 10/28 10/28 10/28 10/28

1. I I I I V I I I I I

V, G, V,G, V,G, V,G, V I I I V I

2.
PP PP PP PP
3. I I I V I I I I I I

V,G, V,G, I I I I I I I I
4.
PP PP
I I V,G I V,G, V I V V I
5.
PP
I I V,G I V,G, V I V V I
6.
PP
V,G, V,G, V,G, V,G, V,G, V,G, V,G, V,G, V,G, F,G,
7.
FP FP FP FP PP FP PP FP FP FP
I I V,G, V,G, V,G, I I I I I
8.
FP FP FP
I I V,G, V I I V,G, V,G, I I
9.
,FP PP PP
I I I I I I I I I I
10.
TOTAL out of 7/10 7/10 4/10 5/10 4/10 7/10 8/10 6/10 6/10 9/10
_____
TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 14

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.)?

N/A

2. Record information on the student’s current level of performance as it related to their

grades, goals, and current level of development.

Early Learning Report System (08/27/18)

 Increase ability to follow rules.

 Increase ability to express ideas

 Increase hand-eye coordination

 Increase ability to count.

3. Does the student receive any accommodations or modifications in the classroom or

during assessments?

Alicia does not

4. How much of the school day does the student spend in the general education environment

per the IEP?

N/A

5. Does the student have a completed FBA, BIP, or another behavior-specific plan?

Alicia does not.

TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 15

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 helpful to see Alicia’s learning goals for the upcoming year as needed in

August of 2018. I can see the reasons for certain classroom instructional methods

and social interactions.

7. What additional information would you be interested in obtaining?

I would like to see the next progress monitoring report.

TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 16

Teacher Interview Document

Student Pseudonym: Alicia Abrams

Grade: Pipino’s 2 Age 3
Age: 3
Environment: Suburban
Parents/Guardians: Mom and Dad
Siblings: N/A
Current Grades in School: N/A
Present Level of Performance:

Reading: concepts of print (knows how to hold a book), recognizes her name written
Spelling: Cannot spell name
Writing: Cannot write letters
Math: Does not know numbers

Any adaptations in place for taking assessments?

N/A
Academic Strengths:
Alicia speaks clearly and is assertive. She follows routine and rules. Alicia shows empathy and
can articulate what she needs often.

Academic Areas for Improvement:

Alicia could improve in her counting, letter recognition, shape and number identification and
language usage.

Behavioral Strengths:
Alicia follows the routine and rules.

Behavioral Areas for Improvement:

TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING 17

Alicia could improve in social problem solving.

Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP)? No

Describe the level of independent functional skills.

Alicia can use the potty, brush her teeth, wash her hands, and follow rules.

Describe social skills and relationships with peers:

Most of the time Alicia interacts with other children, shares and takes turns.

Describe organization and decision-making skills:

Alicia follows the routine.

Describe things that he/she finds motivating and reinforcing:

Alicia finds choice time, outside time, and buddy circle time motivating.

Goals or aspirations the parents have for their child for this school year:
Goals for Alicia include learning the ABC’s, numbers, and cognitive skills.