A Framework for the Analysis of Cognitive Tasks

The goal of this study was to examine similarities and differences between various types of cognitive task analysis and, if possible, to infer some framework in which the areas for further research should become clear. The result of this study is a framework which integrates three views on cognitive task analysis task, knowledge and cognitive modelling. For each view, prototypical task analysis techniques are presented respectively Hierarchical Task Analysis HTA, Knowledge Analysis and Documentation System KADS and Goals Operators Methods and Selection rules GOMS. The task modelling view and the cognitive modelling view are already known in the cognitive task analysis domain. The task modelling view concentrates on the decomposition of tasks into goals and subgoals. The cognitive modelling view concentrates on the cognitive performance of the task. The knowledge modelling view, however, is a relativeLy new element in the research area of cognitive task analysis. Within the knowledge modelling view, it is recommended by the framework to gain information about the requirements of the task. Those requirements can have a strong influence on the cognitive performance of the task and, therefore, within the framework of cognitive task analysis, it is advised to examine task requirements before starting to analyze the cognitive performance of the task. Further research in this area is therefore necessary to bridge the gap between one sight of the camp, the task modelling view, and the other side of the camp, the cognitive modelling view. An interesting work of research could be to invent a way in which task requirements are acquired in such a way that they, together with the tasks goals, can easily be used to make predictions about cognitive performance.