Recent Trends in the Study of Cognitive Development: Variations on a Task-Analytic Theme

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Abstract
The purpose of this article is to review recent advances in task-analytic techniques for studying cognitive development. Task analysis involves breaking down problems into component operations and then combining the components into models of performance. Two early influential task-analytic techniques were those of Gagné and Simon; each of these is briefly described and evaluated. Next, three recently-developed techniques are explored. Sternberg’s componential analysis approach is an effort to identify components that are general across many tasks. Gelman’s analysis in terms of principles is intended to uncover knowledge underlying the choice of performance routines. My own rule-assessment approach is aimed at revealing the sequence of partial understandings preceding conceptual mastery. The article ends with the speculation that investigation of learning represents a likely future direction for application of task-analytic techniques.

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