ABSTRACT
This chapter takes as its general theme the actual and potential role of task analysis, particularly information-processing analysis, in instructional theory and instructional design. Some definitions are needed to make this opening statement sensible. The term “instruction” is used here in its most general sense to refer to any set of environmental conditions that are deliberately arranged to foster increases in competence. Instruction thus includes demonstrating, telling, and explaining, but it equally includes physical arrangements, structure of presented material, sequences of task demands, and responses to the learner’s actions. A theory of instruction, therefore, must concern itself with the relationship between any modifications in the learning environment and resultant changes in competence. When the competence with which we are concerned is intellectual, development of a theory of instruction requires a means of describing states of intellectual competence, and ultimately of relating changes in these states to manipulations of the learning environment.
