Applied cognitive task analysis (ACTA): a practitioner's toolkit for understanding cognitive task demands

Abstract

Cognitive task analysis (CTA) is a set of methods for identifying cognitive skills, or mental demands, needed to perform a task pro®ciently. The product of the task analysis can be used to inform the design of interfaces and training systems. However, CTA is resource intensive and has previously been of limited use to design practitioners. A streamlined method of CTA, Applied Cognitive Task Analysis (ACTA), is presented in this paper. ACTA consists of three interview methods that help the practitioner to extract information about the cognitive demands and skills required for a task. ACTA also allows the practitioner to represent this information in a format that will translate more directly into applied products, such as improved training scenarios or interface recommendations. This paper will describe the three methods, an evaluation study conducted to assess the usability and usefulness of the methods, and some directions for future research for making cognitive task analysis accessible to practitioners. ACTA techniques were found to be easy to use,¯exible, and to provide clear output. The information and training materials developed based on ACTA interviews were found to be accurate and important for training purposes.

Decision-centered MOUT training for small unit leaders

“…The interviewers employ Critical Decision Method (Klein, Calderwood, & MacGregor, 1989;Hoffman, Crandall, & Shadbolt, 1998) and Knowledge Audit (Militello & Hutton, 1998) probes to elicit decisions, judgments, cues, factors, and expert-novice differences pertaining to the situation. Then the interviewers alter one dimension or piece of context, and probe to determine whether and how the decisions and judgments are altered.…”

“…The experts in urban operations have extensive operational experience and have learned lessons that cannot be found in any training manuals. By using Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) methods (e.g., Hoffman, Crandall, & Shadbolt, 1998;Militello & Hutton, 1998;Schraagen, Chipman, & Shalin, 2000) to elicit these lessons, we can identify the decision requirements: the critical and challenging decisions and judgments, the information (cues and factors) that influences those decisions and judgments, and the sources ofthat information. We can use the arsenal of CTA methods to define the decision requirements of MOUT missions, and we can use those decision requirements to guide the development of a training program that boosts decision skills in MOUT.…”

How to recognise a kick: A cognitive task analysis of drillers’ situation awareness during well operations

“…Similar to HTA, CTA requires significant time and resources. Applied Cognitive Task Analysis (ACTA) is a streamlined version of CTA, providing the practitioner with a set of data extraction methods that are designed to support interventions, such as training programmes or work design recommendations (see Militello & Hutton, 1998). This technique was the most relevant for the current study.…”

“…Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) methods can be used to identify the cognitive processes and goal structures that underpin how experts perform complex tasks (Militello & Hutton, 1998)., such as kick detection This commonly includes conducting a Task Analysis (TA) in which task data (e.g. document analysis) are gathered to document what an operator is required to do to successfully complete a specified task within a system, producing a task description, (e.g.…”

A decision support tool to aid campaign planners in selecting combat aircraft for theater crisis

“…The interview is developed using the "Interviewer' [Militello, 1998[Militello, : pg 1622 are used during the CDM interviews. An interview script, discussed earlier, is used to assist the interviewer during the interview and to ensure the interview itself was kept on track with the research goals.…”