A task analysis is the delineation of a selected activity into its component, sequential parts.
Standley (1998) demonstrated the benefits of a hierarchical task analysis of neurological
tolerance to increasingly complex stimuli with premature infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care
Unit. Music maintained pacification while multimodal stimuli were systematically introduced.
Results showed faster habituation indicative of increased neurological maturity and earlier
hospital discharge. Also, task analysis principles can be applied to an entire program plan or
curriculum design as with the comprehensive music therapy objectives outlined by Darrow,
Gfeller, Gorsuch, and Thomas (2000) for children who are deaf or hearing impaired.