Discrete, serial, and continuous tasks

Schmidt (1988) classifies tasks as:

Schmidt defines discrete tasks as having a "recognizable beginning and end" (p. 46) and includes throwing, striking a match, and shifting gears while driving as examples.

Serial tasks are composed of a series of discrete tasks, and should be amenable to partitioning or part-task training. Schmidt (p. 46) suggests examples like starting a car, lighting a pipe, playing a piano composition, and performing sequenced routines on an assembly line or in a gymnastics competition.

Continuous tasks have no recognizable beginning and end. Schmidt's (p. 46) examples include running, swimming, or steering a car. It is unclear whether therapists can successfully teach continuous tasks by "breaking them down" or partitioning them.

Research into spinal pattern generators (Grillner, 1985), which produce oscillatory movements (like walking, scratching, and paw shaking), suggests that these collections of neurons generate patterned movements as a single, complex, and continuous piece, not as a series of discrete actions.

References:

Grillner, S. (1985). Neurobiological bases of rhythmic motor acts in vertebrates. Science, 228(4696), 143-149.

Schmidt, R.A. (1988). Motor learning and control: A behavioral emphasis. (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

an unedited Medline search re: discrete and continuous tasks

Last updated 12-7-01 ©Dave Thompson PT