Task
Task — a clearly defined action or activity assigned explicitly to an individual or organization that must be done as it is imposed by an appropriate authority [U. S. Department of Defense, p. 237].
The task is an essential concept in psychology and action science. However, despite a growing body of literature addressing the opportunities and limits of human dual- or multitasking, the term task is still poorly defined. In the following, we argue that a definition of the term task is required to constrain the scope of multitasking research, to clarify how many tasks a person performs, and to broaden our understanding of interference between tasks.
In everyday language, tasks are usually understood as demands generally achievable by an action or a set of actions, e.g., baking a cake, being a good student, or switching on the light. However, the required actions may not be specified by the task assignment. Tasks may differ in their levels of abstractness. They may consist of several less abstract subtasks, which can be completed sequentially or simultaneously (e.g., learning for the exam, attaining lessons, participating in an experiment, pressing a button) [Künzell, Broeker, Dignath, p. 4].
U. S. Department of Defense. (2017). Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, JP 1-02. NC: Lulu Press.
Künzell, S., Broeker, L., Dignath, D., Ewolds, H., Raab, M. & Tomaschke, R. (2017). What is a task? An ideomotor perspective. Psychological Research, 82, 4–11. Berlin: Springer Verlag