COTA Activity Analysis 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the PRIMARY purpose of activity analysis in occupational therapy practice?
- To determine the cost of therapeutic materials
- To break down an activity into its component parts and demands (Correct answer)
- To assign a diagnosis to the client
- To document billable units of service
Correct answer: To break down an activity into its component parts and demands
Activity analysis involves systematically breaking down an activity into its component parts to understand the skills, contexts, and demands required to perform it.
Question 2: When a COTA performs an activity analysis of brushing teeth, which category describes the muscle strength required?
- Cognitive demands
- Social demands
- Performance skills — motor (Correct answer)
- Environmental context
Correct answer: Performance skills — motor
Muscle strength used during tooth brushing falls under motor performance skills, which are observable goal-directed actions related to movement.
Question 3: Which of the following BEST represents a 'demand' identified during activity analysis?
- The client's diagnosis
- The payer source for therapy
- The objects and properties required to complete the activity (Correct answer)
- The therapist's level of experience
Correct answer: The objects and properties required to complete the activity
Activity demands include objects and their properties — the tools, materials, and equipment needed to carry out the activity.
Question 4: A COTA analyzes cooking as a therapeutic activity. Identifying that the client must sequence steps to prepare a meal is an example of which type of demand?
- Sensory-perceptual skills
- Process skills (Correct answer)
- Motor and praxis skills
- Emotional regulation skills
Correct answer: Process skills
Sequencing steps is a process skill, which involves actions used in managing and adapting performance over time to complete tasks.
Question 5: In activity analysis, 'space demands' refers to:
- The amount of time needed to complete the activity
- The physical environment and size requirements of the activity (Correct answer)
- The number of people involved in performing the activity
- The cultural significance of the activity to the client
Correct answer: The physical environment and size requirements of the activity
Space demands describe the physical environment requirements such as size, arrangement, surface, lighting, temperature, and noise needed for the activity.
Question 6: A COTA is grading a woodworking activity to match a client's current functional level. Which principle of activity analysis is being applied?
- Therapeutic use of self
- Contextual modification
- Activity gradation (Correct answer)
- Performance skill assessment
Correct answer: Activity gradation
Activity gradation involves adjusting the difficulty of an activity incrementally to match and then challenge the client's current performance level.
Question 7: Which framework most commonly guides activity analysis in U.S. occupational therapy practice?
- The Rood Approach
- The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF) (Correct answer)
- The Kawa Model
- The Person-Environment-Occupation (PEO) Model
Correct answer: The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF)
The OTPF published by AOTA provides the official domain and process language, including activity demands, performance skills, and contexts used in activity analysis.
COTA Activity Analysis 1
What is the PRIMARY purpose of activity analysis in occupational therapy practice?