Motivation and overview

The aim of this paper is to describe for the nonspecialist the main features of task dynamics so that research that uses it can be understood and evaluated more easily. Necessarily, there are some omissions and simplifications. More complete accounts can be found in the references cited in the text, especially Saltzman (1986) and Saltzman and Munhall (1989); Browman and Goldstein (1989, 1990) offer clear descriptions that focus more on the phonologically relevant aspects than the mathematical details. The task-dynamic model is being developed at the same time as it is being used as a research tool. Consistent with this paper's purpose as a general introduction rather than a detailed critique, it mainly describes the current model, and tends not to discuss intentions for how the model should ultimately work or theoretical differences among investigators.

Task dynamics is a general model of skilled movement control that was developed originally to explain nonspeech tasks such as reaching and standing upright, and has more recently been applied to speech. It is based on general biological and physical principles of coordinated movement, but is couched in dynamical rather than anatomical or physiological terms. It involves a relatively radical approach that is more abstract than many more traditional systems, and has proved to be a particularly useful way of analyzing speech production, partly because it breaks complex movements down into a set of functionally independent tasks.