NBCOT Occupational Analysis Review (Units 1–7 & OTPF-4)

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key occupational therapy concepts, motor learning stages, OTPF-4 categories, activity analysis terminology, and professional reasoning models from the Units 1–7 NBCOT practice exam review.

Activity Analysis

A decontextualized evaluation of the typical demands of an activity within a given culture, conducted without considering a specific individual.

Occupational Analysis

A client-specific evaluation that considers an individual's unique context, specific environment, habits, personal meaning, values, and subjective experience of engagement.

Tool (Object Demands)

A reusable handheld object used to perform or manipulate tasks during an activity that is not consumed or depleted during the process.

Supply (Object Demands)

A consumable or depletable item that is used up during the performance of an activity.

Equipment (Object Demands)

A larger, often powered or fixed machine, apparatus, or set of components necessary to complete an activity, distinguished from handheld tools.

Space Demands

The physical environmental requirements of an activity, including size, arrangement, surface, lighting, temperature, and noise levels.

Social Demands

The behavioral expectations, social rules, norms, and cultural conventions required when engaging in an activity with or around others.

Co-Occupation

An occupation that implicitly involves two or more individuals and requires active interaction and mutual engagement.

Cognitive Stage of Motor Learning

The initial stage of motor learning characterized by high cognitive demand, frequent errors, heavy reliance on visual and external feedback, and variable performance as the learner seeks to understand what to do.

Autonomous Stage of Motor Learning

The advanced stage of motor learning where movement performance is smooth, highly efficient, automatic, requires minimal conscious attention, and allows dual-task performance.

Random Practice

A motor practice schedule involving multiple task variations practiced in an unpredictable sequence to enhance contextual interference, long-term retention, and generalization.

Massed Practice

A practice distribution schedule where active exercise or practice periods are significantly longer than the rest intervals between trials.

Part Practice

A training approach that breaks down a complex motor skill into distinct component steps to be practiced independently before combining them into a whole movement.

Knowledge of Results (KR)

An extrinsic feedback form that provides information regarding the outcome or success of a movement relative to the environmental goal.

Knowledge of Performance (KP)

An extrinsic feedback form providing information regarding the movement execution quality or mechanical characteristics of performance.

Intrinsic Feedback

Internal sensory information generated by the learner's own sensory systems (proprioceptive, visual, tactile, vestibular) during or after movement performance.

Feedback Fading

The systematic, gradual reduction of extrinsic feedback frequency as client proficiency increases, designed to foster internal error detection and long-term retention.

Transfer of Learning

The generalization or execution of a learned skill across novel contexts, settings, or environments outside the original training setup.

Personal Factors

Internal background factors of an individual (such as age, gender identity, education, profession, and lifestyle) that are not part of a health condition.

Habit

A specific, automatic behavior performed consistently without conscious thought, which can be useful, dominating, or impoverished.

Dominating Habit

A consistently performed automatic behavior that interferes with daily performance and life harmony rather than supporting function.

Routine

An established, structured sequence of occupations or activities that provides daily life structure and can promote or damage health.

Role

A set of behaviors expected by society and shaped by culture and context that is further conceptualized and defined by the client.

Ritual

A symbolic action with spiritual, cultural, or social meaning that contributes to a client's identity and beliefs.

Occupational Deprivation

A state of occupational injustice where external environmental, social, or economic barriers prevent individuals from engaging in necessary or meaningful occupations over an extended period.

Values

Acquired beliefs and commitments, derived from culture, regarding what is good, right, and important or worthwhile to do.

Beliefs

Cognitive content held as true or accepted as opinion by or about the client, regardless of objective proof.

Spirituality

A deep client factor involving personal meaning, purpose, peace, and connectedness through engagement in occupations, which may exist outside of formal religion.

Purpose (Meaning in Occupation)

A component of occupational meaning referring to having intentions, overarching directional goals, and reasons for daily life engagement.

Coherence (Meaning in Occupation)

A component of occupational meaning involving making sense of life experiences and organizing them into an understandable, integrated life narrative.

Occupational Profile

A summary of the client's occupational history, experiences, daily living patterns, values, interests, needs, and performance priorities.

Specific Mental Functions

OTPF-4 body functions encompassing higher-level cognition (executive function, cognitive flexibility), attention, memory, perception, and thought.

Global Mental Functions

OTPF-4 body functions encompassing consciousness, orientation (to person, place, time, situation), temperament, personality, energy, drive, and sleep.

Interoception

An internal sensory body function responsible for perceiving visceral states and internal organ sensations such as hunger, thirst, fullness, pain, and bladder signals.

Vestibular Function

A sensory body function that senses inner ear position, head movement, spatial orientation, and gravity, essential for maintaining balance and equilibrium.

Body Structures vs. Body Functions

Body structures are the anatomical parts of the body (e.g., organs, limbs, bones, nervous system), whereas body functions are the physiological functions supported by those structures (e.g., vision, memory, muscle control).

Muscle Power

A neuromusculoskeletal body function referring to the force generated by the contraction of a muscle or muscle groups (strength).

Muscle Tone

A neuromusculoskeletal body function referring to the degree of tension present in muscle tissue at rest and during passive stretch (e.g., rigidity, spasticity, flaccidity).

Grading

An activity analysis intervention technique that incrementally increases or decreases task demands to challenge or match a client's developing capacities.

Adapting / Modifying

An intervention approach that alters object demands, tools, or environmental contexts to enable immediate task performance without requiring remediation of underlying body functions.

Process Skills

Observable performance actions in which a client manages time, selects and uses tools/materials, paces steps, carries out actions, and modifies performance when problems arise.

Establish / Restore (Remediation)

An OTPF-4 intervention approach designed to change client variables to develop a skill or body function not yet established or restore an impaired capacity.

Scientific Reasoning

A professional reasoning mode utilizing logic, scientific evidence, and physiological theories to understand conditions and determine effective interventions.

Narrative Reasoning

A professional reasoning mode focused on understanding the client's occupational life story, personal illness experience, and subjective occupational meaning.

Pragmatic Reasoning

A professional reasoning mode that addresses real-world practicalities, such as insurance coverage, clinic space, equipment availability, therapist competence, and treatment time constraints.

Ethical Reasoning

A professional reasoning mode that systematically analyzes moral dilemmas, professional values, and competing obligations (such as autonomy versus beneficence) to decide on action.

Interactive Reasoning

A professional reasoning mode directed toward establishing rapport, using therapeutic interpersonal communication and humor, and understanding the client as an individual human being.

Conditional Reasoning

A complex, multidimensional synthesis of all professional reasoning forms that blends past identity, present status, and future life possibilities into a transformed trajectory.

Occupational Adaptation (OA) Model

A practice model positing that occupational performance improves when an individual's internal adaptive response capacity satisfies the press for mastery demanded by an occupational challenge.

CMOP-E (Canadian Model of Occupational Performance and Engagement)

A model of practice that places Spirituality at its central core as the essence of personhood, surrounded by the person (cognitive, affective, physical), occupation, and environment.

Kawa River Model ('Rocks')

Metaphorical elements within the Japanese Kawa River Model representing life circumstances, obstacles, medical conditions, and barriers that impede life flow.

Allen Cognitive Level 4 (Goal-Directed Actions)

A functional cognitive level where an individual can perform familiar structured tasks using visual cues and concrete samples to copy, but cannot anticipate errors or solve abstract unexpected problems.

Top-Down Approach

An evaluation approach that begins with the client's occupational profile, meaningful roles, and daily engagement priorities before assessing specific underlying body function deficits.

Create / Promote (Health Promotion)

An OTPF-4 intervention approach aimed at providing enriched contextual and activity experiences to enhance performance for all individuals or populations without assuming a disability is present.