conclusion of task analysis

How to Conduct a Task Analysis (With Examples)

Apr 16, 2024

Creating a to-do list and using a daily task tracker can go a long way toward helping you and your team get things done. But identifying and delegating tasks is only one part of the process. Performing a task analysis can help you refine the purpose of your task, break your task down into subtasks, and improve productivity and efficiency.

Team leaders in nearly any industry can perform a task analysis as a way to optimize internal practices, improve the customer experience, or even to assist employees with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) . Let’s take a look at what a task analysis is, how to perform a task analysis, and some real-world task analysis examples.

What Is Task Analysis?

Task analysis is the process of identifying the purpose and components of a complex task and breaking it down into smaller steps. Rather than trying to teach a new skill or process all at once, the purpose of task analysis is to separate it into individual steps that can be followed in a logical sequence.

The principles of task analysis can be used in product design and industrial engineering. It provides a method to better understand the way a customer uses a product and to design more user-friendly workflows. Forward and backward chaining can even be applied to systems that use artificial intelligence (AI) to make data-driven decisions and solve problems.

You’ll often see principles of task analysis applied to special education settings, which can inform employers who have employees with disabilities. For example, applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a type of therapy that uses task analysis to teach complex skills to children with autism spectrum disorder or other developmental disabilities.

In ABA therapy, practitioners use techniques like forward chaining to break down a task into a sequence of discrete steps. A related approach, discrete trial training (DTT) , can be used for teaching students everything from motor skills to daily living skills.

Types of Task Analysis

When using task analysis to plan a project or develop a new product, you can choose from one of two forms: cognitive and hierarchical. A cognitive task analysis is useful for tasks that require critical thinking or decision-making, while a hierarchical task analysis can be used for processes with a consistent structure or workflow.

Here’s how these two types of task analysis differ.

Cognitive task analysis

Let’s say you’re developing a new piece of software and you want to better understand how your customers will interact with the user interface. Rather than tell them how to perform a task, you simply give them a goal and watch how they achieve it.

Since different users will complete the task in a different way, you can use this analysis to identify pain points or understand how a customer’s knowledge and mindset inform their approach to completing the task.

Hierarchical task analysis

A hierarchical task analysis is one in which the process is fixed. In other words, you give the user a set of specific steps and watch how they perform each step of the task. You may discover that some steps are unnecessary or don’t serve the overall goal.

A hierarchical task analysis can be used to determine how long it takes to perform the total task process, and which steps can be eliminated with task automation .

How to Perform a Task Analysis in 4 Steps

The steps to conducting a task analysis will vary depending on whether you’re analyzing an internal process, a UX workflow, or a social or academic skill. But you can use these five steps to break down nearly any type of task and perform a task analysis as part of team project management or your own self-management process .

1. Define your goal

Start by defining the overall goal or task process that you want to analyze. This could be as simple as “Create a new user account and buy a product” or as in-depth as “ Run a post-mortem meeting and send out meeting minutes to everyone who attended.” The more specific your goal, the more useful your task analysis will be.

2. Create a list of subtasks

Next, break your higher-level task down into manageable steps. The idea is to create a list of all the subtasks that go into performing the task, even those that you might take for granted. You never know which tasks are slowing the whole process down.

For example, if you’re testing a new app, the first step might be “Turn on your phone” and the last step might be “Turn off your phone.”

3. Make a flowchart or diagram

A process flow chart or workflow diagram can help you determine which type of analysis to perform. Is your workflow a linear process with a series of discrete tasks that need to be completed in a specific order? Consider performing a hierarchical task analysis to find steps that you can automate or eliminate.

Is it more of a “choose your own adventure” in which different users will complete the task in a different way? Conduct a cognitive task analysis to identify pain points and prerequisites based on how different categories of users complete the task.

4. Analyze the task

Now, you can run through the process and pay attention to the length, frequency, and difficulty of each subtask. Were there any steps that you missed or that took longer than expected to complete? If another user performed the task, did they have the skills and knowledge necessary to complete the entire process?

You can use this information to make changes to the product or process, create more accurate documentation, or improve your training or onboarding practices.

3 Task Analysis Examples

The principles of task analysis can be applied to a wide range of scenarios, so let’s take a look at a few examples of task analysis in the real world.

Task analysis in UX design

In UX design, a task analysis may take the form of a focus group or usability testing. If you’ve just designed a new app, you might want to see how easy it is for customers to download the app and sign up for a new account. The process might look like this:

• Go to the App Store
• Search for the app
• Download the app
• Open the app
• Select “Create account”
• Enter your email address
• Verify your email address
• Choose a username and password

Upon conducting a task analysis, you determine that Step 7, “Verify your email address,” actually consists of multiple subtasks, such as opening up an email app. You decide to move this step later in the process to avoid disrupting the workflow.

Task analysis in project management

As a project manager, it’s important to know how your team members are spending their time so you can improve productivity and team accountability . Let’s say you want to find ways to delegate tasks more efficiently by using task automation. You come up with a list of the steps you usually follow to delegate tasks:

• Document action items during team meetings
• Add action items to your task manager
• Create a description for each task
• Assign each task to a team member
• Attach a due date to each task
• Send out a reminder email

After performing a task analysis, you determine that you don’t actually have to do any of these steps manually. You can use an AI task manager like Anchor AI to identify and delegate action items, attach due dates, and send out reminders automatically.

Task analysis for learning disabilities

In employment settings, a task analysis can be used to help employees with learning disabilities who otherwise struggle to complete tasks. One study found that individuals with intellectual disabilities were able to complete office tasks like scanning, copying, and shredding when they were broken down into steps like:

• Pick up documents from folder
• Open the scanner cover
• Place documents face-down on the scanner
• Close the scanner cover
• Press “Scan”
• Remove documents
• Return documents to the folder

Employees with learning disabilities may benefit from similarly specific instructions for other daily tasks, such as using time management tools or a password manager.

Streamline Task Management With Anchor AI

Performing a task analysis is a way of breaking down complex tasks into smaller steps so you can better understand how they all fit together. It’s used in workplaces, learning environments, and other settings to standardize processes, streamline workflows, and even teach social skills. You can use a task analysis to optimize internal processes or customer-facing workflows and eliminate unnecessary tasks altogether.

Anchor AI makes it easy to identify tasks and break them down into manageable steps with Max, your AI project manager. Simply invite Anchor AI to your next team meeting and Max will identify action items and delegate tasks automatically. Or, Ask Max for deeper insights into how specific tasks align with your overall project goals.

Sign up today to try it out for yourself and streamline task and project management!

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How to Do a Task Analysis Like a Pro

Task analysis is one of the cornerstones of instructional design. But what is it, really? The name says a lot: you analyze a task, step by step, to document how that task is completed.

At first glance, this seems like a straightforward thing. But even the easiest tasks can be quite complex. Things you do every day might seem simple when you first think about them. But what happens when you eliminate internalized or assumed knowledge? 

Take sending an email. Easy, right? Maybe four or five steps? 

• Click the New Mail icon
• Enter a Recipient
• Enter a Subject
• Enter your email text 

But what about carbon copy or blind carbon copy recipients? What if you need to attach an invoice or picture? What app do you use to create the email in the first place (or are you sending from Gmail in your browser)? For that matter, from which device are you sending the email? 

Suddenly that “simple” task is a set of processes, organized by device, operating system, and application, with various subtasks along the way accounting for mailing list complexities and the purpose of your email. As I was writing this I came up with about a dozen different variations, all of which would need to be closely analyzed and broken down precisely. 

Even the most average task has a lot behind it.

This is why understanding how to do a task analysis is so important to becoming a successful instructional designer. When instructional designers create training, they’re teaching the learner how to accomplish something. Task analysis helps you focus on what they’re going to do and how they’ll do it (don’t worry so much about the why ; that comes later). 

The easiest way to illustrate the process is with an example. Let’s say you work at a midsize media company and your boss asks you to complete a task analysis on how the company’s social media manager does her job. They want this documented for training purposes for future hires. That means you’ll need to:

• Identify the task to analyze
• Break down the task into subtasks
• Identify steps in subtasks

Let’s take a closer look at each of these steps.

Step 1: Identify the Task to Analyze

Tasks are the duties carried out by someone on the job. The social media manager carries out a lot of duties, so you need to be able to break them down into broad activities (aka tasks!) and focus on them one at a time. Don’t worry about all the little things that make up the task; we’ll get to that in a second. Here we’re looking to paint with broad strokes.

One of the social media manager’s tasks is to add new content to social media sites every morning. Your tasks should describe what a person does on the job and must start with an action verb.

So, in this case, the first task to analyze is “Add new content to social media.”

Step 2: Break Down the Task into Subtasks

Once you identify the task, you need to identify the subtasks, the smaller processes that make up the larger task. Remember in the email example above where I mentioned attachments and carbon-copying recipients? That’s the kind of thing you capture here. These should also be brief and start with an action verb.

Continuing the social media manager example, you need to find out the subtasks of adding new content to social media. You can figure this out by talking to or observing the social media manager. Through this process, you discover that the subtasks for adding new content to social media are:

• Check the editorial calendar
• Add new content to Twitter

You’re making good progress! You can now move on to Step 3.

Step 3: Identify Steps in Subtasks

Now it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty. You’ve identified the task and broken it down into subtasks. The final step, then, is to identify and list the steps for each subtask. 

Do this by breaking down all of the subtasks into specific step-by-step, chronological actions. The key here is to use a “Goldilocks” approach to detail: not too much and not too little. Use just the right amount so learners can follow the instructions easily. Again, as with tasks and subtasks, your steps need to start with an action verb. 

So, putting everything together from steps 1 and 2 and then breaking the subtasks into steps, your final task analysis would look like this;

1. Adding new content to social media  

1.1 Check the editorial calendar

1.1.1 Navigate to the calendar webpage

1.1.2 Click today’s date

1.1.3 Click newest article title to open article

1.1.4 Click inside article URL bar

1.1.5 Copy URL for article to clipboard

1.1.6 Highlight title text of article

1.1.7 Copy the title text to clipboard

1.1.8 Close the calendar

1.2 Add new content to Twitter

1.2.1 Navigate to Twitter account

1.2.2 Log in to Twitter account

1.2.3 Click Tweet button

1.2.4 Paste article title from clipboard

1.2.5 Paste article URL from clipboard

1.2.6 Click Tweet button to publish

There are several ways to approach task analysis. It’s a fine art deciding how far down the rabbit hole you need to go with detail. Instructional designers can debate for hours whether saying “log in” is enough or if that needs to be broken down further into “enter user name,” “enter password,” and “click the login button.” Again, it all comes down to figuring out how much detail is just right for your audience.

Wrapping Up

That’s it! As you can see, while creating a task analysis boils down to “just” three steps, there are a lot of nuanced decisions to make along the way. Remember the Goldilocks Rule and always consider your audience and the seriousness of the subject matter when deciding just how nitpicky you need your task analysis to be. After all, there’s a marked difference between how much detail a learner needs when they’re learning how to perform brain surgery versus filling out their timecard.

Do you have any do’s and don’ts of your own for completing a successful task analysis? If you do, please leave a comment below. We love to hear your feedback!

Follow us on Twitter and come back to E-learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning.

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The One Thing You Need to Do to Organize Training Content: Task Analysis

20 comments.

• Christine Hounsham

• Akhila Vasan

• Jacinta Nelligan

• David Mayor

• Alexander Salas

• Nicole Legault

• Chris Purvis

• Jerrie Paniri

• Chris Janzen

Years ago, long before I ever even considered that I might possibly be an ID, my English professor assigned us a paper to write a set of directions for a task of our choosing that could be successfully executed by anyone who could read English. Coincidentally, like Jerrie, I chose making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but for my part because I was lazy and wanted to pick a task for which it would be very easy to write the steps. Two days later I had a paper that was just shy of three pages (it was an English class, and we had to write it in prose, not instructional format), and a much deeper understanding of how much unconscious knowledge and experience we rely on to perform what we consider to be the simplest of tasks. I've never forgotten the lesson I got from writing that paper, an... Expand

• Caroline Smith

• David Kolmer

• Djuana Lamb

• Brock Lenser

• John Maical

Task analysis is a systematic process used to understand a task or activity in detail. It involves breaking down a complex task into smaller, manageable steps to identify the specific skills and knowledge required. Here's a guide on how to perform a task analysis like a pro: 1. Define the Task: Clearly define the task you want to analyze. Be specific about the goals and objectives. 2. Identify the Users: Determine who will be performing the task. Consider their background, skills, and knowledge. 3. Break Down the Task: Divide the task into smaller, manageable steps. Start with the overall goal and then break it down into subtasks. 4. Sequence the Steps: Arrange the steps in a logical order. Consider dependencies between steps and how they contribute to the overall task. 5. Gathe... Expand

• Abigail ava

Task Analysis 101: What Is It and How To Improve Your UX Using Task Analysis?

10 min read

Task analysis is a powerful way to timely discover and address friction points in the user experience. It helps UX designers and product managers better understand users’ goals and the steps they must take to get their job done.

Task analysis enables you to design more efficient user experiences and ultimately drive your product growth.

In this article, we’ll be covering all the necessary steps to successfully perform a task analysis.

Let’s dive in!

• Task analysis is the process of analyzing the number of steps (tasks) a user has to complete to get their jobs to be done (JTBD) when using your product.
• It helps UX designers and product managers understand user behavior and eliminate unnecessary steps in the user path.
• The primary goal of task analysis is to detect flaws in the UX design that compromise the user journey , customer engagement , and customer satisfaction.
• Cognitive task analysis will help you gauge how much mental effort is required to reach the desired outcome when using your product (aka how difficult it is for customers to use it for a given task).
• Hierarchical task analysis allows UX researchers to examine the nooks and crannies of interface design and understand how each task contributes to the users’ prime goals.
• Task analysis involves five steps.
• Defining the task that should be analyzed.
• Identifying customers’ end goals by segmenting them in the welcome flow.
• Breaking down complex tasks into small steps to find overloaded UX areas.
• Creating a task-analysis diagram based on the gathered data.
• Finding friction points and creating a strategy to fix them.

What is a task analysis in UX?

Task analysis is the process of analyzing the number of steps (tasks) a user has to complete to get their jobs to be done (JTBD) when using your product. To put it simply, task analysis breaks down complex tasks into small steps to find overloaded UX areas.

This helps take a deep dive into understanding user behavior and eliminate unnecessary steps toward completing the goals (JTBD).

The more advanced UX, the fewer friction points users encounter, and the better customer satisfaction .

Why is task analysis important in UX?

A task analysis is a process of putting yourself in the shoes of your customers and experiencing their user journey. How easy it is for them to complete the steps, what steps make them confused or upset, etc.

The end goal is to address all the downsides and deliver a best-in-class product experience.

But there’s more to it than that.

Have a deep understanding of users and their end goals

Task analysis helps UX designers and product managers to understand the whole picture of the user journey toward particular goals. You will uncover:

• What triggers lead to the task, and what steps do they take to reach the end goal?
• What does their learning process look like?
• How does their competence in performing tasks affect the speed at which they complete tasks and the overall completion rate?
• What does their everyday flow look like?
• What hinders their journey?

The sweet point is that you can conduct task analysis for any user’s goal within the product and make well-informed decisions toward product updates.

Identify how customers behave in the app

While running task analysis, you will map out all the steps users execute to achieve their goals. This gives you a clear understanding of their in-app behavior and enables you to spot roadblocks on both the product and UX layers.

See how users are influenced by their environment

Task analysis also shows how users are influenced by their in-app environment. For example, you can compare the differences in the user experience of users employing the mobile app and web version of your product.

Detect flaws and friction points

The prime goal of task analysis is to detect UX design flaws that compromise customer engagement and satisfaction.

Do you have an easy-to-use navigation menu, intuitive design prompting users to perform the next task, and workflow efficiency?

You can put everything under the test and see whether you’ve logically built your app.

Types of task analysis

There are two types of task analysis — cognitive and hierarchical analysis.

Let’s learn the pros and cons of each.

Cognitive task analysis

Cognitive task analysis (CTA) studies users’ cognitive activity when performing specific tasks. In other words, CTA aims to gauge how much mental effort is required to reach the desired outcome when using your product (aka how hard it’s for customers to use your product for a given task).

With CTA, you will understand:

• Performance differences between basic users and pro or advocates
• The extent of mental workloads
• The motivation to use your product
• The emotional side of your users engaging with your product (angry, happy, upset, confused, etc.)

The cognitive analysis consists of several steps:

• Defining the task (goal) to analyze
• Determining the critical decision points
• Grouping by user’s behavior
• Acting on findings

We can highlight two main benefits of CT analysis:

• Provides insight into user motivations
• Helps establish the participants’ end goals

Disadvantages

The main disadvantage of cognitive analysis is its qualitative nature. You may not get accurate results or relatively clear results.

Hierarchical task analysis

Hierarchical task analysis lays out every step a user performs to accomplish their goal. It involves a linear diagram like signing up → creating an account → connecting to a Facebook account. And it also breaks down every major step into smaller subtasks (tasks’ decomposition).

Thus the signing up task implies the following steps — signing up with Google → reading through a welcome screen → completing a 4-step welcome survey, etc.

The hierarchy of tasks enables UX researchers to examine the nooks and crannies of interface design and understand how each contributes to the users’ goals.

This way, you may spot that multiple tasks in the signing-up process can overwhelm users and lead to a low completion rate.

The hierarchical analysis is essential for designing new features or reverse-engineering existing ones. With this, you can explore different approaches to achieving the same goal and find the most efficient path.

At an earlier stage, hierarchical task analysis enables you to build efficient product usability. When applied later, it helps identify hidden UX flaws and address them accordingly.

There are no obvious disadvantages as such. You’re good to go as long as you do task decomposition correctly and get detailed results.

When should you perform a task analysis?

Task analysis is an essential step in the product design process. It should be done in the early stages because it helps teams frame the problem and gather user requirements.

Basically, task analysis is the foundation of the product.

In the realm, we cannot expect that once we complete task analysis, we will build the most authentic product UX ever and never return to this task again.

With the company’s growth, we build various features, incorporate new flows, etc. Hence, we must ensure that updates are aligned with existing flows and in no way hinder user experience.

Bottom line: Task analysis is an ongoing process that helps product teams design a user-friendly and appealing interface.

What data do you need for a task analysis process?

There are five pillars for task analysis. You should find answers to all of them while conducting task analysis. This will help you decompose user goals efficiently and create the fastest path to value.

• Trigger: Determine what triggers users to begin their journey. What caused the goal to occur?
• Desired Outcome: What is the desired outcome that users aim for?
• Base Knowledge: What base knowledge do users have before getting started?
• Required Knowledge: What knowledge do users lack in order to complete the task?
• Artifacts: What additional tools or information do the users rely on when performing the tasks?

Now let’s find out what a task analysis process consists of.

How to conduct a task analysis and improve UX?

In this chapter, we’ve laid out the entire task analysis process and how to act on findings.

Let’s begin.

Define the task that should be analyzed

Any analysis begins with a goal and questions behind it. Why do we need to conduct the research? What do we aim for? What is a starting point for analysis?

In our case, we must define the high-level task (the user goal) to analyze. The specific step in the user journey that users should perform (e.g., account creation).

Segment customers in the welcome flow and understand their goals

Customer segmentation refers to categorizing customers based on common characteristics for further analyses (e.g., behavior analysis , task analysis, customer journey analysis, etc.).

When it comes to task analysis, segmenting your customers from the onset gives you a deeper understanding of them. What niche they come from, how they heard about your company, what is their job to be done, etc.

To gather such data, you need to implement the welcome flow (a welcome screen ). This is a pop-up with a microsurvey that appears at the last step (or at the beginning) of the sign-up process.

Welcome screens usually serve two purposes: greeting customers and collecting data.

For example, Kontentino utilizes a welcome screen by Userpilot to define customers’ goals, workflows, and the type of company they represent.

Use feature tagging to identify what customers are doing in the app

Feature tagging is another solution to understanding what your users are doing in the app and what their path toward the goal looks like. In short, feature tagging allows you to analyze product usage behavior .

Thus, you will learn and document every click users make. What features do they use more or less frequently, etc?

With Userpilot, you can select any UI pattern of your app to track its usage.

Use this data to understand when users reach certain milestones in their journey.

Once you set up feature tracking and data starts flowing, you can segment customers by their in-app experiences (e.g., their interactions with the features).

This will help you identify segments that are having trouble with a specific feature, etc.

Set up custom goals and monitor how users are progressing toward goals

Whenever you want to know how customers feel about recent changes to a product or design, this step is crucial.

For this, you can digitize all the steps of hierarchical task analysis and track how many users complete pre-defined milestones. You can also monitor the completion rate of intermediate steps (tasks) toward goals.

This will help you measure how successful product updates were or you can identify the best performing features of your app. Additionally, you can understand what step (task) causes trouble. Essentially, these are tasks with a low completion rate of concrete action.

With Userpilot, you can create goals and track their completion. It’s code-free and can be set up in just a few clicks away.

Create a task analysis diagram based on the gathered data

Lastly, collect the new data (from the steps above) and make a graphical representation called a task-analysis diagram.

This will help understand the overall number of tasks, subtasks, sequence, and hierarchy.

The diagram will also help you analyze the complexity of the process users are going through to achieve their goals.

Ultimately, you will uncover tasks that users find insufficient.

Discover friction points and fix them to improve the user experience

Once you finish the analysis, you will locate the friction points that hurt the user experience and might lead to churn .

Regardless of what task damages the user experience, your next step is fixing the problem.

Most drawbacks arise either in the onboarding flow or in a specific part of the user journey. No matter what part of the product has flaws, it usually comes down to overcomplicated navigation and unnecessary steps to get to value.

The next time you’re working on a new design, do UX research first. Interview customers, analyze competitors’ UX , and run task analysis. Make your UX flawless by using as many methods as you can.

Task analysis example

Here we will show you how bad UX can drastically impair the overall user experience.

Let’s look at two tools for keyword research (SEO) Semrush and Serpstat.

Our goal is to run a quick analysis of the most important components of SEO. Keywords our site ranks for and the number of backlinks.

We will be testing both tools and running a small task analysis to compare their UX.

Type the query → Click on “Search” → Done! The tool shows me the needed metrics from the first screen.

But let’s make the task more difficult. Now, I want to analyze my Anchor text list.

Click on “Backlinks” from the Domain Overview → View Details → Anchors. Three clicks and you’re on the destination page.

Takeaways: Super intuitive design. Flawless path to get to value. It took less than 10 seconds to open the needed report.

Type the query → Click on “Search” → scroll six screens down to reach the Backlinks overview → click on “Backlinks” → scroll two screens down → fail!

No jump link will get you to the Anchor report.

The workaround is to click “Anchor” from the navigation menu.

Takeaways: Not friendly and not intuitive design. It took up to 40 seconds to realize the next step to reach the objective and some cognitive and emotional effort (irritation).

As you can see, task analysis is crucial if your goal is to build an outstanding product on the market.

Conducting a task analysis is important if you don’t want a bad UX to impair the user experience and lead to high churn.

Ideally, you should analyze customer behavior and understand your users’ needs and goals before creating a product or updating an existing feature.

Want to collect customer insights and understand their goals code-free? Book a demo call with our team and get started!

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Task Analysis

Task analysis is a fundamental concept within psychology, crucial for understanding the intricate processes involved in performing tasks and its applications in various domains. In this article, we delve into task analysis, focusing on its significance in the realm of school psychology. We explore different types and methods of task analysis, such as hierarchical, cognitive, activity-based, and naturalistic, elucidating their relevance to education and instructional design. The article further delves into the practical applications of task analysis in school psychology, including curriculum development, special education, classroom management, and assessment, with a discussion on the advantages and limitations of this methodology. Additionally, we contemplate the future directions and emerging trends in task analysis, underlining the role of technology in advancing its applications. This article provides a holistic overview of task analysis, emphasizing its pivotal role in optimizing educational processes and student learning outcomes.

Introduction

Task analysis is a foundational concept in psychology that involves the systematic study of tasks to gain a comprehensive understanding of their components, prerequisites, and performance requirements. It is a multifaceted process that breaks down complex activities or behaviors into manageable units, facilitating a more profound grasp of the underlying cognitive, behavioral, and environmental processes. Task analysis can be applied across diverse domains, including education, human factors engineering, clinical psychology, and more. In the context of school psychology, task analysis plays a pivotal role in shaping the design of educational curricula, supporting individualized learning needs, enhancing classroom management, and informing assessment and evaluation processes. This methodological approach offers a window into the dynamic interplay of cognitive and behavioral elements, making it an indispensable tool for psychologists seeking to optimize human performance in various settings.

The significance of task analysis in psychology is far-reaching. By dissecting complex tasks into manageable components, it aids psychologists in comprehending the intricate processes that underlie human behavior, learning, and performance. In educational psychology, for instance, task analysis is instrumental in constructing effective curricula tailored to learners’ needs. It helps identify specific learning objectives, prerequisites, and potential barriers, ensuring that instructional materials are appropriately designed to promote meaningful learning. Moreover, in clinical psychology, task analysis aids in developing interventions for individuals with diverse needs, such as those with autism spectrum disorders or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). By discerning the constituent parts of a task, psychologists can create targeted interventions and strategies to address particular cognitive and behavioral challenges. Thus, task analysis is the linchpin in evidence-based practice, enabling psychologists to design interventions, programs, and assessments that are rooted in a thorough understanding of the tasks at hand.

The purpose of this article is to provide an extensive exploration of task analysis, with a particular focus on its application in school psychology. It will delve into different types and methods of task analysis, examining their relevance in educational settings and instructional design. Furthermore, the article will elucidate how task analysis is employed in curriculum development, special education, classroom management, and assessment within school psychology. The advantages and limitations of task analysis will also be discussed, offering a balanced view of its utility. In conclusion, the article will highlight emerging trends and the role of technology in the future of task analysis, emphasizing its crucial role in optimizing educational processes and enhancing student learning outcomes. Through this comprehensive analysis, readers will gain a profound understanding of task analysis, its applications, and its enduring importance in the field of psychology, particularly in the context of school psychology.

Types and Methods of Task Analysis

Task analysis encompasses a range of methods and approaches, each tailored to specific contexts and objectives. In this section, we will explore four prominent types of task analysis and their applications in school psychology:

Hierarchical task analysis (HTA) is a systematic method that breaks down complex tasks into a hierarchy of smaller sub-tasks or components. The goal is to create a structured representation of the task, highlighting the relationships and dependencies among its constituent parts. This method is rooted in cognitive psychology and provides a visual roadmap for understanding how tasks are performed, making it particularly valuable in the realm of school psychology.

In school psychology, HTA is a potent tool for curriculum development. By deconstructing the learning process into manageable steps, educators and curriculum designers can identify the prerequisite knowledge and skills students need to master a particular subject. This approach aids in designing effective educational materials and instructional strategies, ensuring that students can progress through the curriculum in a logical and coherent manner. HTA also supports the development of Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for students with special needs, allowing for tailored interventions that address specific learning barriers. In essence, hierarchical task analysis acts as a foundational framework for enhancing learning outcomes and educational programs.

Cognitive task analysis (CTA) is a method that focuses on understanding the cognitive processes involved in performing tasks. It aims to uncover the mental strategies, decision-making processes, and problem-solving techniques individuals employ when completing tasks. CTA provides insights into the underlying cognitive architecture, enabling psychologists to optimize task performance by leveraging cognitive strengths and addressing cognitive limitations.

In educational settings, CTA serves as a valuable approach to enhance learning and instruction. By dissecting the cognitive processes students engage in during learning, educators can tailor instructional strategies to align with these cognitive mechanisms. For example, in mathematics education, CTA can reveal the mental steps students take to solve complex problems, allowing teachers to develop instructional materials that align with these cognitive processes. Additionally, CTA can be employed to design assessments that gauge not only the final outcome but also the cognitive processes involved in solving problems, offering a more comprehensive evaluation of student learning. This method empowers educators to create more effective and student-centered teaching and assessment strategies.

Activity-based task analysis focuses on understanding tasks within their broader environmental and social context. It examines how tasks are influenced by the physical environment, social interactions, and cultural norms. This approach recognizes that tasks are not isolated events but are embedded in a network of social and environmental factors that shape their execution.

In the field of education, activity-based task analysis highlights the importance of considering the learning environment as a whole. It emphasizes that learning is not just about the content but also about the context. Educators can use this approach to design learning experiences that align with real-world tasks, promoting authentic and meaningful learning. Activity-based task analysis also informs the design of inclusive and accessible learning environments, ensuring that students of diverse backgrounds and abilities can engage effectively in the learning process. By recognizing the broader context of tasks, educators can better prepare students for the complex and dynamic challenges they will encounter in their academic and future professional lives.

Naturalistic task analysis involves the observation and analysis of tasks as they occur naturally in real-world settings. This method is rooted in the idea that understanding how tasks are performed in authentic contexts provides invaluable insights into human behavior. Naturalistic task analysis seeks to capture the complexity and nuances of tasks in their genuine environment.

In the realm of educational research, naturalistic task analysis offers a bridge between theory and practice. By studying how students perform tasks in their everyday educational experiences, researchers can gain a deeper understanding of the challenges they face, the strategies they employ, and the learning environments that influence their performance. This method is especially valuable for investigating classroom dynamics, teacher-student interactions, and the impact of technology on learning. Naturalistic task analysis allows for the development of evidence-based educational interventions, as it uncovers the intricate interplay between tasks and the factors that shape learning outcomes. It contributes to a more profound comprehension of the complexities of education, leading to informed policies and practices that enhance the educational experience for all students.

In conclusion, task analysis offers a versatile toolkit for understanding and optimizing human performance in a variety of domains. Hierarchical task analysis, cognitive task analysis, activity-based task analysis, and naturalistic task analysis each provide unique perspectives and methodologies that can be harnessed in the field of school psychology to support curriculum development, instructional design, and research efforts aimed at improving educational outcomes. These methods underscore the adaptability of task analysis to diverse educational contexts, emphasizing its role in shaping effective and student-centered learning practices.

Application of Task Analysis in School Psychology

The application of task analysis in school psychology is diverse and far-reaching. This section will explore how task analysis is leveraged to enhance various aspects of educational practice, including curriculum development, special education, classroom management, and assessment and evaluation.

Task analysis is an invaluable tool in the process of curriculum development. By dissecting the learning objectives into smaller, manageable tasks, educators can gain a granular understanding of what students need to accomplish. This approach allows curriculum designers to establish clear and measurable learning outcomes, ensuring that educational programs align with specific academic goals. For example, in mathematics education, task analysis can break down mathematical concepts into discrete skills, enabling educators to identify prerequisite knowledge and skills students must possess to succeed in more advanced mathematical tasks.

The design of instructional materials is a critical aspect of curriculum development. Task analysis helps educators create materials that align with the hierarchical structure of tasks, allowing students to progress through the curriculum in a logical sequence. It supports the development of instructional strategies, such as the use of scaffolding techniques that gradually guide students from basic tasks to more complex ones. In language education, for instance, task analysis can inform the creation of language exercises and reading materials that cater to students’ linguistic and cognitive development, ensuring that the content is scaffolded appropriately to facilitate comprehension and mastery.

Task analysis plays a pivotal role in the development and implementation of Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for students with special needs. By conducting a task analysis, school psychologists can break down the tasks that students struggle with into smaller, manageable components. This process allows for the creation of individualized goals and objectives that are tailored to the specific learning needs of each student. For example, for a student with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a task analysis of social interactions can inform the creation of social skills training goals within the IEP.

In special education, students exhibit diverse learning needs, often requiring unique strategies and interventions. Task analysis helps educators and school psychologists assess the specific challenges that students face and develop interventions rooted in a deep understanding of the tasks and processes involved. For instance, in the case of students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), task analysis can uncover the cognitive processes associated with sustained attention and impulse control, leading to the design of targeted interventions that support these critical skills. Task analysis also assists in evaluating the effectiveness of interventions, as it provides a clear framework for measuring progress and adjusting strategies to meet evolving needs.

Effective classroom management is essential for creating a conducive learning environment. Task analysis aids school psychologists and educators in identifying the behaviors contributing to classroom disruptions and challenges. By breaking down these behaviors into smaller tasks, it becomes possible to design behavioral interventions that target specific actions and their antecedents. For example, if a student exhibits disruptive behavior, task analysis can reveal the triggers and components of this behavior, enabling educators to develop strategies for preventing and managing it effectively.

Task analysis can also be applied to enhance teacher-student interactions. Understanding the tasks and communication processes involved in effective teaching and learning allows educators to refine their instructional methods. For instance, by breaking down the components of effective feedback delivery, educators can become more precise and targeted in their feedback to students, enhancing their learning experiences. Additionally, task analysis can inform the design of interventions that improve classroom communication and collaboration, fostering a positive and productive learning atmosphere.

Standardized testing is a cornerstone of educational assessment, and task analysis plays a vital role in the design and evaluation of these assessments. By breaking down the content domains into discrete tasks, test developers can ensure that the assessments align with the learning objectives and cognitive processes targeted in the curriculum. Moreover, task analysis helps in constructing reliable and valid assessments by identifying potential sources of bias and ensuring that the tests are fair and equitable for all students.

Performance-based assessment is an approach that evaluates students’ abilities to apply their knowledge and skills in real-world contexts. Task analysis is crucial for designing and scoring performance-based assessments. It helps in defining the tasks students are expected to complete and in establishing clear criteria for assessing their performance. In this way, educators can measure not only what students know but also how effectively they can apply that knowledge to authentic tasks, providing a more comprehensive picture of their abilities and readiness for future challenges.

In conclusion, task analysis serves as an indispensable tool in school psychology, transforming various facets of educational practice. From curriculum development to special education, classroom management, and assessment and evaluation, task analysis enhances the precision and effectiveness of educational interventions and strategies. By providing a deep understanding of the tasks at hand and the cognitive and behavioral processes involved, it empowers educators and school psychologists to create more student-centered and evidence-based educational experiences, ultimately promoting better learning outcomes for all students.

Advantages and Limitations of Task Analysis

One of the primary advantages of task analysis is its potential to significantly enhance learning outcomes. By breaking down complex tasks into manageable components, students can grasp the underlying structure and prerequisites more effectively. This method allows educators to design curriculum and instructional materials that align with the cognitive and developmental abilities of students. As a result, students can progress through the curriculum with a deeper understanding of the subject matter, leading to improved retention, problem-solving abilities, and overall academic performance.

Task analysis is a key enabler of individualized instruction. It provides the foundation for tailoring educational experiences to meet the specific needs and abilities of each student. By identifying prerequisite skills and knowledge through task analysis, educators can create personalized learning pathways. This approach is especially valuable in special education, where students with diverse learning needs can benefit from targeted interventions designed to address their unique challenges. Individualized instruction ensures that students receive the support and challenges necessary to reach their full potential.

Task analysis supports the transfer of skills across different contexts and situations. When students understand the underlying components and principles of a task, they can apply their knowledge and skills in a broader range of settings. This ability to transfer skills from the classroom to real-world scenarios is a critical aspect of education. For example, task analysis in vocational training can help students not only learn specific job-related tasks but also understand the principles underlying those tasks, making them more adaptable and capable in their future careers.

One notable limitation of task analysis is its time-consuming nature. Conducting a thorough analysis of complex tasks demands substantial time and resources. This can be a challenge in educational settings where time is often limited, and educators are under pressure to cover extensive curricula. As a result, the comprehensive use of task analysis may sometimes be challenging, and educators may opt for more time-efficient approaches, potentially sacrificing some depth of understanding.

Task analysis, to some extent, relies on the judgment and subjectivity of the analyst. Different individuals may interpret and break down tasks differently, which can lead to variations in the results. This subjectivity may affect the accuracy and reliability of the analysis. To mitigate this limitation, clear guidelines and standards for conducting task analysis should be established, and multiple experts may need to collaborate to achieve a more robust and objective analysis.

In summary, while task analysis offers numerous advantages, such as enhanced learning outcomes, individualized instruction, and effective skill transfer, it is not without its limitations. The time-consuming nature of the method and the subjectivity involved in analysis should be carefully considered and addressed to maximize the benefits of task analysis in educational contexts. Nonetheless, when used thoughtfully and judiciously, task analysis remains an indispensable tool in shaping effective educational strategies and promoting successful learning experiences.

Future Directions and Conclusion

Task analysis is a field that continues to evolve, and several emerging trends are shaping its future. One notable trend is the increasing emphasis on ecological task analysis, which considers tasks within the broader context of real-world environments. This approach acknowledges that tasks are often intertwined with social, cultural, and technological factors, and it seeks to understand how tasks are performed in these complex settings. Additionally, as the field of education becomes more focused on personalized and adaptive learning, task analysis is poised to play a central role in tailoring instruction to the unique needs and abilities of individual learners.

Technology is set to transform task analysis in several ways. Digital tools and data analytics can expedite the process of data collection and analysis, making task analysis more efficient and accessible. Virtual reality and augmented reality technologies are opening new possibilities for immersive task analysis, enabling researchers and educators to simulate real-world scenarios for in-depth analysis. Machine learning and artificial intelligence also hold potential for automating parts of the task analysis process, particularly in large-scale educational settings, where personalized instruction and assessment are becoming increasingly important.

In this article, we have explored the concept of task analysis, its types and methods, and its application in school psychology. We discussed how task analysis informs curriculum development, individualized instruction, classroom management, and assessment and evaluation in educational settings. Task analysis enhances learning outcomes, supports individualized instruction, and facilitates skill transfer across contexts. However, it is not without limitations, as it can be time-consuming and subject to interpretation.

Task analysis remains a cornerstone of evidence-based practice in school psychology and education. It offers a systematic and structured approach to understanding the cognitive and behavioral processes involved in learning and performance. As we look to the future, emerging trends in task analysis, driven by ecological and personalized learning approaches, along with the integration of technology, promise to make task analysis even more relevant and accessible. By addressing its limitations through standardized practices and innovative technology solutions, task analysis will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping educational practices that foster student-centered learning, improved academic outcomes, and the development of adaptable, lifelong learners. Its enduring importance is a testament to its utility in the dynamic and ever-evolving field of education.

References:

• Anderson, J. R. (2007). How Can the Human Mind Occur in the Physical Universe? Oxford University Press.
• Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (1993). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 6(4), 50-72.
• Gagne, R. M., & Briggs, L. J. (1974). Principles of Instructional Design. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
• Jonassen, D. H., Tessmer, M., & Hannum, W. H. (1999). Task analysis methods for instruction. Routledge.
• Kozulin, A. (2007). Vygotsky’s Educational Theory in Cultural Context. Cambridge University Press.
• Martin, B. L., & Pear, J. J. (2015). Behavior Modification: What It Is and How to Do It. Routledge.
• Merrill, M. D. (2017). First principles of instruction. Routledge.
• Pellegrino, J. W., Chudowsky, N., & Glaser, R. (2001). Knowing what students know: The science and design of educational assessment. National Academies Press.
• Reigeluth, C. M. (Ed.). (1999). Instructional-design theories and models: A new paradigm of instructional theory (Vol. 2). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Schank, R. C., & Abelson, R. P. (1977). Scripts, plans, goals, and understanding: An inquiry into human knowledge structures. Erlbaum.
• Seel, N. M. (2012). Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. Springer.
• Sweller, J., Ayres, P., & Kalyuga, S. (2011). Cognitive Load Theory. Springer.
• Van Merriënboer, J. J., & Kirschner, P. A. (2013). Ten Steps to Complex Learning: A Systematic Approach to Four-Component Instructional Design. Routledge.
• Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
• Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design. ASCD.
• Yelon, S. L. (1991). Cognitive task analysis: Implications for instruction and training. Educational Technology Research and Development, 39(1), 47-64.
• Yin, R. K. (2014). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Sage Publications.
• Zhang, D., Zhou, L., Briggs, R. O., & Nunamaker, J. F. (2006). Instructional video in e-learning: Assessing the impact of interactive video on learning effectiveness. Information & Management, 43(1), 15-27.
• Zimmerman, B. J., & Schunk, D. H. (2011). Handbook of Self-Regulation of Learning and Performance. Routledge.
• Zygouris-Coe, V., & Glass, C. (2003). Scaffolding adolescent writing development: A review of the literature. National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators, 1-40.

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The conclusion is intended to help the reader understand why your research should matter to them after they have finished reading the paper. A conclusion is not merely a summary of the main topics covered or a re-statement of your research problem, but a synthesis of key points derived from the findings of your study and, if applicable, where you recommend new areas for future research. For most college-level research papers, two or three well-developed paragraphs is sufficient for a conclusion, although in some cases, more paragraphs may be required in describing the key findings and their significance.

Conclusions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Conclusions. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University.

Importance of a Good Conclusion

A well-written conclusion provides you with important opportunities to demonstrate to the reader your understanding of the research problem. These include:

• Presenting the last word on the issues you raised in your paper . Just as the introduction gives a first impression to your reader, the conclusion offers a chance to leave a lasting impression. Do this, for example, by highlighting key findings in your analysis that advance new understanding about the research problem, that are unusual or unexpected, or that have important implications applied to practice.
• Summarizing your thoughts and conveying the larger significance of your study . The conclusion is an opportunity to succinctly re-emphasize  your answer to the "So What?" question by placing the study within the context of how your research advances past research about the topic.
• Identifying how a gap in the literature has been addressed . The conclusion can be where you describe how a previously identified gap in the literature [first identified in your literature review section] has been addressed by your research and why this contribution is significant.
• Demonstrating the importance of your ideas . Don't be shy. The conclusion offers an opportunity to elaborate on the impact and significance of your findings. This is particularly important if your study approached examining the research problem from an unusual or innovative perspective.
• Introducing possible new or expanded ways of thinking about the research problem . This does not refer to introducing new information [which should be avoided], but to offer new insight and creative approaches for framing or contextualizing the research problem based on the results of your study.

Bunton, David. “The Structure of PhD Conclusion Chapters.” Journal of English for Academic Purposes 4 (July 2005): 207–224; Conclusions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Kretchmer, Paul. Twelve Steps to Writing an Effective Conclusion. San Francisco Edit, 2003-2008; Conclusions. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Assan, Joseph. "Writing the Conclusion Chapter: The Good, the Bad and the Missing." Liverpool: Development Studies Association (2009): 1-8.

Structure and Writing Style

I.  General Rules

The general function of your paper's conclusion is to restate the main argument . It reminds the reader of the strengths of your main argument(s) and reiterates the most important evidence supporting those argument(s). Do this by clearly summarizing the context, background, and necessity of pursuing the research problem you investigated in relation to an issue, controversy, or a gap found in the literature. However, make sure that your conclusion is not simply a repetitive summary of the findings. This reduces the impact of the argument(s) you have developed in your paper.

When writing the conclusion to your paper, follow these general rules:

• Present your conclusions in clear, concise language. Re-state the purpose of your study, then describe how your findings differ or support those of other studies and why [i.e., what were the unique, new, or crucial contributions your study made to the overall research about your topic?].
• Do not simply reiterate your findings or the discussion of your results. Provide a synthesis of arguments presented in the paper to show how these converge to address the research problem and the overall objectives of your study.
• Indicate opportunities for future research if you haven't already done so in the discussion section of your paper. Highlighting the need for further research provides the reader with evidence that you have an in-depth awareness of the research problem but that further investigations should take place beyond the scope of your investigation.

Consider the following points to help ensure your conclusion is presented well:

• If the argument or purpose of your paper is complex, you may need to summarize the argument for your reader.
• If, prior to your conclusion, you have not yet explained the significance of your findings or if you are proceeding inductively, use the end of your paper to describe your main points and explain their significance.
• Move from a detailed to a general level of consideration that returns the topic to the context provided by the introduction or within a new context that emerges from the data [this is opposite of the introduction, which begins with general discussion of the context and ends with a detailed description of the research problem]. 

The conclusion also provides a place for you to persuasively and succinctly restate the research problem, given that the reader has now been presented with all the information about the topic . Depending on the discipline you are writing in, the concluding paragraph may contain your reflections on the evidence presented. However, the nature of being introspective about the research you have conducted will depend on the topic and whether your professor wants you to express your observations in this way. If asked to think introspectively about the topics, do not delve into idle speculation. Being introspective means looking within yourself as an author to try and understand an issue more deeply, not to guess at possible outcomes or make up scenarios not supported by the evidence.

II.  Developing a Compelling Conclusion

Although an effective conclusion needs to be clear and succinct, it does not need to be written passively or lack a compelling narrative. Strategies to help you move beyond merely summarizing the key points of your research paper may include any of the following:

• If your essay deals with a critical, contemporary problem, warn readers of the possible consequences of not attending to the problem proactively.
• Recommend a specific course or courses of action that, if adopted, could address a specific problem in practice or in the development of new knowledge leading to positive change.
• Cite a relevant quotation or expert opinion already noted in your paper in order to lend authority and support to the conclusion(s) you have reached [a good source would be from your literature review].
• Explain the consequences of your research in a way that elicits action or demonstrates urgency in seeking change.
• Restate a key statistic, fact, or visual image to emphasize the most important finding of your paper.
• If your discipline encourages personal reflection, illustrate your concluding point by drawing from your own life experiences.
• Return to an anecdote, an example, or a quotation that you presented in your introduction, but add further insight derived from the findings of your study; use your interpretation of results from your study to recast it in new or important ways.
• Provide a "take-home" message in the form of a succinct, declarative statement that you want the reader to remember about your study.

III. Problems to Avoid

Failure to be concise Your conclusion section should be concise and to the point. Conclusions that are too lengthy often have unnecessary information in them. The conclusion is not the place for details about your methodology or results. Although you should give a summary of what was learned from your research, this summary should be relatively brief, since the emphasis in the conclusion is on the implications, evaluations, insights, and other forms of analysis that you make. Strategies for writing concisely can be found here .

Failure to comment on larger, more significant issues In the introduction, your task was to move from the general [the field of study] to the specific [the research problem]. However, in the conclusion, your task is to move from a specific discussion [your research problem] back to a general discussion framed around the implications and significance of your findings [i.e., how your research contributes new understanding or fills an important gap in the literature]. In short, the conclusion is where you should place your research within a larger context [visualize your paper as an hourglass--start with a broad introduction and review of the literature, move to the specific analysis and discussion, conclude with a broad summary of the study's implications and significance].

Failure to reveal problems and negative results Negative aspects of the research process should never be ignored. These are problems, deficiencies, or challenges encountered during your study. They should be summarized as a way of qualifying your overall conclusions. If you encountered negative or unintended results [i.e., findings that are validated outside the research context in which they were generated], you must report them in the results section and discuss their implications in the discussion section of your paper. In the conclusion, use negative results as an opportunity to explain their possible significance and/or how they may form the basis for future research.

Failure to provide a clear summary of what was learned In order to be able to discuss how your research fits within your field of study [and possibly the world at large], you need to summarize briefly and succinctly how it contributes to new knowledge or a new understanding about the research problem. This element of your conclusion may be only a few sentences long.

Failure to match the objectives of your research Often research objectives in the social and behavioral sciences change while the research is being carried out. This is not a problem unless you forget to go back and refine the original objectives in your introduction. As these changes emerge they must be documented so that they accurately reflect what you were trying to accomplish in your research [not what you thought you might accomplish when you began].

Resist the urge to apologize If you've immersed yourself in studying the research problem, you presumably should know a good deal about it [perhaps even more than your professor!]. Nevertheless, by the time you have finished writing, you may be having some doubts about what you have produced. Repress those doubts! Don't undermine your authority as a researcher by saying something like, "This is just one approach to examining this problem; there may be other, much better approaches that...." The overall tone of your conclusion should convey confidence to the reader about the study's validity and realiability.

Assan, Joseph. "Writing the Conclusion Chapter: The Good, the Bad and the Missing." Liverpool: Development Studies Association (2009): 1-8; Concluding Paragraphs. College Writing Center at Meramec. St. Louis Community College; Conclusions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Conclusions. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Freedman, Leora  and Jerry Plotnick. Introductions and Conclusions. The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Leibensperger, Summer. Draft Your Conclusion. Academic Center, the University of Houston-Victoria, 2003; Make Your Last Words Count. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin Madison; Miquel, Fuster-Marquez and Carmen Gregori-Signes. “Chapter Six: ‘Last but Not Least:’ Writing the Conclusion of Your Paper.” In Writing an Applied Linguistics Thesis or Dissertation: A Guide to Presenting Empirical Research . John Bitchener, editor. (Basingstoke,UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), pp. 93-105; Tips for Writing a Good Conclusion. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Kretchmer, Paul. Twelve Steps to Writing an Effective Conclusion. San Francisco Edit, 2003-2008; Writing Conclusions. Writing Tutorial Services, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. Indiana University; Writing: Considering Structure and Organization. Institute for Writing Rhetoric. Dartmouth College.

Writing Tip

Don't Belabor the Obvious!

Avoid phrases like "in conclusion...," "in summary...," or "in closing...." These phrases can be useful, even welcome, in oral presentations. But readers can see by the tell-tale section heading and number of pages remaining that they are reaching the end of your paper. You'll irritate your readers if you belabor the obvious.

Assan, Joseph. "Writing the Conclusion Chapter: The Good, the Bad and the Missing." Liverpool: Development Studies Association (2009): 1-8.

Another Writing Tip

New Insight, Not New Information!

Don't surprise the reader with new information in your conclusion that was never referenced anywhere else in the paper. This why the conclusion rarely has citations to sources. If you have new information to present, add it to the discussion or other appropriate section of the paper. Note that, although no new information is introduced, the conclusion, along with the discussion section, is where you offer your most "original" contributions in the paper; the conclusion is where you describe the value of your research, demonstrate that you understand the material that you’ve presented, and position your findings within the larger context of scholarship on the topic, including describing how your research contributes new insights to that scholarship.

Assan, Joseph. "Writing the Conclusion Chapter: The Good, the Bad and the Missing." Liverpool: Development Studies Association (2009): 1-8; Conclusions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina.

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Conclusions

What this handout is about.

This handout will explain the functions of conclusions, offer strategies for writing effective ones, help you evaluate conclusions you’ve drafted, and suggest approaches to avoid.

About conclusions

Introductions and conclusions can be difficult to write, but they’re worth investing time in. They can have a significant influence on a reader’s experience of your paper.

Just as your introduction acts as a bridge that transports your readers from their own lives into the “place” of your analysis, your conclusion can provide a bridge to help your readers make the transition back to their daily lives. Such a conclusion will help them see why all your analysis and information should matter to them after they put the paper down.

Your conclusion is your chance to have the last word on the subject. The conclusion allows you to have the final say on the issues you have raised in your paper, to synthesize your thoughts, to demonstrate the importance of your ideas, and to propel your reader to a new view of the subject. It is also your opportunity to make a good final impression and to end on a positive note.

Your conclusion can go beyond the confines of the assignment. The conclusion pushes beyond the boundaries of the prompt and allows you to consider broader issues, make new connections, and elaborate on the significance of your findings.

Your conclusion should make your readers glad they read your paper. Your conclusion gives your reader something to take away that will help them see things differently or appreciate your topic in personally relevant ways. It can suggest broader implications that will not only interest your reader, but also enrich your reader’s life in some way. It is your gift to the reader.

Strategies for writing an effective conclusion

One or more of the following strategies may help you write an effective conclusion:

• Play the “So What” Game. If you’re stuck and feel like your conclusion isn’t saying anything new or interesting, ask a friend to read it with you. Whenever you make a statement from your conclusion, ask the friend to say, “So what?” or “Why should anybody care?” Then ponder that question and answer it. Here’s how it might go: You: Basically, I’m just saying that education was important to Douglass. Friend: So what? You: Well, it was important because it was a key to him feeling like a free and equal citizen. Friend: Why should anybody care? You: That’s important because plantation owners tried to keep slaves from being educated so that they could maintain control. When Douglass obtained an education, he undermined that control personally. You can also use this strategy on your own, asking yourself “So What?” as you develop your ideas or your draft.
• Return to the theme or themes in the introduction. This strategy brings the reader full circle. For example, if you begin by describing a scenario, you can end with the same scenario as proof that your essay is helpful in creating a new understanding. You may also refer to the introductory paragraph by using key words or parallel concepts and images that you also used in the introduction.
• Synthesize, don’t summarize. Include a brief summary of the paper’s main points, but don’t simply repeat things that were in your paper. Instead, show your reader how the points you made and the support and examples you used fit together. Pull it all together.
• Include a provocative insight or quotation from the research or reading you did for your paper.
• Propose a course of action, a solution to an issue, or questions for further study. This can redirect your reader’s thought process and help them to apply your info and ideas to their own life or to see the broader implications.
• Point to broader implications. For example, if your paper examines the Greensboro sit-ins or another event in the Civil Rights Movement, you could point out its impact on the Civil Rights Movement as a whole. A paper about the style of writer Virginia Woolf could point to her influence on other writers or on later feminists.

Strategies to avoid

• Beginning with an unnecessary, overused phrase such as “in conclusion,” “in summary,” or “in closing.” Although these phrases can work in speeches, they come across as wooden and trite in writing.
• Stating the thesis for the very first time in the conclusion.
• Introducing a new idea or subtopic in your conclusion.
• Ending with a rephrased thesis statement without any substantive changes.
• Making sentimental, emotional appeals that are out of character with the rest of an analytical paper.
• Including evidence (quotations, statistics, etc.) that should be in the body of the paper.

Four kinds of ineffective conclusions

• The “That’s My Story and I’m Sticking to It” Conclusion. This conclusion just restates the thesis and is usually painfully short. It does not push the ideas forward. People write this kind of conclusion when they can’t think of anything else to say. Example: In conclusion, Frederick Douglass was, as we have seen, a pioneer in American education, proving that education was a major force for social change with regard to slavery.
• The “Sherlock Holmes” Conclusion. Sometimes writers will state the thesis for the very first time in the conclusion. You might be tempted to use this strategy if you don’t want to give everything away too early in your paper. You may think it would be more dramatic to keep the reader in the dark until the end and then “wow” them with your main idea, as in a Sherlock Holmes mystery. The reader, however, does not expect a mystery, but an analytical discussion of your topic in an academic style, with the main argument (thesis) stated up front. Example: (After a paper that lists numerous incidents from the book but never says what these incidents reveal about Douglass and his views on education): So, as the evidence above demonstrates, Douglass saw education as a way to undermine the slaveholders’ power and also an important step toward freedom.
• The “America the Beautiful”/”I Am Woman”/”We Shall Overcome” Conclusion. This kind of conclusion usually draws on emotion to make its appeal, but while this emotion and even sentimentality may be very heartfelt, it is usually out of character with the rest of an analytical paper. A more sophisticated commentary, rather than emotional praise, would be a more fitting tribute to the topic. Example: Because of the efforts of fine Americans like Frederick Douglass, countless others have seen the shining beacon of light that is education. His example was a torch that lit the way for others. Frederick Douglass was truly an American hero.
• The “Grab Bag” Conclusion. This kind of conclusion includes extra information that the writer found or thought of but couldn’t integrate into the main paper. You may find it hard to leave out details that you discovered after hours of research and thought, but adding random facts and bits of evidence at the end of an otherwise-well-organized essay can just create confusion. Example: In addition to being an educational pioneer, Frederick Douglass provides an interesting case study for masculinity in the American South. He also offers historians an interesting glimpse into slave resistance when he confronts Covey, the overseer. His relationships with female relatives reveal the importance of family in the slave community.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Douglass, Frederick. 1995. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself. New York: Dover.

Hamilton College. n.d. “Conclusions.” Writing Center. Accessed June 14, 2019. https://www.hamilton.edu//academics/centers/writing/writing-resources/conclusions .

Holewa, Randa. 2004. “Strategies for Writing a Conclusion.” LEO: Literacy Education Online. Last updated February 19, 2004. https://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/conclude.html.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Make a Gift

So much is at stake in writing a conclusion. This is, after all, your last chance to persuade your readers to your point of view, to impress yourself upon them as a writer and thinker. And the impression you create in your conclusion will shape the impression that stays with your readers after they've finished the essay.

The end of an essay should therefore convey a sense of completeness and closure as well as a sense of the lingering possibilities of the topic, its larger meaning, its implications: the final paragraph should close the discussion without closing it off.

To establish a sense of closure, you might do one or more of the following:

• Conclude by linking the last paragraph to the first, perhaps by reiterating a word or phrase you used at the beginning.
• Conclude with a sentence composed mainly of one-syllable words. Simple language can help create an effect of understated drama.
• Conclude with a sentence that's compound or parallel in structure; such sentences can establish a sense of balance or order that may feel just right at the end of a complex discussion.

To close the discussion without closing it off, you might do one or more of the following:

• Conclude with a quotation from or reference to a primary or secondary source, one that amplifies your main point or puts it in a different perspective. A quotation from, say, the novel or poem you're writing about can add texture and specificity to your discussion; a critic or scholar can help confirm or complicate your final point. For example, you might conclude an essay on the idea of home in James Joyce's short story collection,  Dubliners , with information about Joyce's own complex feelings towards Dublin, his home. Or you might end with a biographer's statement about Joyce's attitude toward Dublin, which could illuminate his characters' responses to the city. Just be cautious, especially about using secondary material: make sure that you get the last word.
• Conclude by setting your discussion into a different, perhaps larger, context. For example, you might end an essay on nineteenth-century muckraking journalism by linking it to a current news magazine program like  60 Minutes .
• Conclude by redefining one of the key terms of your argument. For example, an essay on Marx's treatment of the conflict between wage labor and capital might begin with Marx's claim that the "capitalist economy is . . . a gigantic enterprise of dehumanization "; the essay might end by suggesting that Marxist analysis is itself dehumanizing because it construes everything in economic -- rather than moral or ethical-- terms.
• Conclude by considering the implications of your argument (or analysis or discussion). What does your argument imply, or involve, or suggest? For example, an essay on the novel  Ambiguous Adventure , by the Senegalese writer Cheikh Hamidou Kane, might open with the idea that the protagonist's development suggests Kane's belief in the need to integrate Western materialism and Sufi spirituality in modern Senegal. The conclusion might make the new but related point that the novel on the whole suggests that such an integration is (or isn't) possible.

Finally, some advice on how not to end an essay:

• Don't simply summarize your essay. A brief summary of your argument may be useful, especially if your essay is long--more than ten pages or so. But shorter essays tend not to require a restatement of your main ideas.
• Avoid phrases like "in conclusion," "to conclude," "in summary," and "to sum up." These phrases can be useful--even welcome--in oral presentations. But readers can see, by the tell-tale compression of the pages, when an essay is about to end. You'll irritate your audience if you belabor the obvious.
• Resist the urge to apologize. If you've immersed yourself in your subject, you now know a good deal more about it than you can possibly include in a five- or ten- or 20-page essay. As a result, by the time you've finished writing, you may be having some doubts about what you've produced. (And if you haven't immersed yourself in your subject, you may be feeling even more doubtful about your essay as you approach the conclusion.) Repress those doubts. Don't undercut your authority by saying things like, "this is just one approach to the subject; there may be other, better approaches. . ."

Copyright 1998, Pat Bellanca, for the Writing Center at Harvard University

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How to Write a Conclusion for Research Papers (with Examples)

The conclusion of a research paper is a crucial section that plays a significant role in the overall impact and effectiveness of your research paper. However, this is also the section that typically receives less attention compared to the introduction and the body of the paper. The conclusion serves to provide a concise summary of the key findings, their significance, their implications, and a sense of closure to the study. Discussing how can the findings be applied in real-world scenarios or inform policy, practice, or decision-making is especially valuable to practitioners and policymakers. The research paper conclusion also provides researchers with clear insights and valuable information for their own work, which they can then build on and contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the field.

The research paper conclusion should explain the significance of your findings within the broader context of your field. It restates how your results contribute to the existing body of knowledge and whether they confirm or challenge existing theories or hypotheses. Also, by identifying unanswered questions or areas requiring further investigation, your awareness of the broader research landscape can be demonstrated.

Remember to tailor the research paper conclusion to the specific needs and interests of your intended audience, which may include researchers, practitioners, policymakers, or a combination of these.

Table of Contents

What is a conclusion in a research paper, summarizing conclusion, editorial conclusion, externalizing conclusion, importance of a good research paper conclusion, how to write a conclusion for your research paper, research paper conclusion examples.

• How to write a research paper conclusion with Paperpal? 

Frequently Asked Questions

A conclusion in a research paper is the final section where you summarize and wrap up your research, presenting the key findings and insights derived from your study. The research paper conclusion is not the place to introduce new information or data that was not discussed in the main body of the paper. When working on how to conclude a research paper, remember to stick to summarizing and interpreting existing content. The research paper conclusion serves the following purposes: 1

• Warn readers of the possible consequences of not attending to the problem.
• Recommend specific course(s) of action.
• Restate key ideas to drive home the ultimate point of your research paper.
• Provide a “take-home” message that you want the readers to remember about your study.

Types of conclusions for research papers

In research papers, the conclusion provides closure to the reader. The type of research paper conclusion you choose depends on the nature of your study, your goals, and your target audience. I provide you with three common types of conclusions:

A summarizing conclusion is the most common type of conclusion in research papers. It involves summarizing the main points, reiterating the research question, and restating the significance of the findings. This common type of research paper conclusion is used across different disciplines.

An editorial conclusion is less common but can be used in research papers that are focused on proposing or advocating for a particular viewpoint or policy. It involves presenting a strong editorial or opinion based on the research findings and offering recommendations or calls to action.

An externalizing conclusion is a type of conclusion that extends the research beyond the scope of the paper by suggesting potential future research directions or discussing the broader implications of the findings. This type of conclusion is often used in more theoretical or exploratory research papers.

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The conclusion in a research paper serves several important purposes:

• Offers Implications and Recommendations : Your research paper conclusion is an excellent place to discuss the broader implications of your research and suggest potential areas for further study. It’s also an opportunity to offer practical recommendations based on your findings.
• Provides Closure : A good research paper conclusion provides a sense of closure to your paper. It should leave the reader with a feeling that they have reached the end of a well-structured and thought-provoking research project.
• Leaves a Lasting Impression : Writing a well-crafted research paper conclusion leaves a lasting impression on your readers. It’s your final opportunity to leave them with a new idea, a call to action, or a memorable quote.

Writing a strong conclusion for your research paper is essential to leave a lasting impression on your readers. Here’s a step-by-step process to help you create and know what to put in the conclusion of a research paper: 2

• Research Statement : Begin your research paper conclusion by restating your research statement. This reminds the reader of the main point you’ve been trying to prove throughout your paper. Keep it concise and clear.
• Key Points : Summarize the main arguments and key points you’ve made in your paper. Avoid introducing new information in the research paper conclusion. Instead, provide a concise overview of what you’ve discussed in the body of your paper.
• Address the Research Questions : If your research paper is based on specific research questions or hypotheses, briefly address whether you’ve answered them or achieved your research goals. Discuss the significance of your findings in this context.
• Significance : Highlight the importance of your research and its relevance in the broader context. Explain why your findings matter and how they contribute to the existing knowledge in your field.
• Implications : Explore the practical or theoretical implications of your research. How might your findings impact future research, policy, or real-world applications? Consider the “so what?” question.
• Future Research : Offer suggestions for future research in your area. What questions or aspects remain unanswered or warrant further investigation? This shows that your work opens the door for future exploration.
• Closing Thought : Conclude your research paper conclusion with a thought-provoking or memorable statement. This can leave a lasting impression on your readers and wrap up your paper effectively. Avoid introducing new information or arguments here.
• Proofread and Revise : Carefully proofread your conclusion for grammar, spelling, and clarity. Ensure that your ideas flow smoothly and that your conclusion is coherent and well-structured.

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Remember that a well-crafted research paper conclusion is a reflection of the strength of your research and your ability to communicate its significance effectively. It should leave a lasting impression on your readers and tie together all the threads of your paper. Now you know how to start the conclusion of a research paper and what elements to include to make it impactful, let’s look at a research paper conclusion sample.

How to write a research paper conclusion with Paperpal?

A research paper conclusion is not just a summary of your study, but a synthesis of the key findings that ties the research together and places it in a broader context. A research paper conclusion should be concise, typically around one paragraph in length. However, some complex topics may require a longer conclusion to ensure the reader is left with a clear understanding of the study’s significance. Paperpal, an AI writing assistant trusted by over 800,000 academics globally, can help you write a well-structured conclusion for your research paper. 

• Sign Up or Log In: Create a new Paperpal account or login with your details.  
• Navigate to Features : Once logged in, head over to the features’ side navigation pane. Click on Templates and you’ll find a suite of generative AI features to help you write better, faster.  
• Generate an outline: Under Templates, select ‘Outlines’. Choose ‘Research article’ as your document type.  
• Select your section: Since you’re focusing on the conclusion, select this section when prompted.  
• Choose your field of study: Identifying your field of study allows Paperpal to provide more targeted suggestions, ensuring the relevance of your conclusion to your specific area of research. 
• Provide a brief description of your study: Enter details about your research topic and findings. This information helps Paperpal generate a tailored outline that aligns with your paper’s content. 
• Generate the conclusion outline: After entering all necessary details, click on ‘generate’. Paperpal will then create a structured outline for your conclusion, to help you start writing and build upon the outline.  
• Write your conclusion: Use the generated outline to build your conclusion. The outline serves as a guide, ensuring you cover all critical aspects of a strong conclusion, from summarizing key findings to highlighting the research’s implications. 
• Refine and enhance: Paperpal’s ‘Make Academic’ feature can be particularly useful in the final stages. Select any paragraph of your conclusion and use this feature to elevate the academic tone, ensuring your writing is aligned to the academic journal standards. 

By following these steps, Paperpal not only simplifies the process of writing a research paper conclusion but also ensures it is impactful, concise, and aligned with academic standards. Sign up with Paperpal today and write your research paper conclusion 2x faster .  

The research paper conclusion is a crucial part of your paper as it provides the final opportunity to leave a strong impression on your readers. In the research paper conclusion, summarize the main points of your research paper by restating your research statement, highlighting the most important findings, addressing the research questions or objectives, explaining the broader context of the study, discussing the significance of your findings, providing recommendations if applicable, and emphasizing the takeaway message. The main purpose of the conclusion is to remind the reader of the main point or argument of your paper and to provide a clear and concise summary of the key findings and their implications. All these elements should feature on your list of what to put in the conclusion of a research paper to create a strong final statement for your work.

A strong conclusion is a critical component of a research paper, as it provides an opportunity to wrap up your arguments, reiterate your main points, and leave a lasting impression on your readers. Here are the key elements of a strong research paper conclusion: 1. Conciseness : A research paper conclusion should be concise and to the point. It should not introduce new information or ideas that were not discussed in the body of the paper. 2. Summarization : The research paper conclusion should be comprehensive enough to give the reader a clear understanding of the research’s main contributions. 3 . Relevance : Ensure that the information included in the research paper conclusion is directly relevant to the research paper’s main topic and objectives; avoid unnecessary details. 4 . Connection to the Introduction : A well-structured research paper conclusion often revisits the key points made in the introduction and shows how the research has addressed the initial questions or objectives. 5. Emphasis : Highlight the significance and implications of your research. Why is your study important? What are the broader implications or applications of your findings? 6 . Call to Action : Include a call to action or a recommendation for future research or action based on your findings.

The length of a research paper conclusion can vary depending on several factors, including the overall length of the paper, the complexity of the research, and the specific journal requirements. While there is no strict rule for the length of a conclusion, but it’s generally advisable to keep it relatively short. A typical research paper conclusion might be around 5-10% of the paper’s total length. For example, if your paper is 10 pages long, the conclusion might be roughly half a page to one page in length.

In general, you do not need to include citations in the research paper conclusion. Citations are typically reserved for the body of the paper to support your arguments and provide evidence for your claims. However, there may be some exceptions to this rule: 1. If you are drawing a direct quote or paraphrasing a specific source in your research paper conclusion, you should include a citation to give proper credit to the original author. 2. If your conclusion refers to or discusses specific research, data, or sources that are crucial to the overall argument, citations can be included to reinforce your conclusion’s validity.

The conclusion of a research paper serves several important purposes: 1. Summarize the Key Points 2. Reinforce the Main Argument 3. Provide Closure 4. Offer Insights or Implications 5. Engage the Reader. 6. Reflect on Limitations

Remember that the primary purpose of the research paper conclusion is to leave a lasting impression on the reader, reinforcing the key points and providing closure to your research. It’s often the last part of the paper that the reader will see, so it should be strong and well-crafted.

• Makar, G., Foltz, C., Lendner, M., & Vaccaro, A. R. (2018). How to write effective discussion and conclusion sections. Clinical spine surgery, 31(8), 345-346.
• Bunton, D. (2005). The structure of PhD conclusion chapters.  Journal of English for academic purposes ,  4 (3), 207-224.

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How to Write a Conclusion for an Essay

By the time you get to the final paragraph of your paper, you have already done so much work on your essay, so all you want to do is to wrap it up as quickly as possible. You’ve already made a stunning introduction, proven your argument, and structured the whole piece as supposed – who cares about making a good conclusion paragraph?

The only thing you need to remember is that the conclusion of an essay is not just the last paragraph of an academic paper where you restate your thesis and key arguments. A concluding paragraph is also your opportunity to have a final impact on your audience. 

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How to write a conclusion paragraph that leaves a lasting impression – In this guide, the team at EssayPro is going to walk you through the process of writing a perfect conclusion step by step. Additionally, we will share valuable tips and tricks to help students of all ages impress their readers at the last moment.

Instead of Intro: What Is a Conclusion?

Before we can move on, let’s take a moment here to define the conclusion itself. According to the standard conclusion definition, it is pretty much the last part of something, its result, or end. However, this term is rather broad and superficial.

When it comes to writing academic papers, a concluding statement refers to an opinion, judgment, suggestion, or position arrived at by logical reasoning (through the arguments provided in the body of the text). Therefore, if you are wondering “what is a good closing sentence like?” – keep on reading.

What Does a Good Conclusion Mean?

Writing a good conclusion for a paper isn’t easy. However, we are going to walk you through this process step by step. Although there are generally no strict rules on how to formulate one, there are some basic principles that everyone should keep in mind. In this section, we will share some core ideas for writing a good conclusion, and, later in the article, we will also provide you with more practical advice and examples.

Here are the core goals a good conclusion should complete:

• “Wrap up” the entire paper;
• Demonstrate to readers that the author accomplished what he/she set out to do;
• Show how you the author has proved their thesis statement;
• Give a sense of completeness and closure on the topic;
• Leave something extra for your reader to think about;
• Leave a powerful final impact on a reader.

Another key thing to remember is that you should not introduce any new ideas or arguments to your paper's conclusion. It should only sum up what you have already written, revisit your thesis statement, and end with a powerful final impression.

When considering how to write a conclusion that works, here are the key points to keep in mind:

• A concluding sentence should only revisit the thesis statement, not restate it;
• It should summarize the main ideas from the body of the paper;
• It should demonstrate the significance and relevance of your work;
• An essay’s conclusion should include a call for action and leave space for further study or development of the topic (if necessary).

How Long Should a Conclusion Be? 

Although there are no strict universal rules regarding the length of an essay’s final clause, both teachers and experienced writers recommend keeping it clear, concise, and straight to the point. There is an unspoken rule that the introduction and conclusion of an academic paper should both be about 10% of the overall paper’s volume. For example, if you were assigned a 1500 word essay, both the introductory and final clauses should be approximately 150 words long (300 together).

Why You Need to Know How to End an Essay:

A conclusion is what drives a paper to its logical end. It also drives the main points of your piece one last time. It is your last opportunity to impact and impress your audience. And, most importantly, it is your chance to demonstrate to readers why your work matters. Simply put, the final paragraph of your essay should answer the last important question a reader will have – “So what?”

If you do a concluding paragraph right, it can give your readers a sense of logical completeness. On the other hand, if you do not make it powerful enough, it can leave them hanging, and diminish the effect of the entire piece.

Strategies to Crafting a Proper Conclusion

Although there are no strict rules for what style to use to write your conclusion, there are several strategies that have been proven to be effective. In the list below, you can find some of the most effective strategies with some good conclusion paragraph examples to help you grasp the idea.

One effective way to emphasize the significance of your essay and give the audience some thought to ponder about is by taking a look into the future. The “When and If” technique is quite powerful when it comes to supporting your points in the essay’s conclusion.

Prediction essay conclusion example: “Taking care of a pet is quite hard, which is the reason why most parents refuse their children’s requests to get a pet. However, the refusal should be the last choice of parents. If we want to inculcate a deep sense of responsibility and organization in our kids, and, at the same time, sprout compassion in them, we must let our children take care of pets.”

Another effective strategy is to link your conclusion to your introductory paragraph. This will create a full-circle narration for your readers, create a better understanding of your topic, and emphasize your key point.

Echo conclusion paragraph example: Introduction: “I believe that all children should grow up with a pet. I still remember the exact day my parents brought my first puppy to our house. This was one of the happiest moments in my life and, at the same time, one of the most life-changing ones. Growing up with a pet taught me a lot, and most importantly, it taught me to be responsible.” Conclusion:. “I remember when I picked up my first puppy and how happy I was at that time. Growing up with a pet, I learned what it means to take care of someone, make sure that he always has water and food, teach him, and constantly keep an eye on my little companion. Having a child grow up with a pet teaches them responsibility and helps them acquire a variety of other life skills like leadership, love, compassion, and empathy. This is why I believe that every kid should grow up with a pet!”

Finally, one more trick that will help you create a flawless conclusion is to amplify your main idea or to present it in another perspective of a larger context. This technique will help your readers to look at the problem discussed from a different angle.

Step-up argumentative essay conclusion example: “Despite the obvious advantages of owning a pet in childhood, I feel that we cannot generalize whether all children should have a pet. Whereas some kids may benefit from such experiences, namely, by becoming more compassionate, organized, and responsible, it really depends on the situation, motivation, and enthusiasm of a particular child for owning a pet.”

What is a clincher in an essay? – The final part of an essay’s conclusion is often referred to as a clincher sentence. According to the clincher definition, it is a final sentence that reinforces the main idea or leaves the audience with an intriguing thought to ponder upon. In a nutshell, the clincher is very similar to the hook you would use in an introductory paragraph. Its core mission is to seize the audience’s attention until the end of the paper. At the same time, this statement is what creates a sense of completeness and helps the author leave a lasting impression on the reader.

Now, since you now know what a clincher is, you are probably wondering how to use one in your own paper. First of all, keep in mind that a good clincher should be intriguing, memorable, smooth, and straightforward.

Generally, there are several different tricks you can use for your clincher statement; it can be:

• A short, but memorable and attention-grabbing conclusion;
• A relevant and memorable quote (only if it brings actual value);
• A call to action;
• A rhetorical question;
• An illustrative story or provocative example;
• A warning against a possibility or suggestion about the consequences of a discussed problem;
• A joke (however, be careful with this as it may not always be deemed appropriate).

Regardless of the technique you choose, make sure that your clincher is memorable and aligns with your introduction and thesis.

Clincher examples: - While New York may not be the only place with the breathtaking views, it is definitely among my personal to 3… and that’s what definitely makes it worth visiting. - “Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars”, Divine Comedy - Don’t you think all these advantages sound like almost life-saving benefits of owning a pet? “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”, The Great Gatsby

Conclusion Writing Don'ts 

Now, when you know what tricks and techniques you should use to create a perfect conclusion, let’s look at some of the things you should not do with our online paper writing service :

• Starting with some cliché concluding sentence starters. Many students find common phrases like “In conclusion,” “Therefore,” “In summary,” or similar statements to be pretty good conclusion starters. However, though such conclusion sentence starters may work in certain cases – for example, in speeches – they are overused, so it is recommended not to use them in writing to introduce your conclusion.
• Putting the first mention of your thesis statement in the conclusion – it has to be presented in your introduction first.
• Providing new arguments, subtopics, or ideas in the conclusion paragraph.
• Including a slightly changed or unchanged thesis statement.
• Providing arguments and evidence that belong in the body of the work.
• Writing too long, hard to read, or confusing sentences.

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Conclusion Paragraph Outline

The total number of sentences in your final paragraph may vary depending on the number of points you discussed in your essay, as well as on the overall word count of your paper. However, the overall conclusion paragraph outline will remain the same and consists of the following elements:

• A conclusion starter:

The first part of your paragraph should drive readers back to your thesis statement. Thus, if you were wondering how to start a conclusion, the best way to do it is by rephrasing your thesis statement.

• Summary of the body paragraphs:

Right after revisiting your thesis, you should include several sentences that wrap up the key highlights and points from your body paragraphs. This part of your conclusion can consist of 2-3 sentences—depending on the number of arguments you’ve made. If necessary, you can also explain to the readers how your main points fit together.

• A concluding sentence:

Finally, you should end your paragraph with a last, powerful sentence that leaves a lasting impression, gives a sense of logical completeness, and connects readers back to the introduction of the paper.

These three key elements make up a perfect essay conclusion. Now, to give you an even better idea of how to create a perfect conclusion, let us give you a sample conclusion paragraph outline with examples from an argumentative essay on the topic of “Every Child Should Own a Pet:

• Sentence 1: Starter
• ~ Thesis: "Though taking care of a pet may be a bit challenging for small children. Parents should not restrict their kids from having a pet as it helps them grow into more responsible and compassionate people."
• ~ Restated thesis for a conclusion: "I can say that taking care of a pet is good for every child."
• Sentences 2-4: Summary
• ~ "Studies have shown that pet owners generally have fewer health problems."
• ~ "Owning a pet teaches a child to be more responsible."
• ~ "Spending time with a pet reduces stress, feelings of loneliness, and anxiety."
• Sentence 5: A concluding sentence
• ~ "Pets can really change a child life for the better, so don't hesitate to endorse your kid's desire to own a pet."

This is a clear example of how you can shape your conclusion paragraph.

How to Conclude Various Types of Essays

Depending on the type of academic essay you are working on, your concluding paragraph's style, tone, and length may vary. In this part of our guide, we will tell you how to end different types of essays and other works.

How to End an Argumentative Essay

Persuasive or argumentative essays always have the single goal of convincing readers of something (an idea, stance, or viewpoint) by appealing to arguments, facts, logic, and even emotions. The conclusion for such an essay has to be persuasive as well. A good trick you can use is to illustrate a real-life scenario that proves your stance or encourages readers to take action. More about persuasive essay outline you can read in our article.

Here are a few more tips for making a perfect conclusion for an argumentative essay:

• Carefully read the whole essay before you begin;
• Re-emphasize your ideas;
• Discuss possible implications;
• Don’t be afraid to appeal to the reader’s emotions.

How to End a Compare and Contrast Essay

The purpose of a compare and contrast essay is to emphasize the differences or similarities between two or more objects, people, phenomena, etc. Therefore, a logical conclusion should highlight how the reviewed objects are different or similar. Basically, in such a paper, your conclusion should recall all of the key common and distinctive features discussed in the body of your essay and also give readers some food for thought after they finish reading it.

How to Conclude a Descriptive Essay

The key idea of a descriptive essay is to showcase your creativity and writing skills by painting a vivid picture with the help of words. This is one of the most creative types of essays as it requires you to show a story, not tell it. This kind of essay implies using a lot of vivid details. Respectively, the conclusion of such a paper should also use descriptive imagery and, at the same time, sum up the main ideas. A good strategy for ending a descriptive essay would be to begin with a short explanation of why you wrote the essay. Then, you should reflect on how your topic affects you. In the middle of the conclusion, you should cover the most critical moments of the story to smoothly lead the reader into a logical closing statement. The “clincher”, in this case, should be a thought-provoking final sentence that leaves a good and lasting impression on the audience. Do not lead the reader into the essay and then leave them with dwindling memories of it.

How to Conclude an Essay About Yourself

If you find yourself writing an essay about yourself, you need to tell a personal story. As a rule, such essays talk about the author’s experiences, which is why a conclusion should create a feeling of narrative closure. A good strategy is to end your story with a logical finale and the lessons you have learned, while, at the same time, linking it to the introductory paragraph and recalling key moments from the story.

How to End an Informative Essay

Unlike other types of papers, informative or expository essays load readers with a lot of information and facts. In this case, “Synthesize, don’t summarize” is the best technique you can use to end your paper. Simply put, instead of recalling all of the major facts, you should approach your conclusion from the “So what?” position by highlighting the significance of the information provided.

How to Conclude a Narrative Essay

In a nutshell, a narrative essay is based on simple storytelling. The purpose of this paper is to share a particular story in detail. Therefore, the conclusion for such a paper should wrap up the story and avoid finishing on an abrupt cliffhanger. It is vital to include the key takeaways and the lessons learned from the story.

How to Write a Conclusion for a Lab Report

Unlike an essay, a lab report is based on an experiment. This type of paper describes the flow of a particular experiment conducted by a student and its conclusion should reflect on the outcomes of this experiment.

In thinking of how to write a conclusion for a lab, here are the key things you should do to get it right:

• Restate the goals of your experiment
• Describe the methods you used
• Include the results of the experiment and analyze the final data
• End your conclusion with a clear statement on whether or not the experiment was successful (Did you reach the expected results?)

How to Write a Conclusion for a Research Paper

Writing a paper is probably the hardest task of all, even for experienced dissertation writer . Unlike an essay or even a lab report, a research paper is a much longer piece of work that requires a deeper investigation of the problem. Therefore, a conclusion for such a paper should be even more sophisticated and powerful. If you're feeling difficulty writing an essay, you can buy essay on our service.

However, given that a research paper is the second most popular kind of academic paper (after an essay), it is important to know how to conclude a research paper. Even if you have not yet been assigned to do this task, be sure that you will face it soon. So, here are the steps you should follow to create a great conclusion for a research paper:

• Restate the Topic

Start your final paragraph with a quick reminder of what the topic of the piece is about. Keep it one sentence long.

• Revisit the Thesis

Next, you should remind your readers what your thesis statement was. However, do not just copy and paste it from the introductory clause: paraphrase your thesis so that you deliver the same idea but with different words. Keep your paraphrased thesis narrow, specific, and topic-oriented.

• Summarise Your Key Ideas

Just like the case of a regular essay’s conclusion, a research paper’s final paragraph should also include a short summary of all of the key points stated in the body sections. We recommend reading the entire body part a few times to define all of your main arguments and ideas.

• Showcase the Significance of Your Work

In the research paper conclusion, it is vital to highlight the significance of your research problem and state how your solution could be helpful.

• Make Suggestions for Future Studies

Finally, at the end of your conclusion, you should define how your findings will contribute to the development of its particular field of science. Outline the perspectives of further research and, if necessary, explain what is yet to be discovered on the topic.

Then, end your conclusion with a powerful concluding sentence – it can be a rhetorical question, call to action, or another hook that will help you have a strong impact on the audience.

• Answer the Right Questions

To create a top-notch research paper conclusion, be sure to answer the following questions:

• What is the goal of a research paper?
• What are the possible solutions to the research question(s)?
• How can your results be implemented in real life? (Is your research paper helpful to the community?)
• Why is this study important and relevant?

Additionally, here are a few more handy tips to follow:

• Provide clear examples from real life to help readers better understand the further implementation of the stated solutions;
• Keep your conclusion fresh, original, and creative.

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So, What Is a Good Closing Sentence? See The Difference

One of the best ways to learn how to write a good conclusion is to look at several professional essay conclusion examples. In this section of our guide, we are going to look at two different final paragraphs shaped on the basis of the same template, but even so, they are very different – where one is weak and the other is strong. Below, we are going to compare them to help you understand the difference between a good and a bad conclusion.

Here is the template we used: College degrees are in decline. The price of receiving an education does not correlate with the quality of the education received. As a result, graduated students face underemployment, and the worth of college degrees appears to be in serious doubt. However, the potential social and economic benefits of educated students balance out the equation.

Strong Conclusion ‍

People either see college as an opportunity or an inconvenience; therefore, a degree can only hold as much value as its owner’s skillset. The underemployment of graduate students puts the worth of college degrees in serious doubt. Yet, with the multitude of benefits that educated students bring to society and the economy, the equation remains in balance. Perhaps the ordinary person should consider college as a wise financial investment, but only if they stay determined to study and do the hard work.

Why is this example good? There are several key points that prove its effectiveness:

• There is a bold opening statement that encompasses the two contrasting types of students we can see today.
• There are two sentences that recall the thesis statement and cover the key arguments from the body of the essay.
• Finally, the last sentence sums up the key message of the essay and leaves readers with something to think about.

Weak Conclusion

In conclusion, with the poor preparation of students in college and the subsequent underemployment after graduation from college, the worth associated with the college degree appears to be in serious doubt. However, these issues alone may not reasonably conclude beyond a doubt that investing in a college degree is a rewarding venture. When the full benefits that come with education are carefully put into consideration and evaluated, college education for children in any country still has good advantages, and society should continue to advocate for a college education. The ordinary person should consider this a wise financial decision that holds rewards in the end. Apart from the monetary gains associated with a college education, society will greatly benefit from students when they finish college. Their minds are going to be expanded, and their reasoning and decision making will be enhanced.

What makes this example bad? Here are a few points to consider:

• Unlike the first example, this paragraph is long and not specific enough. The author provides plenty of generalized phrases that are not backed up by actual arguments.
• This piece is hard to read and understand and sentences have a confusing structure. Also, there are lots of repetitions and too many uses of the word “college”.
• There is no summary of the key benefits.
• The last two sentences that highlight the value of education contradict with the initial statement.
• Finally, the last sentence doesn’t offer a strong conclusion and gives no thought to ponder upon.
• In the body of your essay, you have hopefully already provided your reader(s) with plenty of information. Therefore, it is not wise to present new arguments or ideas in your conclusion.
• To end your final paragraph right, find a clear and straightforward message that will have the most powerful impact on your audience.
• Don’t use more than one quote in the final clause of your paper – the information from external sources (including quotes) belongs in the body of a paper.
• Be authoritative when writing a conclusion. You should sound confident and convincing to leave a good impression. Sentences like “I’m not an expert, but…” will most likely make you seem less knowledgeable and/or credible.

Good Conclusion Examples

Now that we've learned what a conclusion is and how to write one let's take a look at some essay conclusion examples to strengthen our knowledge.

The ending ironically reveals that all was for nothing. (A short explanation of the thematic effect of the book’s end) Tom says that Miss Watson freed Jim in her final will.Jim told Huck that the dead man on the Island was pap. The entire adventure seemingly evaporated into nothingness. (How this effect was manifested into the minds of thereaders).

All in all, international schools hold the key to building a full future that students can achieve. (Thesis statement simplified) They help students develop their own character by learning from their mistakes, without having to face a dreadful penalty for failure. (Thesis statement elaborated)Although some say that kids emerged “spoiled” with this mentality, the results prove the contrary. (Possible counter-arguments are noted)

In conclusion, public workers should be allowed to strike since it will give them a chance to air their grievances. (Thesis statement) Public workers should be allowed to strike when their rights, safety, and regulations are compromised. The workers will get motivated when they strike, and their demands are met.

In summary, studies reveal some similarities in the nutrient contents between the organic and non-organic food substances. (Starts with similarities) However, others have revealed many considerable differences in the amounts of antioxidants as well as other minerals present in organic and non-organic foods. Generally, organic foods have higher levels of antioxidants than non-organic foods and therefore are more important in the prevention of chronic illnesses.

As time went by, my obsession grew into something bigger than art; (‘As time went by’ signals maturation) it grew into a dream of developing myself for the world. (Showing student’s interest of developing himself for the community) It is a dream of not only seeing the world from a different perspective but also changing the perspective of people who see my work. (Showing student’s determination to create moving pieces of art)

In conclusion, it is evident that technology is an integral part of our lives and without it, we become “lost” since we have increasingly become dependent on its use. (Thesis with main point)

You might also be interested in reading nursing essay examples from our service.

How To Write A Conclusion For An Essay?

How to write a good conclusion, how to write a conclusion for a college essay.

Daniel Parker

is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

Related Articles

• Open access
• Published: 29 May 2024

Motor imagery-based brain–computer interface rehabilitation programs enhance upper extremity performance and cortical activation in stroke patients

• Zhen-Zhen Ma 1 , 5 , 6   na1 ,
• Jia-Jia Wu 2 , 5 , 6   na1 ,
• Zhi Cao 3   na1 ,
• Xu-Yun Hua 4 , 5 , 6 ,
• Mou-Xiong Zheng 4 , 5 , 6 ,
• Xiang-Xin Xing 2 , 5 , 6 , 7 ,
• Jie Ma 2 , 5 , 6 &
• Jian-Guang Xu 2 , 5 , 6  

Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation volume  21 , Article number:  91 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

174 Accesses

Metrics details

The most challenging aspect of rehabilitation is the repurposing of residual functional plasticity in stroke patients. To achieve this, numerous plasticity-based clinical rehabilitation programs have been developed. This study aimed to investigate the effects of motor imagery (MI)-based brain–computer interface (BCI) rehabilitation programs on upper extremity hand function in patients with chronic hemiplegia.

A 2010 Consolidated Standards for Test Reports (CONSORT)-compliant randomized controlled trial.

Forty-six eligible stroke patients with upper limb motor dysfunction participated in the study, six of whom dropped out. The patients were randomly divided into a BCI group and a control group. The BCI group received BCI therapy and conventional rehabilitation therapy, while the control group received conventional rehabilitation only. The Fugl–Meyer Assessment of the Upper Extremity (FMA-UE) score was used as the primary outcome to evaluate upper extremity motor function. Additionally, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were performed on all patients before and after treatment, in both the resting and task states. We measured the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), z conversion of ALFF (zALFF), and z conversion of ReHo (ReHo) in the resting state. The task state was divided into four tasks: left-hand grasping, right-hand grasping, imagining left-hand grasping, and imagining right-hand grasping. Finally, meaningful differences were assessed using correlation analysis of the clinical assessments and functional measures.

A total of 40 patients completed the study, 20 in the BCI group and 20 in the control group. Task-related blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) analysis showed that when performing the motor grasping task with the affected hand, the BCI group exhibited significant activation in the ipsilateral middle cingulate gyrus, precuneus, inferior parietal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, and contralateral middle cingulate gyrus. When imagining a grasping task with the affected hand, the BCI group exhibited greater activation in the ipsilateral superior frontal gyrus (medial) and middle frontal gyrus after treatment. However, the activation of the contralateral superior frontal gyrus decreased in the BCI group relative to the control group. Resting-state fMRI revealed increased zALFF in multiple cerebral regions, including the contralateral precentral gyrus and calcarine and the ipsilateral middle occipital gyrus and cuneus, and decreased zALFF in the ipsilateral superior temporal gyrus in the BCI group relative to the control group. Increased zReHo in the ipsilateral cuneus and contralateral calcarine and decreased zReHo in the contralateral middle temporal gyrus, temporal pole, and superior temporal gyrus were observed post-intervention. According to the subsequent correlation analysis, the increase in the FMA-UE score showed a positive correlation with the mean zALFF of the contralateral precentral gyrus (r = 0.425, P < 0.05), the mean zReHo of the right cuneus (r = 0.399, P < 0.05).

In conclusion, BCI therapy is effective and safe for arm rehabilitation after severe poststroke hemiparesis. The correlation of the zALFF of the contralateral precentral gyrus and the zReHo of the ipsilateral cuneus with motor improvements suggested that these values can be used as prognostic measures for BCI-based stroke rehabilitation. We found that motor function was related to visual and spatial processing, suggesting potential avenues for refining treatment strategies for stroke patients.

Trial registration : The trial is registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (number ChiCTR2000034848, registered July 21, 2020).

Introduction

Brain–computer interface (BCI) systems act as relay stations that transmit brain signals to output devices to perform desired actions [ 1 , 2 ]. Noninvasive BCI systems may allow individuals to replace or restore lost or impaired function and have been widely used in the functional recovery of people with neuromuscular diseases or injuries, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), spinal cord injury, stroke, or cerebral palsy [ 3 ]. Electroencephalography (EEG) is widely used in the development of noninvasive BCI systems due to its noninvasiveness, ease of use, and low cost. EEG-based BCI signal types include stimulus-evoked potentials, slow cortical potentials, and sensorimotor rhythms (SMRs). During motor attempts or motor imagery (MI), the amplitude of the SMR decreases, a modulation called event-related desynchronization (ERD), which can be translated into control commands for external devices. No actual physical movement is necessary for controlling BCI-based devices, and even stroke survivors with severe chronic motor deficits can modulate or manipulate them. The generated control commands during motor attempts or imagination are independent of residual motor function [ 4 ]. Therefore, MI tasks can modulate SMRs generated by neuronal units of the sensorimotor gyrus and have been a powerful paradigm for noninvasive BCI systems to achieve movement restoration in stroke survivors. An enormous amount of research has shown that a BCI system based on MI (MI-BCI) can improve motor outcomes in stroke survivors and may represent a promising rehabilitation approach for functional recovery after stroke [ 5 , 6 , 7 ].

BCI training based on MI is a closed-loop neural circuit intervention method and is a popular topic of interest in research on robot-assisted rehabilitation. Unlike traditional open-loop stimulation, closed-loop stimulation can titrate charge delivery to the brain through feedback from relevant biomarkers of neurological symptoms, thereby enhancing the amount of stimulation delivered and therapeutic efficacy [ 8 ]. Continuous (i.e., adaptive) or on–off (i.e., on-demand) methods can be used based on feedback from biomarkers associated with the patient's neurological symptoms (e.g., seizure events, tremor episodes, or mood changes), thereby reducing side effects and delivering the appropriate amount of stimulation, enhancing the therapeutic effect. EEG features during MI characterize the feedback of the patient's real-time neural activity similar to performing motor tasks or observing during actual tasks. The common features include the modulation of spectral features at the alpha (8 to 12 Hz) and beta (18–26 Hz) frequency bands, event-related desynchronization (ERD), and event-related synchronization (ERS). MI is not completely dependent on the patient’s residual motor function performance; it reshapes the patient's motor intention to improve motor output and is an active type of rehabilitation training [ 9 ].

MI-BCI technology, which combines visual, auditory, proprioceptive, and cognitive activities through the interaction of multisensory stimuli, increases external feedback input, and stimulates changes in neural remodeling patterns, has been shown to effectively improve motor function [ 10 ]. Recent controlled trials have shown the potential benefit of BCI-based therapies in the motor rehabilitation of stroke survivors. Ramos-Murguialday et al. [ 11 ] were the first team to conduct a randomized controlled study of BCI training in stroke patients, and the study verified that BCI systems can significantly improve the training effect of patients with severe upper limb paralysis. In addition, BCI technology combines virtual limbs and functional electrical stimulation (FES) as feedback to provide patients with closed-loop sensorimotor integration for motor rehabilitation, which has a significant effect on poststroke rehabilitation [ 12 ]. Similarly, Biasiucci et al. [ 13 ] recently presented the results of a randomized controlled trial in which 14 stroke patients who received BCI training combined with FES were compared with 13 patients who received sham FES. Compared with those in the sham group, chronic stroke survivors who received BCI training showed significant clinically relevant improvements and lasting motor recovery. An increase in functional connectivity between motor areas in the affected hemisphere is significantly correlated with functional improvement. Furthermore, the EEG signal is used as the characteristic recognition signal of the BCI in stroke patients, which can provide insight into brain remodeling patterns and help optimize clinical strategies for BCI training. A neurophysiologic EEG study by Li et al. [ 14 ] reported that MI-based BCI training simultaneously activated the bilateral cerebral hemispheres, and the event-related desynchronization (ERD) of the affected sensorimotor cortices (SMCs) was significantly enhanced, which enhanced the motor function of the upper extremity in stroke patients by inducing optimal cerebral motor functional reorganization. In addition, Guo et al. [ 15 ] recently proposed another noninvasive BCI paradigm, steady-state visually evoked potential (SSVEP)-based BCI. The detection of user intention can trigger soft robotic gloves for poststroke hand function rehabilitation. In this randomized controlled trial, 30 poststroke patients with impaired upper limb dysfunction were randomly and equally divided into three groups: control, robotic, and SSVEP-BCI groups. The recovery of hand function after rehabilitation with the SSVEP-BCI-controlled soft robotic glove was better than that achieved with robotic glove rehabilitation alone, and the efficacy was equivalent to that achieved with previously reported MI-BCI robotic hand rehabilitation methods.

Despite the promising results achieved thus far, BCI-based stroke rehabilitation is still a new field [ 13 ], and the mechanisms of BCI-based therapies remain largely unclear. It was hypothesized that continuity between suitable motor-related cortical activity and rich afferent feedback is the basic mechanism by which the BCI increases beneficial functional activity-dependent plasticity to achieve clinically important outcomes. In previous studies, more attention has been given to the clinical outcomes of BCI training and remodeling patterns on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and little attention has been given to the exploration of patient biomarkers during the MI-BCI task. In this study, we evaluated the safety and efficacy of MI-BCI therapy in disabled chronic stroke patients, assessed the strength of clinically relevant functional recovery, and investigated the association between features of functional neuroplasticity and motor improvement. Neuroplasticity alterations were detected by fMRI, a neural detection technique that has been widely used to capture patterns of brain activity that may be localized or widely distributed. Therefore, we referred to our method as "region-based analysis", which included resting-state and task-state seeking to characterize discrete and clearly delineated brain regions. Our findings can provide physiological indicators of dynamic physiological information about brain function and contribute to new constructive directions for further design and improvement of MI-BCI.

Materials and methods

Study design.

The research adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki (2008) and received ethics approval from the Medical Ethics Committee of Yueyang Hospital with Clinical Trial Registration number ChiCTR2000034848, registered on July 21, 2020. The sample size calculation was informed by past research studies that employed comparable endpoints [ 16 ]. A total of forty-six individuals who had suffered from strokes were evaluated for qualification between the months of March 2020 and January 2021. After registration, individuals were randomly assigned to the control or BCI group through a computer-generated random sequence. Six patients withdrew during the intervention or follow-up. The remaining 40 patients completed the training and MRI scans. All participants provided written consent after receiving detailed information about the research study. The eligibility requirements for participants align with the selection criteria used in our previous research project [ 17 ]. The subjects underwent motor function assessment via the Fugl–Meyer assessment (FMA) and corticospinal excitability assessment via fMRI pre- and postintervention. All screening and research procedures were conducted at Yueyang Hospital in Shanghai.

Clinical assessments

The assessment of motor function in the affected upper limb using the Fugl-Meyer Assessment of the Upper Extremity (FMA-UE) was conducted on all stroke patients at the initial screening, pre-treatment, and post-treatment follow-up after 2 weeks. The FMA-UE measures motor recovery in different stages [ 18 ], focusing on reflexes, arm movement patterns, and hand dexterity. The motor assessment scores each item based on a 3-point ordinal scale to determine the total motor score for the affected side, ranging from 0 (hemiplegia) to 66 (normal) [ 19 ].

MI-BCI and conventional interventions

The two groups participated in standard physical therapy and occupational therapy sessions for a fortnight, emphasizing exercises, muscle tension control, and limb control drills to enhance functionality, balance, and daily activities. In addition, each subject in the BCI cohort participated in ten 40-min MI-BCI training sessions distributed over 2 weeks, utilizing the MI-based BCI technology [ 17 ]. Every treatment session was conducted by a skilled and knowledgeable physical therapist. A single member of the occupational therapy team was kept unaware of the allocation and intervention during the assessments and data analysis process.

The data from the MRI scans were obtained with a 3T scanner manufactured by Siemens AG (MAGNETOM Verio) with an 8-channel head array coil for two sessions: pretreatment and posttreatment. Each fMRI scan included a resting-state session and two task-state sessions with a block design. During the resting-state imaging, the scanner was used to measure brain activity. Employing the interleaved scanning order, the parameters selected for use were as follows: number of slices = 43, TR = 3000 ms, matrix size = 64 × 64, FA = 90°, Field of view = 192 × 192 mm 2 , voxel size = 3 × 3 × 3 mm 3 , and number of acquisitions = 200. For task-state imaging, the echo-planar imaging protocol (TR/TE = 3000/35 ms, FOV = 220 × 220 mm 2 , 39 axial slices, acquisition matrix = 64 × 64, voxel size = 3 × 3 × 3 mm 3 , number of acquisitions = 100) was used to obtain the fMRI data. The fMRI data were measured with an echo-planar imaging sequence (TR/TE = 3000/35 ms, FOV = 220 × 220 mm 2 , 39 axial slices, acquisition matrix = 64 × 64, voxel size = 3 × 3 × 3 mm 3 , number of acquisitions = 100). High-resolution whole-brain anatomical scans were conducted on all participants to serve as a reference for functional activation mapping. The scans were 3D T1-weighted with a repetition time of 1900 ms. The time required for each echo (TE) is 2.93 ms, the flip angle is set at 9°, the field of view is 240 mm × 240 mm, the acquisition matrix is 256 × 256, the acquisition is done sagittally, the spatial resolution is 1 × 1 × 1 mm 3 , and there is no interslice space.

fMRI experimental paradigm

Prior to the commencement of the fMRI scans, individuals in the preparatory session engaged in fist-making motions and hand relaxation exercises. The resting-state functional MRI scan lasted for an estimated duration of 10 min. To reduce the likelihood of unexpected motion, participants were instructed to close their eyes and remain motionless. They all demonstrated compliance throughout the fMRI procedure of the resting-state. In the task-state fMRI scan, participants recline on their backs in a relaxed position, with cushion support near their hips. They were instructed to maintain a slightly bent elbow position based on individual comfort preferences and carry out hand movements or imagery as indicated by pictures shown. The sessions involved varying visual cues, with participants alternating between executing actual grasping motions or relaxation in response to images displaying closed fists or a relaxed hand, and mentally simulating a gripping action when presented with an arrow image. Individuals were instructed to complete two different block design tasks. During the first session (motor execution), participants executed hand movements in response to visual cues displayed on the screen at a frequency of 1 Hz. During the second session (MI), the participants mentally simulated the matching hand motions following the indicated arrows [ 9 , 20 ]. Each block endured for 20 s. In each session, one hundred volumes were acquired while the left- or right-hand occurrences were generated in a pseudorandom manner. To avoid subjects forming expectations of the task, a blank screen was displayed at random intervals of 7–9 scans during the scanning procedure. Throughout the imaging process, the attending research team conducted observational checks to ensure that all individuals carried out the required tasks appropriately (Fig.  1 ).

Schematic of the fMRI block design paradigm. All subjects performed two sessions of four tasks ( a motor execution with left hands, b motor execution with right hands; c motor imagery with left hands, d motor imagery with right hands). During fMRI scanning, participants were asked to perform two different block design paradigms. For the first session (motor execution), the subjects grasped and relaxed the corresponding hands according to the prompts on the screen at a frequency of 1 Hz. For the second session (motor imagery), the subjects imagined the corresponding hand movements according to the arrows. Each “ON” block lasted for 20 s (8 TR) with the left and right hand displayed pseudorandomly, with intervals with an “OFF” block lasting 7–9 scans of blank screen displayed pseudorandomly. A total of 101 volumes were acquired per session

Data preprocessing and analysis

The spatial preprocessing and analysis procedures utilized the Statistical Parametric Mapping 12 (SPM12) software (Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, London; https://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/spm/software/spm12/ ) carried out on the MATLAB 2014a platform developed by MathWorks in Natick, MA, USA. To standardize lesion locations across patients and establish consistent normalization criteria, we flipped the brain images of individuals with right-sided lesions over the mid-sagittal plane, ensuring that the affected hemisphere aligned with the left side of the brain for all subjects.

The analysis of resting-state data was performed with RESTplus V1.2 (the Resting-State fMRI Data Analysis Toolkit plus V1.2, http://restfmri.net/forum/RESTplusV1.2 ), to perform amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) or regional homogeneity (ReHo) computations. In line with our previous research [ 21 , 22 ], we followed the same data processing protocol by discarding the initial ten volumes of each subject to reach signal equilibrium, then the processing procedure including: (1) time correction of slice scans; (2) the correction of head movement (all head movements were below 2.5 mm or 2.5° in any direction); (3) aligning the functional brain images to the standard EPI template through spatial normalization; (4) regression of nuisance variables, including the white matter and cerebral spinal fluid blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals and head motion with six motion profiles; (5) spatial smoothing using a Gaussian kernel with a full width at half maximum of 6 mm before the ALFF calculation and after ReHo calculation; (6) removal of linear trends; (7) ALFF and ReHo calculations for the traditional low-frequency band (0.01–0.08 Hz), and (8) transformation of both ALFF and ReHo values into a Z score (zALFF and zReHo)for further comparison between groups.

The manipulation of the task-state data before statistical analysis involved correcting time slices, motion correction, spatial normalization into a standard template in MNI space (using the T1 SPM template and resulting in voxels of 3 × 3 × 3 mm 3 ), and adjusting for motion-related signal changes using the six realignment parameters in the design matrix. We applied a temporal high-pass filter with a 128 s cutoff and an AR(1) model for temporal autocorrelation [ 23 ] and conducted a 6 mm full width at half-maximum isotropic Gaussian kernel to smooth the normalized images.In our analysis of fMRI data, we utilized a mass-univariate approach based on general linear models (GLMs). We modeled task conditions of motor execution (ME), and motor imagery (MI) for both the unaffected hand (UH) and affected hand (AH) with the hemodynamic response function. Estimates for the contrast of interest were generated by incorporating session-type regressors and six motion parameters in the first-level models for individual participant images (for this contrast, we set the threshold significance at p < 0.001, uncorrected). We created group maps by applying a one sample t test.

Statistical analyses

We evaluated differences between and within groups or contrast images at the second level for the test variables of fMRI data with two-sample t tests or paired samples t tests (with a significance level of p < 0.01, uncorrected, cluster > 10 voxels). We then overlaid the results on the standard Ch2 template. We recorded the brain regions with statistically significant differences and mapped the significant clusters to the AAL partition template. Visualization was achieved by MRIcroGL ( https://www.nitrc.org/plugins/mwiki/index.php/mricrogl:MainPage ).

We classified different brain areas between groups as areas of interest with REST software based on the ALFF/ReHo data. We obtained the mean value for each area of interest by calculating the average ALFF/ReHo value of all voxels. We assessed the correlations between the mean zALFF/zReHo values in multiple brain areas between groups and the associated behavioral performances by analyzing Pearson correlation coefficients with GraphPad Prism 8 (Graph Pad Software Inc., San Diego, CA, USA) (at a significance level of P < 0.05).

A total of 40 patients with poststroke upper extremity hemiparalysis were identified and included in this study. A previous study reported demographic and clinical characteristics, and identified a significant difference in the recovery of upper limb motor function [ 17 ].

Group differences in brain activation in the block-design scan

All the subjects suppressed unexpected movement and were compliant during the fMRI task. The group activation maps and the corresponding MNI coordinates of the activated brain regions during the different task conditions performed with the AH were determined. Figures  2 and 3 show the differences in whole-brain activation between the BCI group and the control group. Tables  1 and 4 summarize the corresponding MNI coordinates of the active brain regions during the different tasks performed with the AH.

Group differences in brain activation area on task-state fMRI during motor execution with the affected hand. Warm tones represent greater brain activation in the BCI group than in the control group, while cold tones represent less brain activation in the BCI group than in the control group. The z value was the z-axis coordinate along the anterior–posterior axis referenced to a stereotaxic brain SPM152 template

Group differences in brain activation area in task-state fMRI of motor imagery with the affected hand. Warm tones represent greater brain activation in the BCI group than in the control group, while cold tones represent less brain activation in the BCI group than in the control group. The z value was the z-axis coordinate along the anterior–posterior axis referenced to a stereotaxic brain SPM152 template

Motor execution

There were significant changes in fMRI task activation for each group postintervention. Greater ME activation with the AH was observed in the BCI group than in the control group in the ipsilateral middle cingulate gyrus, precuneus, inferior parietal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, and contralateral middle cingulate gyrus (p < 0.01, uncorrected, cluster > 10 voxels) (Fig.  2 , Table  1 ).

Motor imagery

However, when imagining the grasping task with the affected hand, the BCI group exhibited greater activation in the ipsilateral superior frontal gyrus (medial) and middle frontal gyrus after treatment. However, activation of the contralateral superior frontal gyrus decreased in the BCI group relative to the control group (p < 0.01, uncorrected, cluster > 10 voxels) (Fig.  3 , Table  2 ).

Group differences in zALFF in the resting state

Statistical analysis revealed increased zALFF in multiple cerebral regions, including the contralateral precentral gyrus and calcarine, reflecting the enhanced activity of local brain regions and the ipsilateral middle occipital gyrus and cuneus (p < 0.01, uncorrected, cluster > 10 voxels). Additionally, we found decreased zALFF values in the ipsilateral superior temporal gyrus, which suggested that the activity of the ipsilateral superior temporal gyrus was weaker than that in the control group (Fig.  4 , Table  3 ).

Group differences in zALFF in the resting-state scan. Warm tones represent greater zALFF values in the BCI group than in the control group, while cold tones represent lower zALFF values in the BCI group than in the control group. The z value was the z-axis coordinate along the anterior–posterior axis referenced to a stereotaxic brain SPM152 template

Group differences in ReHo in the resting state

Compared with the control group, the BCI group had significantly greater zReHo values in the ipsilateral cuneus and contralateral calcarine, as shown in Fig.  5 (red) and Table  2 . Moreover, the zReHo values of the contralateral middle temporal gyrus, temporal pole, and superior temporal gyrus in the BCI group were obviously lower than those in the control group, as shown in Fig.  5 (blue) and Table  4 (p < 0.01, uncorrected, cluster > 10 voxels).

Group differences in zReHo in the resting-state scan. Warm tones represent greater zReHo values in the BCI group than in the control group, while cold tones represent lower zReHo values in the BCI group than in the control group. The z value was the z-axis coordinate along the anterior–posterior axis referenced to a stereotaxic brain SPM152 template

Correlation analysis

In the group correlation analysis, the increase in clinical scale (FMA-UE) score was positively correlated with the mean zALFF of the contralateral precentral gyrus (r = 0.425, P < 0.05) (Fig.  6 A) and the mean zReHo of the right cuneus (r = 0.399, P < 0.05) (Fig.  6 B).

Correlation analysis between zALFF/zReHo and FMA-UE gains. The zALFF values of the ipsilesional primary motor cortex showed a trend toward a positive correlation with increased FMA-UE score ( A ). The zReHo values of the contralesional cuneus showed a trend toward a positive correlation with increased FMA-UE score ( B )

This study aimed to explore the effects of motor imagery (MI)-based brain-computer interface (BCI) rehabilitation programs on upper extremity and hand function in patients with chronic hemiplegia. We adopted a randomized controlled trial design and divided 46 eligible stroke patients into a BCI group and a control group. The Fugl-Meyer motor assessment (FMA) score was used as the primary outcome to evaluate the motor function of the upper extremity. We performed fMRI scans on patients before and after treatment, including in the resting state and task state. The task state was divided into four tasks: left-hand grasping, right-hand grasping, imagining left-hand grasping, and imagining right-hand grasping. Then, we used correlation analysis of clinical assessments and functional measures to assess meaningful differences. The BCI group had significant improvement in upper extremity motor function compared with the control group and exhibited different degrees of activation or inhibition in multiple brain regions. In addition, the clinical improvement in the BCI group was positively correlated with the zALFF of the contralateral precentral gyrus and the zReHo of the ipsilateral cuneus. These results suggest that BCI therapy is an effective and safe method for upper extremity rehabilitation after stroke, and its neural mechanism may be related to visual and spatial processing.

Task-related fMRI

The dynamic engagement of multiple cognitive processes, including image preparation and/or execution, engagement with internal models of the body, semantic processing of auditory cues, assignment of attention to cued body locations or body properties, and corresponding actual sensations of upcoming stimuli and/or sensory memories, is involved in MI-BCI training. In this study, when performing the motor grasping task with the affected hand, the postcentral gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, middle cingulate gyrus, precuneus, inferior parietal gyrus, and superior temporal gyrus of the unaffected side of the BCI group exhibited better activation than did those of the control group after treatment.

There was significant activation of the postcentral gyrus and the middle cingulate gyrus on the affected side. The postcentral gyrus contains the primary somatosensory cortex, the main sensory receptive area for the sense of touch. The middle frontal gyrus is mainly composed of Brodmann Area 6 (BA6) and Brodmann Area 9 (BA9). BA6 is located directly in front of Brodmann Area 4 (BA4, primary motor cortex), which includes the premotor cortex and the supplementary motor area, and plays an important role in planning complex, coordinated movements. The BA9 area is composed of the dorsolateral and medial prefrontal cortex, which are involved in short-term memory, inferring spatial imagery, inferring intention and other cognitive activities. Therefore, after MI-BCI intervention, motor-related brain areas in the contralateral brain, mainly the postcentral gyrus and the middle frontal gyrus, are activated, thereby improving motor function.

Current fMRI research has brought attention to a particular cerebral network that is active during anticipatory thinking. Known as the default mode network (DMN), this complex network is composed of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)/precuneus, the inferior parietal lobe, the lateral temporal cortex, and the hippocampal formation, which were essential brain regions involved in memory and cognitive processing. The DMN is typically segmented into anterior and posterior subsystems [ 24 , 25 , 26 ]. The anterior DMN includes the mPFC, the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, the PCC, the anterior temporal lobe, the inferior frontal gyrus, and the lateral parietal cortex. In contrast, the posterior DMN is made up of the posterior cingulate cortex, the precuneus, the posterior inferior parietal lobule, and the angular, hippocampal, and temporal lobes [ 24 , 25 , 26 ]. The mPFC and the PCC serve as hub regions for these subsystems.

The DMN is usually inactive during tasks that demand focus on external stimuli [ 27 , 28 ] but becomes active in states of rest or when engaging in internal mental activities like recalling personal history, understanding others' perspectives, introspective thinking, and envisioning the future [ 29 , 30 ]. Thoughts about the future engage a variety of mental activities, including introspective cognition [ 31 ], a personal perception of time, and the construction of scenes (namely, the process of retrieving and combining elements from past experiences into a unified occurrence) [ 32 , 33 ], all of which rely on a broad network of brain regions within the DMN. Imagining personal future scenarios tends to produce more pronounced responses in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex than nonpersonal scenarios [ 34 ]. The precuneus has been recognized for its broader involvement in functions such as navigating space, behavior influenced by spatial cues, focusing on spatial details, learning visual words, sustaining working memory, executing visuospatial strategies, generating words, and identifying targets and new stimuli. It is involved in both sensory-motor processing and more complex cognitive and emotional tasks, including visualization, recalling episodic memories, and self-reflection. In particular, the dorsal posterior areas of the medial and lateral precuneus play a role in visual and motor imagery [ 35 , 36 ].

The exact neural correlates of MI are unknown, but evidence suggests that both imagined and actual movements may involve the same internal mental representations or internal models of the body [ 37 , 38 ]. Support for this theory of shared representations comes mainly from the parallel domain of MI [ 38 ]. The imagined and actual movements show clear similarities at the behavioral (e.g., similar duration), physiological (e.g., changes in heart rate), and neural levels (e.g., possibly activating the same neural substrates) [ 39 , 40 , 41 ]. These studies have been interpreted as evidence that imagined movements are simulations of internal models that track the state of our bodies during exercise [ 42 ]. Human neuroimaging studies have shown that during imagined and actual movement, overlapping brain regions, including the primary motor cortex, premotor cortex, supplementary motor cortex, primary sensory cortex, and other broad cortical regions, are activated [ 37 , 43 ]. This finding points not only to a shared neural substrate for representing imagined and actual movements but also to similar internal models that may be used. Internal models may be involved in anticipated or planned activities (and/or in relation to the imagination).

Our study identifies potential areas involved in the effects of MI-BCI by quantitatively analyzing the activation of neural response clusters during actual ME and MI processes. The movement-related effects appear to be mediated by a range of other cognitive processes, leading to the activation of frontoparietal and visual area clusters.

Resting-state fMRI

We examined changes in the amplitude and local coherence of low-frequency oscillations in patients undergoing MI-BCI therapy and conventional rehabilitation in the resting state. The results showed that BCI training significantly increased ALFF and ReHo values relative to those of patients who underwent conventional rehabilitation. ALFF is a functional index reflecting the strength of spontaneous neuronal activity, and ReHo reflects the consistency of neuronal activity. The positive correlation between the primary motor cortex of the affected side and improvements in motor function scores further confirmed that MI-BCI can better promote improvements in motor function in stroke patients. This finding is consistent with previous research results. Bajaj et al. [ 20 ] reported that the PMC and M1 play crucial roles in MI and ME tasks. Zhu et al. [ 44 ] studied visual feedback therapy (VFT) based on the mirror neuron theory. Compared with those in the conventional rehabilitation group, the motor function of the patients in the VFT group significantly improved after 8 weeks of recovery training, and fMRI revealed that the bilateral activation of the precentral gyrus, parietal lobe and auxiliary motor area was significantly greater in the VFT group than in the conventional rehabilitation group. The authors concluded that VFT is an effective method for improving upper extremity motor function and daily activities in stroke patients, promoting sensorimotor plasticity and behavioral changes in motor and sensory domains. This therapeutic mechanism promotes motor relearning by activating the mirror neuron system and motor cortex. Similarly, in a controlled study, Michielsen et al. [ 45 ] found that patients receiving mirror therapy had a shift in the balance of activation in the primary motor cortex from the unaffected side to the affected side, resulting in greater improvements in motor function.

Many BCI systems are controlled through MI, but these systems may not have been developed specifically for dyskinesia, which is independent of normal motor control [ 46 ]. Subsequent studies have demonstrated that patients can also achieve the same or similar control of BCI as healthy subjects, and by using MI techniques to reconstruct similar normal work environments and conditions, targeted training can improve patient outcomes [ 47 ].The degree of physical movement recovery may differ due to varying severity between subjects. Thus, although these early systems established a precedent for MI, more detailed research is needed to develop a standard protocol for training with exercise-oriented BCI devices [ 48 ]. Currently, BCI devices that rely on MI continue to be used for rehabilitation, and newer systems have also used BCI to incorporate actual movement into their protocols for better rehabilitation [ 49 , 50 , 51 ]. Researchers prefer the use of the BCI system to perform actual attempted movements in open-loop and closed-loop conditions rather than purely imagined movements, because the feedback provided by the device is fully controlled by neural signals and detected by EEG, with the computer generating real-time interfaces between stimuli. During training, patients perform closed-loop tasks during which real-time visual feedback is presented to help patients learn to modulate cortical activity during attempted movements of each hand [ 52 ].

In our study, consistent activity of the unaffected cuneiform lobe was positively associated with motor gain in patients. The cuneiform lobe is thought to be a traditionally functional brain region involved in visual processing, with high activity in the dorsal visual processing stream. The cortex around the calcarine fissure is the area where the primary visual cortex is concentrated. Likewise, the cuneiform lobe and lingual gyrus are both occipital lobes associated with visual stimuli and information processing. The lingual gyrus is an important structure of the occipital visual cortex that is involved in the regulation of visual stimuli and is related to complex image coding, visual memory processing, working memory, selective attention, word recognition, semantic processing, and visual information recognition of faces. The study revealed that the lingual gyrus was significantly activated during memory tasks, and the corresponding regions of the occipital lobe, including the lingual gyrus, exhibited task-selective memory effects when subjects were processing visual imagery tasks. The enhancement of the lingual gyrus signal may be related to the retrieval of relevant memories during the task, indicating that the lingual gyrus may be related to the hippocampus; it may also be related to the amygdala, because the activation of the lingual gyrus was confirmed when subjects performed a high-emotion word task. Our study thus confirmed that MI-BCI promotes visual stimulation and semantic integration-related changes in brain regions to improve motor function in patients.

This parallel-group study demonstrated that MI-BCI therapy significantly improved motor function in chronic moderate-to-severe stroke patients. fMRI results suggested that the motor-related areas of the affected brain hemisphere and the regions that process visuospatial sensory tasks were significantly activated and were positively correlated with improvements in motor function. This recovery is associated with quantitative signatures of functional neuroplasticity. Importantly, the benefits of BCI intervention include the remodeling of brain regions related to motor and visuospatial information processing, which may have important implications for optimizing BCI protocols. The identification of these activated areas allow for the combination of BCI with conventional therapy and the individualization of interventions, enabling the closed-loop decoding of brain activity to play a key role in recovery.

Our study had several limitations in its design and execution that require attention. Firstly, the control group in the experimental phase did not receive an equal amount of treatment compared to the experimental group, which goes against randomized controlled trial standards. This discrepancy might have affected the reliability of our findings. Moreover, the short two-week treatment period and limited number of training sessions could have prevented significant changes in the participants, obscuring important findings. The constraints on participants’ hospital stays further restricted the possibility of extending the sessions or undertaking follow-up studies to uncover meaningful effects. The hand rehabilitation device we used was specifically designed for wrist and finger dorsiflexion, and its application in other muscle groups for motor rehabilitation of different body parts, such as elbows and shoulders, has not yet been explored. The primary outcome measure, FMA-UE, focuses more on upper limb motor function, and is less sensitive to hand function, necessitating further research. We used a significance level of p < 0.01 and a minimum cluster size of 10 voxels, but we did not perform multiple comparison correction for this level, which may have resulted in some overlapping or redundant findings. Additionally, the small participant sample, broad spectrum of post-stroke intervals, diverse stroke types, and lesion locations pose challenges to the comprehensive evaluation of treatment efficacy. Further research is needed to validate and refine the methodological framework of future studies in this domain.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Availability of data and materials

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Ling-Di Qin and Shi-Xin Chang for the collaboration in data collection and You-Qiang Luo for applying the BCI training system.

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant Nos.: 2018YFC2001600, and 2018YFC2001604); National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.: 81802249, 81871836, 81902301, 82172554); Shanghai Science and Technology Committee (Grant Nos.: 22010504200); Shanghai Rising-Star Program (Grant No.: 19QA1409000); Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning (Grant No.: 2018YQ02, and 201840224).

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Zhen-Zhen Ma, Jia-Jia Wu and Zhi Cao have contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Shuguang Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China

Zhen-Zhen Ma

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China

Jia-Jia Wu, Xiang-Xin Xing, Jie Ma & Jian-Guang Xu

Department of Tuina, Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China

Department of Trauma and Orthopedics, Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China

Xu-Yun Hua & Mou-Xiong Zheng

School of Rehabilitation Science, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China

Zhen-Zhen Ma, Jia-Jia Wu, Xu-Yun Hua, Mou-Xiong Zheng, Xiang-Xin Xing, Jie Ma & Jian-Guang Xu

Engineering Research Center of Traditional Chinese Medicine Intelligent Rehabilitation, Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China

Rehabilitation Center, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China

Xiang-Xin Xing

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XJG, HXY, ZMX, and WJJ designed the study. MZZ, CZ, XXX, and MJ performed the data collection and the data analysis. MZZ and WJJ wrote the manuscript for publication. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jian-Guang Xu .

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Ma, ZZ., Wu, JJ., Cao, Z. et al. Motor imagery-based brain–computer interface rehabilitation programs enhance upper extremity performance and cortical activation in stroke patients. J NeuroEngineering Rehabil 21 , 91 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-024-01387-w

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-024-01387-w

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• Brain–computer interface (BCI)
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• Motor imagery (MI)
• Stroke rehabilitation

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