Units and Motives in Activity Theory A Talk by Andy Blunden 22 nd February 2011

Thinking and Speech Development of Speech Development of Intellect (Concepts) Pre-Intellectual Speech and Pre-verbal Intelligence Thinking which is beyond words speechconcepts Communicative Speech “Thinking aloud” Inner Speech Pseudo- and Potential Concepts “True” Concepts

Vygotsky’s Method Thinking and Speech Word Meaning

Vygotsky’s Method Thinking and Speech Word Meaning Joint, artefact-mediated Action

Perezhivanie Perezhivanie (переживаний)

Social Situation of Development

Inside/Outside

The General Concept of Activity Vygotsky’s Concept of Activity

The General Concept of Activity Herder – Fichte – Hess – Marx

The General Concept of Activity “Everything is...

Hans-Georg Gadamer On Documents and Traditions

Hans-Georg Gadamer “... When we try to understand a text, we do not try to transpose ourselves into the author’s mind but we try to transpose ourselves into the perspective within which he has formed his views. But this simply means that we try to understand how what he is saying could be right. If we want to understand, we will try to make his arguments even stronger.” On Documents and Traditions

Motivation as a problem for Vygotsky

An Activity Object

An Activity Immanent in the project itself

Levels and Systems of Activity A. N. Leontyev An Activity An Action An Operation social need

UnitDescriptionObject activityindividual participates and is aware of motive has social motive, independent of the will of any individual motive continues throughout, realized through various goals actionconsciously controlled by individual oriented to individual’s goal, collectively realizes activity goal of action may not be same as motive of activity it realizes operationnot consciously motivated realization of action, selection depends on conditions autonomously flows from will to action Leontyev’s Three-Level Anatomy of Activity

Levels and Systems of Activity Yrjö Engeström

What is an Activity?

Motivation under capitalism Exchange Command & Obey Collaboration

Any Questions?