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Activity theory is a Soviet psychological theory invented by Alexei Nikolaevich
Leontyev, which became one of the major psychological theories in that
country, being used widely in areas such as the education of disabled
children and the design of equipment control panels.
The history of activity theory
Activity theory originated from the Moscow Institute of Psychology and
in particular the troika of young and gifted researchers, Lev Semyonovich
Vygotsky (1896–1934), Alexander Romanovich Luria (1902–77)
and Alexei Nikolaevich Leontyev (1903–79). Vygotsky's contribution
was rich and diverse, but here we only refer to the parts relevant to
activity theory.
Some changes were introduced, apparently by importing notions from Human-Computer
Interaction theory. For instance, the notion of rules, which is not found
in Leontiev, was introduced. Also, the notion of collective subject was
introduced in the 1970s and 1980s (Leontiev refers to "joint labour
activity", but only has individuals, not groups, as activity subjects).
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