Activity theory: History, research and application

Abstract

This paper outlines activity theory (henceforth called AT), a theoretical approach developed by the psychologists of the former Soviet Union beginning in the 1930s and continuing to the present. AT defines 'activity' as a goal directed system in which cognition, behaviour and motivation are integrated and organized by goals and the mechanisms of self-regulation. The purpose of this paper is to describe AT, and to compare it to the orientations widely adopted in the West, primarily information processing and cognitive psychology.