Concept of Activity in Soviet Psychology

James V. Wertsch, who received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1975, is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Northwestern University.

• Preface; The Concept of Activity in Soviet Psychology; An Introduction; THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS The Problem of Activity in Psychology; Methodological Problems in the Psychological Analysis of Activity; VYGOTSKY’S HISTORICAL INFLUENCE The Instrumental Method in Psychology; The Genesis of Higher Mental Functions; The Development of Higher Forms of Attention in Childhood; THE ROLE OF SIGN SYSTEMS IN THE THEORY OF ACTIVITY The Psychological Consequences of Computerization; L. S. Vygotsky’ s Ideas about the Planning Function of Speech in Children; EMPIRICAL STUDIES MOTIVATED BY THE THEORY OF ACTIVITY; Memory; Involuntary Memory and the Goal-directed Nature of Activity; The Detection of a Contradiction as the Initial Stage of Problem Formation; Motor Skills Criteria for Evaluating Executive Activity.