The Problem of Activity in Psychology

In this paper Aleksei Nikolaevich Leont’ev (not to be confused with his son, Aleksei Alekseevich Leont’ev, the psycholinguist) touches on all the major features of the theory of activity outlined in the introduction to the volume. At various points he deals with: (1) the levels of analysis in the theory of activity, (2) goal-directedness at the level of analysis conceived with actions, (3) mediation, (4) genetic explanation, (5) social aspects of activity, and (6) internalization.