Activity is the largest unit of analysis of external manifestations of activity, an entire motivational act of behavior.
Activity– the active state of living organisms as a condition for their existence. To be a subject of activity means to reproduce oneself, to be the reason for one’s existence in the world.
Activity as an active state of the subject is determined from the inside, from the perspective of the relationship to the world, and is realized externally - in the processes of behavior. Internal organization of activity: motive, goal, tools; external – behavior.
Activity is the unity of internal and external manifestations of activity.
But activity differs from activity, since the former may not be purposeful or conscious.
The concept of activity also differs from the concept of “behavior”, since behavior does not involve the creation of a specific product, is often passive in nature, and can be spontaneous and chaotic. When differentiating activity and behavior, one can focus on the views of S. L. Rubinstein. In his opinion, activity becomes behavior when the motivation of human actions moves from the objective plane to the plane of personal-social relations. The main thing in behavior is the attitude towards moral standards. If the unit of analysis of activity is an action, then in the case of behavior it is an act (misdemeanor).
Main characteristics of the activity
Since activity is the active interaction of a living being with the surrounding reality, where it acts as a subject influencing an object and thus satisfying its needs, the main characteristics of activity are usually considered objectivity and subjectivity.
The specificity of the objective determination of activity is that the objects of the external world do not directly influence the subject, but only after being transformed in the process of activity, due to which greater adequacy of their reflection in consciousness is achieved. (Phylogenetic premises: the tiger, as a subject, sees and wants the wild boar as an object, which as a result of its activity can turn into an object that satisfies its biological need; the bear digs a den, etc.) In its developed form, objectivity is characteristic exclusively of human activity. It is socially determined (and not just biologically), i.e. associated with meanings enshrined in tools, patterns of action, concepts of language, values, social norms, etc.
Features of animal activity:
1. all animal activity is determined by biological models;
2. all animal activity is limited to visual, specific situations;
3. the basis of animal behavior is made up of hereditary programs and learning, limited to the acquisition of their individual experience, which is not transmitted to other generations in material form.
The subjectivity of activity is expressed in the following aspects of the subject’s activity:
I. 1) conditioning of the mental image by past experience;
2) needs (they are the trigger for activity);
3) installations;
4) goals and motives that determine the direction and selectivity of activities;
II. In a personal sense (meaning to me), which gives motives to various events, actions and deeds.
Activity attributes: motive, goal, subject, structure and means. That is, the attributes of activity constitute the structural and motivational components of activity.
Scheme: Correlation of structural and motivational components of activity according to Leontiev.
activity
 |
Structural component Motivational component
Activity motive need
Action goal
Operation conditions
Psychophysiological 
In psychology need is considered as the experience of need for what is necessary to maintain the life of the organism and the development of its personality. Needs are the source of activity. They can be organismal (food, drink), social (need for communication), cultural, spiritual.
The need appears when an object appears. It is objects that include needs: the need is always for something. Before a need arises, the body experiences a state of need or need (want something, doesn’t know what).
According to Leontyev, need is a human state that expresses his dependence on material and spiritual objects, conditions of existence that are outside the individual. Need includes motive.
Motive activity is called what motivates it, for the sake of which it is carried out. A motive is a form of manifestation of a need, an incentive for a certain activity, the object for the sake of which this activity is carried out.
Motive (according to Leontiev) is an objectified need.
The whole process of the birth of a motive can be represented as follows: the body wanted something, experienced tension, but was not aware of it. But, during the search activity, an encounter with an object occurs. The process of recognizing one’s object occurs (this is how the first stage of the life of a need ends) - and we are already dealing with an objectified need - a motive is born in the act of objectification. Through the motive, the need becomes clear, and the person’s behavior changes dramatically: it becomes directed, because the motive is what the action is performed for.
It should be noted that activity, as a rule, is not performed for the sake of one motive. There may be a complex of them. For example, a subject goes to the gym not only for the sake of achievements in a certain sport, but also for the sake of a beautiful figure, health, communication with people, etc. These additional motives are incentives that do not so much trigger activity as stimulate it.
Motives may or may not be conscious. Awareness of motives is a special activity, special internal work. (Why do I need it?)
Unconscious motives manifest themselves as:
1. Emotions (reflect the relationship of the result of an activity to its motive: successful - positive emotions; unsuccessful - negative emotions);
2. Personal meaning is the experience of increased subjective significance of an object, action or event in the field of the leading motive.
Motives form a hierarchical system. Usually this hierarchy is not fully realized. But it manifests itself in a situation of conflict of motives.
Motives, inducing activity, determine its direction, that is, they determine its goals and objectives.
Target- this is a conscious image of an anticipated result (the goal of an activity is not equivalent to a motive, although they may coincide.) A goal given under certain conditions, in the theory of activity, is called a task. The goal can be an object, phenomenon or a specific action.
Task- this is a goal of activity set in certain conditions, which must be achieved by transforming these conditions. Any task includes: a goal that needs to be achieved, the conditions for setting the task, what is sought - what needs to be done to achieve the goal.
For example, the goal is to become a psychologist. But in order to achieve it, it is necessary to solve the problem - to graduate from college (theoretically master this specialty).
So, a motive encourages a person to set a task, to identify a goal, which, when presented in certain conditions, requires the performance of an action aimed at creating or obtaining an object.
Action, as an integral part of the activity, meets the perceived goal. Any activity is carried out in the form of an action or a chain of actions. The same activity can be carried out by different actions. The same action can be included in different types of activities. An action, having a specific goal, is carried out in various ways depending on the conditions in which this action is performed. The ways in which actions are carried out are called operations.
Operations– these are transformed actions that, as a rule, are not conscious.
For example, a child learns to write letters: writing a letter is for him an action directed by a conscious goal - to write the letter correctly. But, having mastered this action, the child uses it as a method (operation) for writing words.
There are two types of operations: 1) arising by automating actions; 2) arising through adaptation to the environment, through direct imitation.
Human activity has a complex hierarchical structure, which can be represented in the form of levels. These levels constitute the structural component of activity.
Level I – the level of special types of activities (cognitive activities, play activities);
Level II – the level of action – occupies a central place in the hierarchy and is a unit of activity. This is a conscious manifestation of activity, because it is aimed at a goal (The image of what is desired is a conscious image). Consequently: 1) action includes an act of consciousness; 2) action - an act of behavior; 3) the action is carried out according to the principle of activity (the source of which is inside the subject - motive), and not according to the principle of reactivity (the principle of stimulus - reaction, source from outside); 4) actions are always objective, their goals are social in nature.
Level III – level of operations - methods of performing actions.
Depending on the task, an operation can consist of a variety of actions, which can be subdivided into even smaller ones. Thus, operations can be larger units of activity than actions. The main property of operations is that they are little or not realized at all. The operations level is the level of automatic actions and skills.
The boundary between operations and actions is mutually permeable (you can brush your teeth without thinking, or you can think and control this process).
Level IV - psychophysiological functions.
Physiological mechanisms for ensuring mental processes (abilities for sensations, motor abilities; mnemonic functions - the innate ability to remember, it is the foundation for the development of the process of voluntary memorization).
The unity of all aspects of a person’s mental life serves as the basis for his activity. Activity- a general property of living organisms, the main condition for their existence. To live means to be active, to act. It is activity that allows a living being to maintain vital connections with the environment; it serves as the basis for development and self-development. Activity provides behavior human - his interaction with the environment, determined by external (environment) and internal (needs, motives) conditions. Behavior can be conscious to varying degrees by a person, determined by consciously set goals, or carried out according to direct desire, feeling, i.e. be impulsive.
The most important form of human activity is activity. Activity- consciously regulated activity aimed at understanding and transforming the external world and the person himself. The main types of human activity are play, learning, work, creativity. It is in activity that the basic properties of a personality are formed and its abilities are developed. Studying the human psyche, psychology pays special attention to various types of human activity, to how a person manifests, forms and develops in it.
Activity, Behavior, Action:
Activity- the inherent ability of all living beings to respond to the environment. Thus, activity is a universal characteristic of living things, distinguishing them from non-living things.
Forms of manifestation of activity are voluntary movements. (physical objects are incapable of this) from the simplest, most elementary, called acts, to the most complex, highly organized forms, in particular rational activity. If we arrange voluntary movements according to the degree of increasing complexity, we get an evolutionary ladder.
In a scientific sense, the concept " activity"Applicable only to a person. Activity is the internal (mental) and external (physical) activity of a person, regulated by consciousness. Activity can also be defined as a set of interrelated acts (actions) aimed at achieving a goal and motivated by needs. Thus, the elements of activity are: goals, needs, actions. The term "action" in the strict sense is applicable only to humans. Animals are incapable of setting a goal for themselves. Therefore, they have voluntary movements, but no actions (although in the broad sense the word, but not the concept of "action" is often used in relation to animals, as well as in relation to physical objects too).
A goal is a conscious image of an anticipated action. Animals are programmed by nature, they are guided by instincts, not by purpose. Human actions are always meaningful. Individual actions take a short time: hammering a nail, ironing a shirt, going to the store. When they are connected in a chain and repeated day after day, we talk about activity. A one-time visit to a store is an action, but repeated shopping, which has become a feature of a woman’s lifestyle, her social role, is already an activity. Individual actions - darning and ironing clothes, cooking, cleaning rooms, etc. - are combined into household activities (or work). And so it is everywhere. Occupation, work, activity are adjacent concepts. Human society develops thanks to the activities of people.
So, action is a unit of activity. A separate movement is an element of action. Movements are so elementary that they are inherent in both animals and people. Actions and activities are only for people. Hammering a nail is an action; it breaks down into smaller movements (swinging a hammer, hitting a nail, etc.). Purpose and needs do not apply to movements, but they do to action.
Behavior
Behavior is a set of movements, acts and actions of a person that can be observed by other people, namely those in whose presence they are performed. Activity, in contrast to behavior, can be internal (rational activity) and external. Behavior only applies to the second. Behavior is an external form of manifestation of activity, i.e. it is only one of its aspects. Therefore, scientists say that behavior can only be open and visible. Behavior is directly observable activity. Activity is “voluntary behavior” conscious of it.
In the above example we are talking about the behavior of large masses of people (which can be called social behavior) as a reaction to expected difficulties in the supply of products that satisfy the most important life needs. It follows that the main elements of social behavior are: needs; motivation; expectations (expectations).
When comparing activities and behavior, it is not difficult to notice the difference. Activities include conscious goals and planned actions. It is performed for the sake of some kind of reward that serves as an external incentive, for example, earnings, a fee, a promotion. Behavior does not contain a goal as the main, defining element. Most often it does not serve any purpose. But in behavior there are intentions and expectations, there is a need and motives. Unlike incentives, motives refer not to external, but to internal incentives.
The unit of behavior is an action. Although it is considered conscious, it has no purpose or intention. The action of an honest person is natural and therefore arbitrary. He simply could not do otherwise. At the same time, the person does not set a goal to demonstrate to others the qualities of an honest person. In this sense, the action has no purpose. An action is aimed at something, but an action is not.
the freedom of action
Actions, deeds, movements and acts are the building blocks of behavior and activity. Activity and behavior are two sides of one phenomenon, namely human activity.
Freedom of action is a range of variations in human acts determined from the outside, primarily by the social environment. In other words, the variety of behavioral acts allowed (permitted) by society that an individual intends to carry out according to his own plan. Involuntary variations in behavior, caused by affects or committed unconsciously, for example, withdrawing a hand from a hot object, no matter how varied it may occur, do not belong to the sphere of free actions. In contrast, actions regulated by cultural norms, such as sneezing, imply that a person may comply with these norms to varying degrees or not at all. When sneezing, he may use a handkerchief, turn away, or hold back the sneeze as a voluntary response. Or maybe not do any of this. Although sneezing is an involuntary action, it is surrounded by cultural conventions, i.e. its range of expression is limited. Depending on what the situation is (whether there are strangers nearby), how he relates to the cultural norms themselves (strictly follows them or ignores them), how he wants to appear to others (well-mannered or ill-mannered), a person freely chooses one or another action. Thus, freedom of action presupposes freedom of choice, the individual's arbitrary decision, purpose and intentions.
Question 3 (Characteristics of the activity approach in psychology):
The concept of “activity approach” in psychology is used in 2 meanings:
1) In a broad sense, this is a methodological direction of research, which is based on the category of subject matter (proposed by Karl Marx, Ballon, Politzep, Tomashevsky, etc.).
2) In a narrow way, this is a theory that considers the psyche in the structure of reflection processes in two individuals (considered by Leontiev).
The activity approach came to psychology in the 20th century and it coincided with a methodological crisis in psychological science (30s).
Thus, the prerequisites for the development of the activity approach in psychology were: 1) the search for a new methodological basis in Soviet psychology; 2) the historically conditioned appeal of psychologists to the psychology of Marxism; 3) shift in the theme of the Fatherland. psychology in the direction of labor education.
One of the first theories (Domestic theories) in line with the active approach was Kornilov’s theory, which was called “Reactology”.
1) The theory of “Reactology” is a theory that represents a synthesis of interospective psychology of consciousness and a behavioristic interpretation of behavior.
2) Reflexology developed thanks to Bekhterev (1900-1930). Later Sechenov and Pavlov.
3) Further development of the active approach in the works of Basov. For the first time they said that Human - it is an active worker. Psychology paid attention to d-t.
According to Basov, labor is the highest form of human activity, the stages of its formation being play and learning.
4) In the works of Rubinstein and Leontiev (Rubinstein - the principle of the unity of consciousness and d-ti)
5) Leontyev A.N. - He began studying d-ti, later than Rubinstein. He developed a complete, detailed general psychological theory of d. He insisted that you only need to study d-t.
A common characteristic of living beings is their activity. It is activity that ensures the maintenance of vital connections of all beings with the outside world. The source of activity of living organisms are needs, to which all living things act in a certain way and in a certain direction. Human activity is determined by the needs that are formed in society in the process of education.
Human activity is the source of its development, determines activity and is its driving force. The fundamental difference between these concepts is that activity comes from the need for an object, and activity comes from the need for activity. In addition, activity seems to precede activity in time: before the start of activity, we actively choose what exactly is desirable, freely plan, think about what means to achieve. But activity not only precedes activity, but also “accompanies” it throughout the entire process. It is impossible to imagine optimal activity devoid of activity.
Calculating our strength, time, and capabilities to achieve a particular goal, with the help of activity we mobilize our abilities and overcome inertia. Activity is “personally colored” because it is carried out in a certain direction, with a certain orientation (towards oneself, to others, etc.).
. Activity is the activity of a person who has conscious character and aimed at achieving the goal goals determined necessity
Activity plays an important role in human life, performing a number of important positive functions.
. Rice 331. Functions of activity
. Figure 332. Activity structure
Let us characterize each structural component of the activity. The determinant of any activity is the need
. Need- this is a state of a living being that reveals dependence on the specific conditions of its existence and generates activity in relation to these conditions
Human needs are formed in the process of socialization and are divided into types depending on: the subject (material, spiritual) and origin(natural (below) and cultural (above)
Need is always the impetus for activity, but a person’s activity is also guided by certain motives
. Motive- this is an incentive to activity associated with the satisfaction of needs, which determine the direction of the subject
Needs constitute the essence, the main driving force of various types of human activity, and motives are specific manifestations of this essence. Motives and motivation are considered in psychology as the cause that determines the choice of direction of behavior and activity of the subject. There are motives conscious(those that a person can express verbally) and unconscious(as a result of repression, due to age, subconscious origin, etc.)
Motives do not always correlate identically with the goal - with different motives the goal may be the same, and vice versa
. Target- this is the imaginary end result of an activity (what a person strives to achieve)
A goal can have a material and mental personification, which are often connected. Since achieving a goal is often long-term in nature, it is embodied in individual tasks, the solution of which brings one closer to the goal.
. Usually human activity is multi-motivated - several motives are triggered at the same time
Any activity consists of actions as components
. Action - this is the implementation component of an activity aimed at completing a specific task
Activity is externally physical and internally mental activity, therefore actions can be both external and internal
. Internal mental activity provide actions that are divided into:
Perceptual (actions of perception);
Mnemonic (memory actions)
Thinking
Imagination (actions of imagination), etc.
The functions of internal activity are that internal actions prepare external ones. They help save human effort by making it possible to quickly select the desired action. In addition, they allow a person to avoid mistakes.
Internal activities are characterized by two main features:
1) it has the same structure as the external one, but a different form of flow: actions are carried out not with real objects, but with their images, instead of a real product, a result is obtained mentally;
2) internal activity in its origin comes from external, practical activity through interiorization, i.e. by transferring the corresponding actions to the internal plan. To successfully reproduce a certain action, you must first learn it in practice and get a real result.
. Foreign economic physical activity carried out with the help of external objective actions. These include: - motor (motor) actions: postures, movements;
Expressive movements: facial expressions and pantomime;
exteriorization- the process of generating external actions, statements, etc. based on the transformation of a number of internal structures compiled on the basis of interiorization
Actions refer to what a person does, but how they are carried out is equally important. This is about operations activities
. Operation- this is a way of performing an action, depends on the conditions in which it occurs and, as a rule, is poorly understood or unconscious
Operations characterize the technical side of the action being performed. The same action can be performed using different operations or in different ways
The result of the activity is the achievement (non-achievement) of a certain goal (material, spiritual product), which is accompanied by control and evaluation
. Control- comparison of the results obtained with purpose. Final control is carried out upon completion of activities
. Grade- identifying the degree of coincidence results and goals. The assessment is based on final control. If the achievement matches or exceeds expectations, the person evaluates the activity positively. If results are obtained below those planned, the assessment is negative
control can be current (during the development of activities)
The fate of the concept of “activity” in psychology is a kind of mirror of its historical formation and isolation as an independent science.
If we could restore the voices of those who at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. defended the idealistic traditions in the interpretation of activity - famous philosophers of those years: L. M. Lopatin, S. L. Frank, N. O. Lossky and many others - then we would be faced, first of all, with the understanding of activity as an immanent property of the spirit, revealed to a person exclusively in the course of introspection or, in other words, “introspection” (the view from the inside). Words such as “soul”, “spirit”, “Will”, “I”, “spontaneity”, “apperception” (synthetic ability of consciousness), etc. would flash here. The source of activity, these philosophers would say, is contained, more precisely, deeply hidden in the activity of the soul and unknowable by any of the natural scientific (objective) methods.
But then we heard the protesting voices of representatives of the empirical and natural sciences in psychology. “Your speculative schemes,” they would say, “no matter how logical or sophisticated they may seem, are lifeless; they are far from the real problems people solve; you extract a person from his real connections with the world. Meanwhile, it is precisely in the consideration of these connections that the only source of origin and the area of detection of human activity can be discerned. And really, what is human activity? This is, first of all, his attitude towards the world around him, and here we can quite clearly hear the voice of one of the brightest psychologists of those years: A.F. Lazursky, who would now be called a “personalist” in a professional environment - it, this attitude, is a measure of a subject’s resistance to environmental influences and, in turn, a measure of impact on the environment!“
Alas! This answer, which seems to fit perfectly into the circle of our current ideas, does not at all satisfy the representatives of the “idealistic wing” in developing the problem of the activity of the subject. “And where, in fact,” they ask, “do your so-called relationships come from, which ensures the “stability” and “impact” of the human individual that you value so highly? “And, without waiting for an answer, they give us their own: “Spirit,” “Will”, “I“...
"Oh no! - the founder of reflexology V. M. Bekhterev enters into an imaginary dialogue, “the soul has nothing to do with it.” Biological impulses, body energy, natural biological potential - this is the source of activity!“
“Was there a boy?!” - another prominent scientist of that time, the author of reactology K. N. Kornilov, seemed to puzzle his “interlocutors” with a “Gorky exclamation”. “There is no activity, there is only reactivity!” (words belonging to K. N. Kornilov himself and which served as the motto of reactological research until the very end of the 20s).
This debate, which began so long ago, continues to this day (take, for example, the views of existential philosophers or neo-behaviorists such as Skinner, who put forward the concept of “manipulation of people”). The main positions in understanding activity are already given here, and from them it is possible to predict further “moves” in solving this problem within the same explanatory schemes, no matter what forms of subsequent discussion they take. Behind all these views, an essentially false dichotomy emerges: “either the spirit or the body”; either the source of activity “inside” the subject, or “outside” it. They naturally raised doubts about the very existence of the phenomenon of activity. Meanwhile, the solution sought is, of course, not to choose which path is better. Both are worse! The principle for solving such an acute problem was contained in the development of the category of “objective activity,” which removes both the dualism of “spirit” and “body” and the dualism of “external” and “internal” in human nature.
Throughout the 30s, in connection with the restructuring of psychological science, due to the in-depth study of Marxist theory and the penetration into the conceptual apparatus of psychology of ideas about the active, non-mirror nature of reflection, about the origin of consciousness from work activity, about the role of needs in personal development, the principle of activity in explicit or implicit form becomes decisive for the interpretation of the most important psychological facts and patterns.
The name of L. S. Vygotsky is associated with the development of ideas about the cultural and historical mediation of higher mental functions. In historical and psychological studies covering the views of L. S. Vygotsky, it is usually emphasized that activity for him was conditioned by the use of “ psychological tools“. For the purposes of our analysis, we point out that in the works of L. S. Vygotsky and his collaborators, activity is also revealed from the perspective of its formation as a sign, an instrument. This plane of ideas about activity comes to light with particular clarity when analyzing the features inherent in the “instrumental” method developed in the works of L. S. Vygotsky and his colleagues. As is known, the experimental method involved the creation of a situation of free choice regarding the possibility of turning to a “stimulus-means” when solving the task assigned to the subject. The need to use a “stimulus-means” in the activity was not imposed on the subject from the outside. The action with the “stimulus-means” was the result of the subject’s free decision. Depending on the level of development of the subject, external “stimuli-means” acted significantly differently. They may or may not correspond to the possibilities of their use; Their application could be in both external and internal forms. “Psychological instrument” meant not so much a principle that forcibly influences the subject, but rather a point of application of the forces of the individual himself, which, as it were, “absorb” the sign. The individual was thus regarded as essentially active.
Not a single researcher of the problem of activity can ignore the theory of attitude of D. N. Uznadze. The core of scientific research and the main emphasis in conceptual understanding “ installations“ come from an indication of the dependent nature of the subject’s activity on his existing attitude, i.e., a person’s readiness to perceive the world in a certain way, to act in one direction or another. In this case, activity acts as directed by the installation and, thanks to the installation, as resistant to the disturbing influences of the environment. At the same time, objectively, the psychological interpretation of the phenomenon of attitude also contains another plan, determined by the need to answer the question about the origin (“generation”) of the attitude. This aspect of the problem is much less developed than the first.
The founder of the attitude theory D. N. Uznadze, emphasizing the dependence of the direction of behavior on the attitude, called for the study of the genesis of the latter, and thereby for the study of activity as primary. This call is not weakened, but, on the contrary, strengthened by time. The difficulty, however, lies in the inadequacy of simply postulating activity as the initial condition for the development of the psyche. Therefore, some modern researchers in the field of activity theory (A.G. Asmolov, 1974, 1976), seeing in the attitude a mechanism for stabilizing activity, emphasize that the attitude is a moment internally included in the activity itself, and it is in this capacity that they interpret the attitude as generated by the activity . This point seems to us to be especially important for understanding the connection between activity and attitude. When studying the objective activity of a subject, the possibility opens up of a special distinction between two layers of movement represented in the activity: one of them is structured by existing attitudes, the other initially represents a set of objectively unformed moments of movement, which, as it were, fill the “gap” between the actual attitudes and those that go beyond them. framework by the subject conditions of activity. It is this layer of movement (activity), which has a special plasticity, that is, as it were, cast into the form of new attitudes of the subject.
Perhaps now more than ever, the theoretical views of S. L. Rubinstein reveal their constructive meaning for developing the problem of activity. He is credited with clearly posing the problem of the relationship between “external” and “internal,” which played an important role in the formation of psychological thought. The principle put forward by S. L. Rubinstein, according to which external influences cause an effect only by refracting through internal conditions, opposed both the idea of the fatal predetermination of activity from external influences, and the interpretation of activity as a special force that does not depend on the interaction of the subject with the objective environment. Closely related to this principle are ideas about personality orientation (a concept that came into use in scientific psychology after the publication of “Fundamentals of General Psychology” in 1940) and the idea of the passive-active nature of human needs. Even closer to the problem under discussion is the position discussed in the latest works of S. L. Rubinstein, about the individual going beyond the framework of the situation, which was thought of in the form of the subject resolving a problem situation.
A special approach to the problem of the relationship between “external” and “internal” is affirmed in the works of A. N. Leontiev. In the book “Activity. Consciousness. “Personality” essentially proposes a formula for activity: “Internally (the subject) acts through the external and thereby changes itself.” It was necessary to introduce the category of activity into psychology and isolate its special units in activity in order to prepare the ground for raising the question of those internal moments of the movement of activity that characterize the constantly occurring transitions and transformations of units of activity and consciousness. This new direction of research, born in Soviet psychology, made it possible from new positions to approach the solution of some fundamental problems, which include the problem of activity as a prerequisite and condition for the movement of consciousness and activity.
Ratio “ activity" And " activities“ - the subject of lively discussion in philosophical literature (E. A. Anufriev, A. N. Iliadi and Yu. L. Vorobyov, M. S. Kagan, V. Yu. Sagatovsky, B. S. Ukraintsev, L. V. Khoruts and etc.). In this discussion, various opinions are expressed, the range of which is very large. In a number of these works, activity is either identified with the self-motion of matter (then activity, of course, becomes only a particular manifestation of activity), or, on the contrary, activity is considered as a kind of “substance”, while activity acts as its “mode”.
What is the real relationship between “activity” and “activity”? The introduction of the category of activity into psychology led to a restructuring of the entire conceptual apparatus of science, significantly affecting traditional ideas about the activity of the subject. For the first time in the category of “activity” and through it, the concept of “activity” acquires a real psychological meaning.
Our starting point is the idea of activity as a movement that characterizes activity and is inseparable from it. At the same time, not every process that is objectively represented in activity can be called active, but only one whose very existence is directly dependent on the subject. These are the processes of initiation (“launching”) of activity, its implementation, control over its dynamics, etc. Activity, therefore, can be defined as a set of moments of movement of activity determined by the individual.
There is no activity without activity and activity without activity. In formulating this position, we emphasize that the latter is interpreted here in a broad sense. Activity refers to the dynamic connection of the subject with the objects of the surrounding world, acting as a necessary and sufficient condition for the implementation of the subject’s life relations - “the molar unit of life” (A. N. Leontyev). Three types of relationships between activity and activity can be considered.
Activity as dynamic generatrix activities. Considering activity in its formation, we must necessarily recognize the existence of such changes introduced by the subject into the system of its relations with the world, which would act as the basis of the emerging activity. The peculiarity of these processes lies in the fact that they originate in the subject itself, are generated by it, but their form is entirely determined by objective relations independent of the subject. Activity is revealed here as the possibility of activity presented in movement. The movement caused by the subject, as it were, absorbs the world into itself, acquiring the forms of objective activity. Speaking about the generation of a mental image, we explained this using the example of the movement of a hand copying the shape of an object. Special studies of activity give reason to believe that its motives and goals are also initially born as a result of the “contact” of living human movement and surrounding circumstances. So, activity is a dynamic formative of activity during the formation of its basic structures.
Activity as dynamic side activities. Completion of the process of formation of activity does not mean its emancipation from activity. The latter now appears in two ways. First of all, as that in which the flow of activity reveals itself. In contrast to motivational, target, instrumental and other relationships that capture the static (“structural”) side of activity, activity characterizes its dynamic side. Activity is a movement in which these relationships are realized.
The dynamic side of activity (activity) is not exhausted, however, only by the processes of its flow, that is, by such processes in which the structures of activity already accumulated in the experience of the subject (or assigned to them) are deployed. The phenomena of activity should also include what was designated by A. N. Leontyev as “intrasystem transitions” in activity (“shift of motive to goal,” transformation of initial activity into action that realizes the relations of a more developed form of activity, etc. ). In these transitions the development of activity takes place.
Activity as extended reproduction activities. In the most general terms, expanded reproduction of activity can be defined as the process of enriching the motives, goals and means of the original activity, as well as the mental image that mediates its course. But what does “enrichment of motives, goals, means and mental image” mean?“
The point, obviously, should not be that motives, goals, means and mental image in the systemic organization of developed activity are similar (equivalent, equivalent) to the original motive, goal, means and mental image and simply expand their range: the development of activity is expressed in deepening its motives, elevating goals, improving the means used, improving the mental image. New and previous moments of activity are asymmetrical. Thus, a new motive of activity, as it were, grows out of the previous one and contains it in itself in the form of a necessary, but not exhaustive part of it. Following a new motive presupposes the subject’s implementation of the previous motive, but at the same time, satisfying the need that primarily initiated the behavior does not yet guarantee the possibility of realizing the new motive that arose in the activity. Achieving the initially adopted goal is necessary, but not yet sufficient to achieve the newly set goal. Solving the original problem using proven means stimulates the formulation of a new problem, but in itself does not yet provide the means to solve this problem. The emerging mental image of the situation not only contains the image on the basis of which the initial activity was regulated, but also exceeds it.
The developed form of activity, therefore, not only presupposes (implies) the possibility of realizing the basic relations of the original activity, but also means the generation of relations that go beyond the initial ones. The new activity contains the original one, but eliminates its inherent limitations and, as it were, rises above it. What is happening is what we define as expanded reproduction of activity.
The processes that carry out the expanded reproduction of activity cover the course of the latter and characterize its internal dynamics. That is why the understanding of activity as a dynamic aspect of activity does not lose its force here, but takes on a new form. Let us fix it in the following definition: activity is the expanded reproduction of activity caused by the individual.
And, finally, activity at its highest level is defined by us as the transition of a previous form of activity at the highest point of its development to a new form of activity. This transition sometimes appears in the form of a “leap”, marking the formation of a significantly new activity.
So, activity in the systemic organization of activity occupies a different place:
- Activity is a dynamic “formative” activity (it ensures the objectification of needs, goal formation, the appropriation of “psychological tools”, the formation of attitudes, the formation of a mental image, etc.);
- Activity is the dynamic side of activity (the processes of carrying out activity and “intra-system transitions” in it - a shift of motive to goal, etc.);
- Activity is the moment of expanded reproduction of activity (its motives, goals, means, mental image that mediates the flow of activity) and a “leap” to qualitatively different forms of activity.
The foregoing allows us to characterize the relationship between activity and activity within a single definition as follows. Activity is a set of moments of movement determined by the individual, ensuring the formation, implementation, development and modification of activity.
The condition for defining the concept “ activity“ in a more special meaning is the distinction between the processes of implementation of activity and the processes of movement of the activity itself, its self-change. The processes of carrying out an activity include the moments of movement that are part of the motivational, target “units” and operational components of the activity and the transitions between them. Activity itself, in contrast to the processes of carrying out activity, forms moments of progressive movement of the activity itself (its formation, development and modification).
The moments of the implementation of activity and the moments of the progressive movement of the latter appear as from the side of a single whole. They are grouped around the same object, which, according to A. N. Leontiev, is the main, “constitutive” characteristic of activity. “In this case, the object of activity appears in two ways: primarily - in its independent existence as subordinating and transforming the activity of the subject, secondly - as an image of the object, as a product of the mental reflection of its properties, which is realized as a result of the activity of the subject and cannot be realized otherwise.” Note that here in determining the objectivity of an activity, the fact of the initial independence of its subject from the individual implementing this activity is especially emphasized. However, another pole of this initial independence can also be highlighted, namely: the autonomy of the individual himself from the subject of his subsequent activity. After all, this object does not appear “suddenly,” but only as a result of formation. Thus, the “thing” confronting the individual is not yet directly the object of his activity. Its transformation into an “object” is mediated by the special activity of the individual, carrying out the act of such “objectification”. In the same way, the dynamics of the forms of objectivity are determined by the individual himself (the transformation of an object from an external to an internal determinant of activity). And, finally, modification of activity presupposes the moment of overcoming its original objectivity. After all, activity is seen as developing, going beyond its own limits. But this overcoming is not carried out automatically, but requires a struggle with attitudes that have developed in previous subject conditions. All these processes can be united under the single term “goal setting”.
Goal setting is understood here as the formation by an individual of the objective basis of the activity he needs: its motives, goals, objectives. The concept of “goal setting,” as you can see, is broader than the consonant concept of “goal setting.” The latter covers the processes of the subject setting “goals” in the usual sense of the word - as conscious guidelines for further actions, while goal setting will mean for us the formation of the initial basis for future manifestations of activity, a constant core in the transitions: motive - goal - task. Accordingly, instead of “goal setting,” we will sometimes talk about “setting a goal by the subject.” But in the context of analyzing the movement of activity, this will mean the emergence of precisely a new target perspective for the individual.
Then activity can be defined as the unity of a person’s purposeful and goal-setting activity, realizing and developing the system of his relations to the world.
Focus b - the moment of implementation of the activity, goal setting - the moment of movement (own dynamics) of the activity. Goal-setting activity must be understood as an internal characteristic of activity, as activity appearing in its own special aspect - from the side of its own formation, development, modification. We call this aspect of analysis diachronic. The purposefulness of activity characterizes activity in another aspect of its analysis - synchronic, namely, in the aspect of carrying out the activity. Purposeful activity fulfills an individual’s existing need, while goal-setting activity generates a new need. The diachronic and synchronic aspects of the consideration of activity, represented by the processes of goal setting and goal implementation, are equal, equally significant definitions of activity. They presuppose each other and only in their unity characterize activity. Both properties (goal-setting and purposefulness) are not inferior to each other in their importance in the overall picture of activity. From these positions, let us again try to characterize the activity, bearing in mind the opposition of everyday and theoretical-methodological constructions indicated above.
Lecture 7. Activity and activity
I. Activity, activity and behavior.
II. Activities
III. Mastering the activity
IV. Activity structure
V. Goal and goal setting. Correlation of goals and motives
VI. Making decisions
In the previous topic it was stated that two main factors - the creation of tools and the development of social contacts and connections in ancient communities of people - underlie the emergence of consciousness. Developing, both over time turned into complexly organized forms of human activity, called activity and communication in modern psychology. Understanding the human psyche and consciousness (not only ancient, but also modern) is impossible without their analysis.
I. Activity, activity and behavior
Earlier, in lecture 4, activation (activity) was defined by me as one of the three main functions of the psyche: reflection, determination of meaning, activation. I also noted then that a number of psychologists distinguish only two functions of the psyche: reflection, which includes both receiving information and determining its meaning, and activity. As you can see, no matter which of these approaches is taken as a basis, activation still turns out to be the most important function of the psyche, and activity is its fundamental property.
When talking about these functions, it is necessary to keep in mind that they are not isolated from each other and do not replace each other in chronological order - they exist and are implemented simultaneously and in parallel. In addition, reflection and determination of meanings can also be considered as types of activity. The fact is that reflection is active and selective. Living beings reflect not just what happens to their analyzers at a given moment in time; they specifically look for what they need. This is especially true for humans.
With this understanding, activation-activity turns into a universal function and property of the psyche. It becomes possible to distinguish in it cognitive activity (reflection) and objective activity associated with motor action (movement). If we take into account that motor action is always preceded and always followed by not only cognitive, but also other mental processes, in particular emotional, then it becomes clear how broad a meaning can be attached to the concept of activity.
In psychology, it is customary to distinguish its two most general types:
- internal (mental) activity,
- external (subject) activity.
Since both are based on psychophysiological processes occurring in the brain and nervous system, and they never stop completely, either one or the other activity is always present in a person. As already mentioned in the previous lecture, even in sleep, the human brain remains active, and in one of its phases, which is called “REM sleep,” it is even higher than in a waking person.
Thus, in a psychological sense, a person is always active, because even during those periods when he does not take any outwardly visible actions, is completely motionless and does not say anything, he can think, remember, imagine, worry, etc. In general, when a person is awake, there are only very short periods (seconds) during which he does not think about anything and does not experience anything. These are states of a kind of stupor, when a person seemingly looks at one point, but in fact sees nothing. At the same time, he may not even hear the address to himself and, shuddering, turn his head after the repeated address. Often the first thought that arises after such a state is the thought: “I just didn’t think about anything.”
Concepts activity And behavior mean actual activity. In other words, between the concepts of “activity” and “activity” there are the same differences as between the concepts of “possibility” and “reality”. We can also say that activity is a property, and activity (or behavior) is its implementation.
Activity is a conscious and purposeful activity. Since goal and goal-setting are characteristic only of man, the concept of activity is applicable only to man. Behavior is called unconscious activity, not specifically controlled and not pursuing any goal. It occurs both in animals (they only have behavior) and in humans. In particular, a student's activity occurs when he is preparing for an exam or is directly taking it, and behavior occurs when he walks aimlessly back and forth along the corridor in front of the room in which the exam is taken, simply waiting for his turn.
The first theories of activity arose in philosophy. The author of the most famous of them is a German philosopher of the late 18th – early 19th centuries. I.G. Fichte. Activity theories were also developed in the 20th century. the French philosopher J.-P. Sartre and the American sociologist T. Parsons (the latter called his theory the “theory of social action”). It is curious that in modern, predominantly English-speaking psychology, the concept of “activity” is not actually used. The fact is that in English there are only the concepts “activity”, which denotes activity (thus, the words “activity” and “activity” are synonymous) and “action” - action.
In Russian psychology, on the contrary, this concept is one of the central ones. The foundations of the psychological theory of activity were developed by S.L. Rubinstein. He relied on I. G. Fichte’s position that practical activity precedes reflection and cognition. I note that this idea actually agrees very well with the basic philosophical principles of Marxism. In a more or less complete form, this theory was presented somewhat later by A.N. Leontiev. These same two psychologists laid the foundations of the so-called activity approach, which still has many supporters in Russian psychology and retains its methodological significance.
In accordance with it, any mental phenomena must be studied in the context of real human activity. The activity itself is understood as a phenomenon of a material order, as the most important part of his real existence, which is reflected in his psyche and consciousness. On the other hand, it also exists in the internal mental form, i.e. in the form of goals, plans, programs, decisions, and this side of it predetermines the substantive side (hence the principle of the unity of consciousness and activity, which was discussed in Lecture 2). The activity approach was and is important for understanding the role of labor (labor activity) in the formation and development of human consciousness. However, as will be shown in the next topic, the development of communication (communication) in the communities of ancient people played an equally important role in this.
The most difficult question is about the sources of activity. In general terms, it is obvious: the source of energy for humans and other living beings is calories obtained through food. This energy is spent on motor movements and actions. However, when it comes to the sources of purely mental activity, everything becomes not so simple. Apparently, mental activity has the same energy source, but the energy received from food must somehow be converted into mental form. How this happens, no one knows. Z. Freud believed that the source of psychic energy is energy concentrated in instinctive drives, primarily in sexual desire (he gave it a special name - “libido”), but he and his followers failed to argue for this idea, and it did not receive widespread support among scientists.
