Every complex human-machine system includes a computer as a critically important means of work. However, an operator's interaction with a computerized system cannot be reduced to only performing computer-based tasks. Today human-computer interaction (HCI) is not limited to trained software users. People of all ages use all different kinds of gadget

This book presents new data in Applied Activity Theory (AAT) and Systemic-Structural Activity Theory (SSAT), that can be used in the study of human performance. The SSAT is the high-level generality theory that offers standardized principles of the analyses of human activity. These principles can be utilized in theoretical and applied studies. This multi-contributed book offers a selection of works that will provide a holistic picture of the field. The new data can be utilized for the study of extremely complex human-machine and human-computer interaction systems, and for evaluation of efficiency, complexity, and reliability of such systems at the design stage. Features Shows examples of self-regulative models of various cognitive processes Illustrates a method of study of production process in the construction industry Includes topics on learning, training, and management Covers a new method of computer based automated support of decision making under risk and uncertainty Presents a new method of evaluation of probabilistic structure of tasks, and the method of assessing reliability of human performance

This book presents new data in Applied Activity Theory (AAT) and Systemic-Structural Activity Theory (SSAT), that can be used in the study of human performance. The SSAT is the high-level generality theory that offers standardized principles of the analyses of human activity. These principles can be utilized in theoretical and applied studies. This multi-contributed book offers a selection of works that will provide a holistic picture of the field. The new data can be utilized for the study of extremely complex human-machine and human-computer interaction systems, and for evaluation of efficiency, complexity, and reliability of such systems at the design stage. Features Shows examples of self-regulative models of various cognitive processes Illustrates a method of study of production process in the construction industry Includes topics on learning, training, and management Covers a new method of computer based automated support of decision making under risk and uncertainty Presents a new method of evaluation of probabilistic structure of tasks, and the method of assessing reliability of human performance

Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) is an interdisciplinary field that has gained recognition as an important field in ergonomics. HCI draws on ideas and theoretical concepts from computer science, psychology, industrial design, and other fields. Human–Computer Interaction is no longer limited to trained software users. Today people interact with various devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and laptops. How can you make such interaction user friendly, even when user proficiency levels vary? This book explores methods for assessing the psychological complexity of computer-based tasks. It also presents methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis of exploratory activity during interaction with a computer.

Human Computer Interaction (HCI) is no longer limited to trained software users. Today people interact with various devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and laptops. How can such interaction be made more user friendly, even when user proficiency levels vary? This book explores methods for assessing the psychological complexity of compute

Activity theory is an interdisciplinary approach to human sciences that originates in the cultural-historical psychology school, initiated by Vygotsky, Leont'ev, and Luria. It takes the object-oriented, artifact-mediated collective activity system as its unit of analysis, thus bridging the gulf between the individual subject and the societal structure. This 1999 volume includes 26 chapters on activity theory by authors from ten countries. In Part I of the book, central theoretical issues are discussed from different points of view. Some topics addressed in this part are epistemology, methodology, and the relationship between biological and cultural factors. Part II is devoted to the acquisition and development of language. This part includes a chapter that analyzes writing activity in Japanese classrooms, and a case study of literacy skills of a man with cerebral palsy. Part III contains chapters on play, learning, and education, and Part IV addresses the meaning of technology and the development of work activities. The final part covers issues of therapy and addiction.

This book offers analytical methods for studying human work in ergonomics and psychology that are similar to ones utilized by the engineering sciences. SSAT offers not only new qualitative but also formalized and quantitative methods of analysis. This book will describe quantitative methods of task complexity and reliability assessment, application

Now in its third edition, this classic text remains the seminal resource for in-depth information about major concepts and principles of the cultural-historical theory developed by Lev Vygotsky, his students, and colleagues, as well as three generations of neo-Vygotskian scholars in Russia and the West. Featuring two new chapters on brain development and scaffolding in the zone of proximal development, as well as additional content on technology, dual language learners, and students with disabilities, this new edition provides the latest research evidence supporting the basics of the cultural-historical approach alongside Vygotskian-based practical implications. With concrete explanations and strategies on how to scaffold young children’s learning and development, this book is essential reading for students of early childhood theory and development.

The opening of the former Soviet Union to the West has provided an opportunity to describe Russian human factors/ergonomics and to compare American theories and methods with it. Although this book is principally dedicated to describing the theory of activity as it applies to issues of design and training, it is also offered to a general audience of psychologists and interested lay readers. This theory studies the goal-directed behavior of man and attempts to integrate the cognitive, motivational, and behavioral aspects of activity into a holistic system. Such fundamental notions as goal, action, and self-regulation are described and analyzed from totally different theoretical points of view. This is the first comprehensive, systematic description of the theory of activity in the English language. Existing attempts to translate the theory of activity into English suffer from certain limitations. Among them, the theory of activity -- considered one of the more important accomplishments of Soviet psychological science -- has an extensive history dating back to the work of Vygotsky and his students. Subsequent development of the theory by other well-known Soviet psychologists and psychophysiologists took place within different schools with some significant differences. In the former Soviet Union, psychological theory could not be advanced unconnected to Marxist-Leninist ideology. Accordingly, theoretical formulations were subject to their own version of "political correctness." Books published in this field were addressed only to other scientists with backgrounds in the field. Moreover, the translation of the technical terms in Russian psychology frequently resist translation in the absence of the context of the debates in which they were being used. Thus, simple translation of books in this field as they were written in a specialized and politicized environment for Russian audiences is really not a particularly sensible or worthwhile undertaking. This book is addressed in the first instance to Western psychologists. It compares, among other things, analyses of work from the former Soviet Union with the work from the West. Applications of activity theory to design and learning were paramount in the Soviet Union. Using their own theoretical perspective, the authors provide a comparative analysis of the various schools working in activity theory. They hope that this book may facilitate the exchange of ideas between Russian psychological scientists and Western psychologists working in ergonomics, human factors, industrial/organizational psychology, education, learning, and related areas where the theory of activity may find general application. This book's authors attempt to provide a contribution not only to science but also to history. Western researchers have strongly influenced Russian work, but because of negative political pressure in the former USSR, the flow of concepts was one-sided. Russian ergonomists received so much from American and Western sources that it is now important to give something back. Despite the considerable similarity between Russian and American theories and methods, the special "spin" the former put on their work may stimulate new thinking on the part of their American colleagues.

This book is a collection about cultural-historical activity theory as it has been developed and applied by Yrjö Engeström. The work of Engeström is both rooted in the legacy of Vygotsky and Leont'ev and focuses on current research concerns that are related to learning and development in work practices. His publications cross various disciplines and develop intermediate theoretical tools to deal with empirical questions. In this volume, Engeström's work is used as a springboard to reflect on the question of the use, appropriation, and further development of the classic heritage within activity theory. The book is structured as a discussion among senior scholars, including Y. Engeström himself. The work of the authors pushes on classical activity theory to address pressing issues and critical contradictions in local practices and larger social systems.