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HCC class lecture 15 comments. John Canny 3/14/05. Administrivia. Activity Theory. Developed primarily by Vygotsky’s student Leont’ev. Wertsch argues that Vygotsky took a similar notion of “activity,” as a given, but never developed it.
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HCC classlecture 15 comments John Canny3/14/05
Activity Theory • Developed primarily by Vygotsky’s student Leont’ev. • Wertsch argues that Vygotsky took a similar notion of “activity,” as a given, but never developed it. • “Activity” doesn’t translate well into English, plus it is influenced by general Marxist principles. • So we’ll explore the ideas through several examples:
What is Activity? • Activity is a sustained human behavior directed toward some “Object,” and using a stable set of “tools”. • The “Object” is something like a motive, but it can be concrete. Tools Subject Object
What is Activity? • A product development is example Activity. • The designers are the subject of the Activity. • They use a set of tools which could include CAD Software, real models, analysis software, email, text editors etc. • The object(ive) of the Activity is to produce a product design.
What is Activity? • The product design activity map looks like this: Tools (CAD, Sim. SWEmail, Web, paper docs..) Subject (designers) Object (product design)
What is Activity? • The Activity perspective is different from the task perspective that has driven AI, HCI and CogSci. • Activities are long-lived (weeks, months or years). • There is not a goal that you reach, but an “object” that you evolve. Tools (CAD, Sim. SWEmail, Web, paper docs..) Subject (designers) Object (product design)
What is Activity? • In task analysis, we are interested in dynamics: the order of actions and the changes they produce. • In Activity analysis we are most interested in things whose role in the Activity is constant. • To represent a task, we might use a state chart or HMM. • For an Activity we might use adata schema. Tools Object Subject
More Examples • A research project is another example Activity. • The researchers involved are the (group) subject. • The set of tools will include research papers, lab equipment, analysis software, email, text editors etc. • The object is a slipperier concept. It might be a particular research paper.Or the validation of a hypothesis. Tools (papers,eqpt, SW, email,…) Subject (researchers) Object(hypothesis)
Example • Marketing a product is a sub- or distinct Activity to product development. • The Subject is the marketing staff. • Tools include surveys, user studies, tradeshows, contacts,… • The Object is brand development. Tools (Surveys, studies, tradeshows..) Subject(Marketing staff) Object (Brand developmt.)
Example • Elder Care is another example activity. • The family members and professional care-givers are the subject. • The tools are medicines, home-cooked meals, mobility aids, games, cars, phone and email,… • The object is the elder’s health and well-being. Tools Subject Object
More Examples • Taking a university course, or teaching one. • Winning a legal case. • Maintaining the health of a patient. • Designing (and building) a building.
More Examples • Writing a novel, or making a movie. • Writing a song, symphony or opera. • Playing a character, performing a song.
More Examples • Parenting… • Enjoying TV (watching, recording, buying DVDs),… • Gardening • Cooking
Activity hierarchy Activity Theory concept HCI/AImodel Activity ?? Task analysis,task modeling Action Operation KLM, GOMS, Epic
Activity and Context • Activity Theory is often described as a “Theory of Context”. But what does this mean? • A good task-based UI provides “affordances” or actions that are “ready to hand” to support the task. • An activity model provides the subject(s), tools and object that should be ready-to-hand for the activity. • You can think of these as “cognitive affordances.”
Activity and Context • For example, in discussing a product development, a designer might mention: • “The budget” • “John” • “Last week’s meeting” • “The model” • “Testers” • But each project member is probably part of several budgets, knows many people named “John”, goes to dozen’s of meetings a week, etc.What is going on?
Activity and Context • The activity localizes all of the “tools” (documents, programs, meetings etc.) that all the group members have used down to a manageable sized set. John’s knowledge tools Their project Alice’s knowledge tools
Activity Theory as a Method Sylvia Scribner traced Vygotsky’s developmental method: • Observation of current behavior in situ of a rudimentary behavior. • Reconstruction of the historical phases of the cultural evolution of this behavior. • Experimental production of the change from rudimentary to higher forms of behavior. • Observation of this change. Engestrom argues this is the natural method to be applied in Activity theory.
Discussion Topics T1: The best text analysis algorithms for a variety of tasks seem to use numerical (BOW or graphical models) of texts. Discuss what information these representations capture and why they might be effective.