Thing: Subject included in the activity
Representatives: Leontiev Alexey Nikolaevich, c.u.shtein Sergey Leonidovich
The principle of unity of consciousness and activity — the term S.L. u.e.shtein, which he in the 1930-40s. denoted his version of the activity approach (more precisely, the subject-activity approach): “The subject in his deeds is not only detected and manifested; it is created and determined in them. By what he does, you can define what he is; the direction of his activity can determine and shape him.
The principle of the unity of consciousness and activity captures the fact that consciousness (or, more broadly, mental) does not control activity from the outside, but forms an organic unity with it, being both a prerequisite (motives, goals) and a result (images, states, skills, etc.). e) activities. The psyche and consciousness are formed in activity, in activity they manifest themselves. Activity and consciousness are not two different sides of inverted aspects, they form an organic unity (but not identity). Activity is not a set of reflex reactions to an external stimulus, as it is regulated by consciousness. Consciousness is considered as a reality that is not given to the subject directly for his self-observation. Consciousness can be known only through a system of subjective relations, including through the activity of the subject, in the process of which the subject develops.
Leontiev clarifies the position of u.e.shtein: “Consciousness does not just manifest itself as a separate reality, consciousness is built-in and inextricably linked with it.”
The principle of the unity of consciousness and activity made it possible to single out activity as:
- an independent subject of psychological research (learning activity, we discover the mental world of a person);
- as an explanatory principle.
Activity, unlike reaction, is a process of a person’s active attitude to reality, therefore, the problematics of the activity approach also includes the problem of personality.
In the activity approach, the question of the origin of the psyche in the animal world was first raised. To explain how and why the psyche arose in phylogeny, A.N. Leontiev expanded the principle of the unity of consciousness and activity, putting forward the principle of the unity of the psyche (in its various forms) and activity. The activity is described as consisting of three structural units:
- Activity—Action—Operation
Activity is motivated
The action is determined by the goal,
The operation is determined by the specific conditions of its course.
For example, the educational activity carried out by a student can be guided by the motive of preparation for professional work or the motive of joining the intellectual elite, or the motive of communication with peers, or the motive of self-improvement, etc. in reality, each activity usually corresponds to several motives (not or/or, but and/and), therefore, one speaks of a multi-motivated activity.
At the level of action within the educational activity, the student can prepare for the exam, i.e. to realize a specific conscious goal — to get a high mark.
The goal is an image of the required future, to achieve which it is required to carry out an action, which in turn includes a number of operations.
An activity within an exam preparation activity could be reading a textbook, reviewing notes, and so on.
Structural units of activity are mobile. So, what yesterday was an action, today can develop into an independent activity. For example, if you are reading a textbook in order to pass an exam, then later you can get carried away and re-read all the available literature on this subject. It will become interesting to you on its own. Such a phenomenon A.N. Leontiev called «the shift of the motive to the goal.» Activities can be distinguished by their focus: on objects of the external world, on another person and on oneself. Activities differ in subject matter: play activities, educational activities, work activities, etc. D.B. Elkonin introduced the concept of «leading activity», i.e. activities that correspond to the most significant motive in a particular age period or in a particular personally significant situation.