systemic-structural theory of activity & design an introduction to the foundations, methods...

Systemic-Structural Theory of Activity & Design

An introduction to the foundations, methods & application

of G. Z. Bedny’s systemic-structural theory of activity

Steven Robert Harris

Hypermedia Research Unit, University of Glamorgan, Wales, UK


2

Key points• SSTA integrates cultural-historical (sign as major

concept, meaning as unit of analysis) and activity (cognitive & behavioural actions as unit of analysis) approaches, using them as two complementary perspectives

• SSTA integrates conflicting approaches within the General Theory of Activity and integrates AT with some aspects of information processing cognitive science

• Bedny claims SSTA will permit precise descriptions of computer mediated tasks, e.g. allowing evaluation of the efficiency of design innovations to be carried out at earlier stage of the design process.


3

Key points• A central notion of SSTA is self-regulation of

activity, drawing on & developing the work of Anokhin, Bernshtein & others

• During activity, there is a continuing effort to adapt or modify the course of the activity to the requirements posed by the goal

• Activity involves continual information reception, processing, & decision making

• Activity is seen as a functional system where the self-regulation process is a continuing comparison of the desired activity result with the actual result or outcome, producing feedback information which modifies activity


4

Key points• SSTA formulates human performance as a

system• SSTA takes dynamically changing human activity

during task performance as its object of study • Human activity is seen as having multiple,

distinct aspects that requires a complex, system-structural approach to capture its multi-dimensionality

• SSTA is offered as a theoretical foundation for the psychological aspects of design, & provides symbolic models to support the design process.

• To this end, SSTA offers units of analysis and guiding methods


5

Multi-dimensional analysis• In SSTA the concepts of activity and actions always

assume the existence of objects as material or idealized phenomena and processes.

• In SSTA, the major units of analysis are cognitive & behavioural actions and function blocks.

• Activity is not a unit of analysis• SSTA analysis uses multiple frames to

characterize single episodes of activity at multiple levels.

• With SSTA it is possible to extract different structures from the same activity, depending on the purpose of study.


6

Approaches within SSTA• Within SSTA Bedny isolates 3 differing, and

narrower, theoretical approaches: • The cognitive approach, where the concept of

process is central; • The morphological approach, where mental and

motor actions are the most important concept • The functional approach, where the major

concepts are self-regulation and function blocks. All approaches may be applied at different levels

of analysis, from micro to macro-structural, according to the subject of the study


7

Activity, System & Structure

• Textbook: activity is a combination of internal and external processes regulated by a conscious goal.

• SSTA: activity is a goal-directed system where cognition, behaviour and motivation are integrated and organized by the mechanism of self-regulation to achieve a conscious goal.

• A system is a set of elements organized and mobilized around a specific purpose or (conscious) goal.

• Activity as a system consists of smaller units such as cognitive and behavioural actions & operations and function blocks. The relationship between these units of activity is the structure of activity.


8

The Task• In SSTA, the task is taken as the basic component of

activity. The task: a situation requiring achievement of a goal in specific conditions (Leont’ev); a situation that requires the discovery of the unknown based on what we already know.

• Elements of a task: initiating stimulus, response required, and the goal that organizes the task as a whole. Task performance involves an initial situation, transformed situation, final situation

• Motivation is associated with task characteristics such as complexity & significance, which can change during task performance. The meaning of a task is for each individual is their understanding of what it is, and how to perform it; the sense is its significance for them.


9

The structure of activity• Activity can be represented as hierarchically

organized system.• The main components of activity are • Motive → Method → Goal → Result• The logically organized system of motor and

mental actions forms the structure of activity during task performance.

• Actions can be further divided into operations and and function blocks

• Activity → Task → Action → Operation → Function Block


10

Schema of activity

TOOLS

Self-regulation of activity through comparison of result with goal image

OBJECT GOALSUBJECT RESULT

BASIC SCHEME OF MEDIATED ACTIVITY


11

Schema of activity - gzb


12

Schema of activity - srh

TOOLS

TOOLS

Self-regulation of activity

SUBJECT

SUBJECT

RESULT


SCHEME OF MEDIATED ACTIVITY - 2 COOPERATING SUBJECTS

Mut

ual r

egul

atio

n of

act

ivity

TOOLS: SPEECH,

GESTURE, ETC.

COMMONOBJECT OFACTIVITY

SHAREDGOAL


13

Subject & object• The subject is the individual or group of

individuals that are engaged in activity.• The object of activity is a physical or mental

product (image, mental sign) that is explored or transformed according to the goal of activity or action

• The object is not an objective, and should never be confused with one!

• Making a clear distinction between goals, needs and motives is very important – and misinterpretation of these distinctions has been a source of confusion in Western AT.


14

Goal & Result• A goal is a conscious mental representation of

humans’ own activity in conjunction with a motive. The goal is a cognitive, informational component of activity

• The goal may be formed from image, sign-verbal and other elements

• Goals are complex and dynamic, and may have many different personal interpretations. At various stages of activity, we may be aware of different aspects of the goal.

• Goals can be overall or partial – an element of activity directed toward a partial goal is an action

• Goals may be more or less precise – but not more or less intense!

• The result or outcome of activity or actions is the real, actual activity accomplishment that can be compared with the goal


15

Goal formation model

Input information

Assessment of the meaning of input

information

Assessment of the sense of input information.

Experience

Goal Motivation


16

Motives• In contrast to goals, motives or motivation in

general, are the energetic components of activity.

• Needs only become motives when they have the capacity to induce someone to act in order to achieve a particular goal. Motives may also derive from desire, intention, aspiration, etc.

• Motives push activity, goals guide activity.Motive → Goal

• The question of goal formation is a fundamental aspect of motivation.

• Motives can be classified as either sense-formative or situational.


17

Meaning & Sense in the task


18

Action• Action is the major unit of analysis of activity. In

contrast to notions of “processing” that emphasize what happens strictly in the psychological domain, the concept of “action” connects theory to the practical domain (e.g. in ergonomics and other applications). There are two main types of activity:

• Object –oriented: Subject Tools Object

Subject-oriented (social interaction): Subject Tools Subject

These continuously transform into each other. Social interactions develop in a surrounding world of objects.

Inter-subjective relationships exist not only in social interaction, but in subject-object relationships, as an inner dialogue.


19

The structure of action• Actions have a temporal dimension that begins when an

individual accepts the goal of the action and is completed when the individual achieves the conscious goal of the action and evaluates the result of in terms of the established goal.

Simplified model of action as a one-loop system. After Bedny, 1997

INPUTACCEPTANCE

OR FORMATIONOF GOAL

INFORMATIONPROCESSING & DECISION

MAKING

RESPONSE(EXECUTION)

EVALUATIONOF RESULT

ANDCORRECTION


20

Action Classification 1• Classification of mental or cognitive actions by

dominating psychological process• Two main types: • Direct connection actions - proceed without

distinct differentiated steps and require less attention

• They are less conscious and subjectively are experienced as instantaneous. E.g., recognition of a familiar object.

• Transformational actions - involve more deliberate examination and analysis of stimulus

• E.g., the perception of an unfamiliar object in a dimly lit environment.


21

Action Classification 1• Direct connection mental actions

Sensory, Simultaneous perceptional, Mnemonic, Imaginative, Decision-making

Reproductive Transformational mental actions Successive perceptual, decision-making

action at a verbal thinking level, Recording actions

Higher-order transformational actions involved in thinking processes Categorization actions, Deductive actions,

Complex Mnemonic actions Creative Actions


22

Action Classification 2 - tools

Criteria for Classification

Specific Nature of Object of Action

Method of Action Performance

Practical Performance

Mental Performance

Sign (Sign System)

Real Object

Object-Practical Action

Object-Mental Action

Sign-Practical Action

Sign-Mental Action


23

Motor actions• Bedny advocates the use of MTM-1 (within his

SSAT) to describe the motor components of activity

• Holistic activity is the point of departure for analysis of the separate elements of activity in a sequential decomposition of activity.

• The structure of motor action is seen as including cognitive components:

• The programming function block (i.e., the block of motor instructions) - cognitive

• The executive function block (i.e., implementation of motion) - motor

• The evaluative function block (i.e. corrections) - cognitive


24

Unity of cognition & behaviour

• Continual motor micro-shiftings play a role in exploring the space of movement. Although they are not conscious to the subject, micro-motions perform cognitive functions.

• Motor elements always contain cognitive components: cognitive elements always contain motor components

• This is the basic principle of “the unity of consciousness and practical activity”. - intellect can never be reduced to theoretical operations of conceptual thought. Practice and intellect are always interconnected.

• Speech is treated as a system of verbal actions that performs a regulative function in human behaviour

• SSTA also accepts that there are non-verbalized and to some extent unconscious aspects of meaning, adopts Pushkin’s notion of the Gnostic Dynamic which it sees it as a result of the self-regulation process.


25

Systemic-structural analysis

• Activity is a multi-dimensional system.

• Consequently, we must create multiple, systemic representations of the same activity.

• Adequate descriptions of the same object of study (activity) can be represented by multiple, interrelated and supplemental models and languages of description.

OBJECT OF

STUDY

A

B

COBJECT

OF STUDY

A

B

C


26

4 stages of activity analysis

Qualitative descriptive analysis

Algorithmic analysis

Analysis of time structure

Quantitative analysis


27

Qualitative stage – methods• Parametric methods of study - concentrates on

distinct aspects of activity e.g. cognitive task analysis• Functional analysis – systemic method, considers

activity as a self – regulating system. Major unit of analysis is functional mechanism or functional block.

• Objectively logical analysis – integrates broad number of methods including verbal and graphical description of task, description of technological processes, tools, equipment, conditions of work etc.

• Socio – cultural methods - pay attention to social context under which task is performed.

• Individual – psychological methods – describe personal requirements for job performance, individual features of personality, training, individual style of activity performance etc.


28

Morphological analysis• Division of activity into actions and operations• Algorithmic descriptions of activity• Developing time structure of activity


29

Algorithmic description• Subdivision of activity into qualitatively distinct

psychological units and determination of the logic of their organization and sequence.These units are formulated as elements of activity with a specific logical structure and are called members of an algorithm

• Human algorithms are defined by associated units of analysis made up of human actions

• Members of an algorithm are made of actions with their associated sub-goals, integrated through supervening goals

• Members of human algorithms are operators and logical conditions

• Due to limits on the capacity of working memory, each member of an algorithm is limited to between one to three actions.


30

Algorithmic description• Operators consist of actions that transform

objects, energy and information. They can be classified as either afferent or efferent (executive).

• Logical conditions are members of the algorithm that determine the logic of selection and realization of different members of an algorithm, and include a decision-making process. These can be either deterministic (binary) or probabilistic (multiple options with different probabilities of being used)


31

Algorithmic description• Once an algorithm has been developed, it can

be used as the basis for a psychological analysis of the task it describes, returning to the other methods of the qualitative stage of analysis for further information as required.

• Each member of an algorithm can be evaluated as a whole from both qualitative and quantitative points of view.

• Human algorithms can describe exploratory and abandoned actions, both of which are very frequent in HCI

O

33

Look at the screen message. (see fig. 2)

12

l 12

If screen displays a message, “work-in-process (Y/N)” and the answer is ‘Y’ go to O

34, otherwise, go to O37

O

34

Type ‘Y’, hit “enter” to print out a label, and put label on the part.

O

35

Look at the label to determine which department within the plant the item will be shipped to.

13 (1-3)

l 13

If it goes to department 1, go to 1O36, if it goes to department 2, go to

2O36, otherwise, go to 3O

36.

13 (1)

1 O36

Put the part in box 1.

1 1

Always false logical condition (see O28 ).

13 (2)

2 O36


2 2 Always falls logical condition (see O28 ).

13 (3)

2O36


3 3

Always false logical condition (see O28 ).

12

O37

Check if there is a bin for this item.


35

Self-regulation of activity• Self-regulation is based on the fundamental

notion of feedback• 2 types: physiological and psychological,

interconnected but different• Psychological SR is not homeostatic, but

changes structure based on experience – a system with a goal, not just a purpose

• SSTA models of self-regulation differ from others (e.g. Heckhausen, Kanfer, Kuhl)

• Strategy is seen as fundamental to self-regulation


36

Self-regulation of activityBedny’s model, 1997


37

Self-Regulation model

GOAL

FORMATION OFTHE LEVEL OFMOTIVATION

EXPERIENCE

NEW EXPERIENCE

SUBJECTIVESTANDARDS OF

ADMISSIBLEDEVIATIONS


SUCCESSFULRESULTS

FORMATION OFA PROGRAM OF

TASKPERFORMANCE

SUBJECTIVELYRELEVANT TASK

CONDITIONS

ASSESSMENTOF TASK

DIFFICULTY

ASSESSMENTOF SENSE OF

TASK

PROGRAMPERFORMANCE

INFORMATIONABOUT INTERIM& FINAL RESULT

ASSESSMENT OF MEANINGOF INPUT INFORMATION

FORMULATION OF ATASK

MAKING ADECISION ABOUTA CORRECTION

POSITIVEEVALUATIONOF RESULT

NEGATIVEEVALUATIONOF RESULT

INPUTINFORMATION

MODEL OF SELF-REGULATION OF ACTIVITY. After Bedny, 1997.


38


GOAL


EXPERIENCE

NEW EXPERIENCE




SUCCESSFULRESULTS


TASKPERFORMANCE


CONDITIONS

ASSESSMENTOF TASK

DIFFICULTY


TASK

PROGRAMPERFORMANCE







INPUTINFORMATION


ORIENTING ASPECTS OFACTIVITY


39


GOAL


EXPERIENCE

NEW EXPERIENCE




SUCCESSFULRESULTS


TASKPERFORMANCE


CONDITIONS

ASSESSMENTOF TASK

DIFFICULTY


TASK

PROGRAMPERFORMANCE







INPUTINFORMATION


EXECUTIVE ASPECTS OFACTIVITY


40


GOAL


EXPERIENCE

NEW EXPERIENCE




SUCCESSFULRESULTS


TASKPERFORMANCE


CONDITIONS

ASSESSMENTOF TASK

DIFFICULTY


TASK

PROGRAMPERFORMANCE







INPUTINFORMATION


EVALUATIVEASPECTS OF

ACTIVITY


41


GOAL


EXPERIENCE

NEW EXPERIENCE




SUCCESSFULRESULTS


TASKPERFORMANCE


CONDITIONS

ASSESSMENTOF TASK

DIFFICULTY


TASK

PROGRAMPERFORMANCE







INPUTINFORMATION



42

There’s much more….• Bedny also offers a detailed SSTA model of

learning activity which draws on Anokhin, Bernshtein, Gal’perin, Landa & others…

• SSTA offers detailed accounts of work-process related topics such as workspace organization, fatigue, vigilance & safety…

• SSTA incorporates notions of “set” (Uznadze) and offers detailed analysis of how personality & individual styles of performance interact with task performance

• … a multi-dimensional approach to multi-dimensional activity.

[email protected]


Steven Robert Harris

Hypermedia Research Unit, University of Glamorgan, Wales, UK

Thank you…

http://www.comp.glam.ac.uk/pages/staff/srharris/pages/Bedny.htm


44

Addenda


45

Collaborative activity

TOOLS


COMMONOBJECT OFACTIVITY

SHAREDGOALSUBJECT RESULT

SCHEME OF MEDIATED ACTIVITY - 3 COOPERATING SUBJECTS

Mutual regulation of activity

TOOLS

TOOLS: SPEECH,

GESTURE, ETC.

TOOLS: SPEECH,

GESTURE, ETC.SUBJECT SUBJECT

TOOLS



Mutual regulatio

n of acti

vity

TOOLS:

SPEECH,

GESTURE, ETC.

Mut

ual r

egul

atio

n o

f ac

tivity


46

Focus Shift model

COMPUTER ARTIFACT IN USE actions OBJECT GOAL

SUBJECT(S)RESULT

actions

Focus through artifact onto object

Focus on artifact as object

Focus shift

Physicalaspects

Handlingaspects

Subject-objectdirected aspects

Breakdown occurs when thediscrepancy between evaluation of

interim results & image of goalcontinues to exceed subjective

standards of admissible deviationsdespite correction of program

performance

Subject experiencesbreakdown as a failure of

their repertoire ofoperations through/with

the artifact

Shift of subjects’ focus away fromobject under transformation onto

artifact in use. Ensuing voluntary orenforced deautomatization of

established operations with artifactmay result in expansive or

defensive learning

BREAKDOWN - failure of operations toward object requires conscious actions toward artifact in use

One aspect of FLUENTINTERACTION: subject’s

focus of action shifts betweenobject and artifact easily & as

required


47

Internalization• In SSTA internalization is seen as the formation

of internal components, that at the first step can be performed in combination with external activity and later can be performed independently.

• Internalization is not seen as the transformation of the external activity onto internal plane (Vygotsky, early Leont’ev)

• This view of internalization is based on Rubinshtein’s (1935) who emphasized the role of independent exploration and interaction with objective world as the source of our reflection and mental development.

systemic-structural theory of activity & design an introduction to the foundations, methods...

Documents