CHOICE
June 1996 Vol. 33 No. 10
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Information & Computer Science
The following review appeared in the June '96 issue of CHOICE:
33 5756 QA76 95 10974 CIP
Context and consciousness: activity theory and human computer interaction, ed.. by Bonnie A. Nardi. MIT, 1996. 400p bibl index afp ISBN 0 262 14058 6, $40.00
Activity theory is a theoretical position within the study of human computer interaction, urging that the focal concept of human computer interaction not be taken so literally as to restrict the field's purview to a dyadic computer person relationship. Activity theory argues that the focus of study really needs to be expanded to include the context in which person and computer are embedded, a context that includes consciousness. This emphasis harks back primarily to the work of the Russian psychologist Vygotsky in the 1920's and '30s as developed and named later by Leontev and Luria. Activity theory focuses on the constitutive role of the human use of artifacts (anything from a rock or a computer to an idea) in determining consciousness, community, and accomplishment. This collection of essays, which includes applications of the theory to specific practices, constitutes a detailed, stimulating presentation of the fundamentals of activity theory and of issues current to understanding the role of tools in shaping culture in general. Of interest to those with broader societal interests as well as to those involved in the design and development of computer software. General; upper division undergraduates through professionals. C. Koch, Oberlin College
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Bonnie Nardi,
Context and...