Activity

Activity is purposeful human action. In pursuing their goals, people use, influence, and transform nature and themselves.

Activity is:

• purposeful — directed toward a goal;
• instrumental — equipped with tools for achieving the goal;
• situational — carried out within a situation and depends on it;
• oriented toward a specific object.

Purposeful activity means it is directed toward a designated goal. Being appropriate (or expedient) means it is in some way aligned with the goal. Tools are the means for achieving a goal, and their effective use for this purpose is consciously understood by the individual. The norms for using these tools are culturally embedded in knowledge and transmitted to others. These can range from simple implements for physical labor to high-level means, such as human skills. The means of an activity are necessary as sufficient conditions for carrying it out.

Activity is a coordinated structure where the goal must correspond to a specific situation or object, and the means must be appropriate, i.e., ensure the achievement of the goal.

To define an act of activity, one must, at a minimum, specify its goals, object, and means.

In accordance with the goal, the means act upon the object. This simplest structure of an act of activity can be expanded. In place of the object, one can substitute the process of transforming an initial material into a specific final product. By using means (implements, tools), a person transforms the initial material into a final product that corresponds to the goal. The goal indicates the potential product of the activity; before the activity begins, it contains an image of the final product. What a person wants to ultimately obtain exists "in advance" in an ideal form, as a goal. The product is created during the process of transforming the material.

The material of the transformation process can be "tangible," in which case it is an act of production activity. The material can be symbolic, in which case it is an act of mental activity. For example, transforming a mathematical formula or an information model of an object.

Goal — indicates the final product and thus, indirectly, the initial material from which the product is obtained. The means must ensure the achievement of the goal. The means are linked to the final product, as they must ensure its creation from the initial material. The means are also linked to the transformation process as a whole—each specific means is used in particular procedures for transforming the initial material.

Activity is coordinated:

• the goal must correspond to a specific situation or object
• the means must be appropriate, i.e., ensure the achievement of the goal.

General Information

In any activity, whether positive or negative, the following processes can generally be identified (their presence is assumed):

1. The decision-making process;
2. The process of engagement in the activity;
3. The goal-setting process;
4. The process of designing a plan (program) of action;
5. The process of implementing the plan (program) of action;
6. The process of analyzing the results of actions and comparing them with the set goals;
7. Organizational processes, including the creation of structures, management, and planning processes.

Types of Activity by the Subject-Object Relationship

Types of activity are distinguished by the types of relationship the subject has with the world of objects, which are realized through these forms of activity:

• Practical activity is primarily aimed at transforming the world in accordance with human-set goals.
• Cognitive activity serves the purpose of understanding the objective laws of the world's existence, without which practical tasks cannot be performed.
• Aesthetic activity is a concept reflecting the forms and manifestations of human activity determined by aesthetic needs. It involves the transmission (communication) of meanings defined by the value orientations of a particular society and individual.
• Managerial activity, aimed at managing organizations.