Re: more on activity systems

From: Bill Barowy (wbarowy@mail.lesley.edu)
Date: Thu Dec 30 1999 - 08:08:23 PST


Hi Glenn,

Your test msg prodded me from my trench --I've been thinking about your
comments for describing dyadic interactions with activity systems -- I
have also been thinking about how mike and yrjo used similar, but
different, diagrams to describe dyadic interactions in their chapter of the
book 'distributed cognitions' (solomon, ed.). Have you had a chance to
look at that? I'd be interested in your comments.

The sense of 'between-ness' that the oldtimers discussed, as in the message
mike reposted of arne's, is not captured well in the expanded triangle (no
criticism intended -- the expanded model is a great achievement). I've
used the ideas of interdependence and mediation for thinking about small
group interactions and called them 'activity systems' before I had access
to Yrjö's work -- drawing upon what I could make of Leontiev. The
old-timers' idea of 'between-ness', including artifact mediation seems
highly useful to the description of dyadic interactions -- again, I'm
interested in your take on this idea.

Bill Barowy, Associate Professor
Lesley College, 31 Everett Street, Cambridge, MA 02138-2790
Phone: 617-349-8168 / Fax: 617-349-8169
http://www.lesley.edu/faculty/wbarowy/Barowy.html
_______________________
"One of life's quiet excitements is to stand somewhat apart from yourself
 and watch yourself softly become the author of something beautiful."
[Norman Maclean in "A river runs through it."]



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jan 11 2000 - 14:04:10 PST