Editing Activity theory (section)

===Russian===
After Vygotsky's early death, Leont'ev became the leader of the research group nowadays known as the [[Kharkov School of Psychology]] and extended Vygotsky's research framework in significantly new ways. Leont'ev first examined the [[comparative psychology|psychology of animals]], looking at the different degrees to which animals can be said to have mental processes. He concluded that Pavlov's reflexionism was not a sufficient explanation of animal behaviour and that animals have an active relation to reality, which he called "activity". In particular, the behaviour of higher primates such as chimpanzees could only be explained by the ape's formation of multi-phase plans using tools.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}}

Leont'ev then progressed to humans and pointed out that people engage in "actions" that do not in themselves satisfy a need, but contribute towards the eventual satisfaction of a need. Often, these actions only make sense in a social context of a shared work activity. This led him to a distinction between "activities", which satisfy a need, and the "actions" that constitute the activities. Leont'ev also argued that the activity in which a person is involved is reflected in their mental activity, that is (as he puts it) material reality is "presented" to consciousness, but only in its vital meaning or significance.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}}

Activity theory also influenced the development of [[organizational-activity game]] as developed by [[Georgy Shchedrovitsky]].<ref name=Kerr>{{cite web|last=Kerr|first=Stephen|title=Why Vygotsky?|url=http://faculty.washington.edu/stkerr/whylsv.html |date=November 22, 1997 |publisher=[[University of Washington]]|access-date=5 November 2013}}</ref>