The opening of the former Soviet Union to the West has provided an opportunity to describe Russian human factors/ergonomics and to compare American theories and methods with it. While this book is principally dedicated to describing the theory of activity as it applies to issues of design and training, this work is also offered to a general audience of psychologists and interested lay readers. This theory studies the goal-directed behaviour of man and attempts to integrate the cognitive, motivational and behavioural aspects of activity into a holistic system. Such fundamental notions as goal,...