Activity theory
Activity theory (AT; ) is an umbrella term for a line of eclectic social sciences theories and research with its roots in the Soviet psychological activity theory pioneered by Lev Vygotsky , Alexei Leont'ev and Sergei Rubinstein. These scholars sought to understand human activities as systemic and socially situated phenomena and to go beyond paradigms of reflexology (the teaching of Vladimir Bekhterev and his followers) and classical conditioning (the teaching of Ivan Pavlov and his school), psychoanalysis and behaviorism. It became one of the major psychological approaches in the former USSR, being widely used in both theoretical and applied psychology, and in education, professional training, ergonomics, social psychology and work psychology.
Howard Rachlin
Howard Rachlin (born 1935) is an American psychologist and the founder of teleological behaviorism. He is Emeritus Research Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, State University of New York, Stony Brook (SUNY, Stony Brook, New York 11794, USA. His initial work was in the quantitative analysis of operant behavior in pigeons, on which he worked with William M. Baum, developing ideas from Richard Herrnstein's matching law. He subsequently became one of the founders of Behavioral Economics. His current research focuses on patterns of choice over time and how those patterns affect self-control (on which he worked with George Ainslie), including cooperation over time. His interests in Behavioral Economics include: decision making, the prisoner's dilemma, addiction, and gambling. He was one of the first board members of the Society for Quantitative Analysis of Behavior.