Activity theory originated from the Moscow Institute of Psychology and in particular the troika of young and gifted researchers, Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (1896–1934), Alexander Romanovich Luria (1902–77)and Alexei Nikolaevich Leontyev (1903 –79). Vygotsky's contribution was rich and diverse, but here we only refer to the parts relevant to activity theory.

Some changes were introduced, apparently by importing notions from Human-Computer Interaction theory. For instance, the notion of rules, which is not found in Leontiev, was introduced. Also, the notion of collective subject was introduced in the 1970s and 1980s (Leontiev refers to "joint labour activity", but only has individuals, not groups, as activity subjects).

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