Historical Perspectives in the Study of Action Control

Abstract

In his summary of a socio-genetic theory of voluntary regulation, Leontiev (1932) describes a strategy the Chinese mailman used to avoid getting distracted while delivering an urgent telegram. “He organizes his own behavior, creating for himself additional stimuli. He hangs a number of subjects — a piece of coal, a pen, and some pepper on the end of a short rod. This he keeps before his eyes on the road. This will remind him that he must fly like a bird, run as if he was stepping on hot coals or had burnt himself with pepper” (Leontiev, 1932, p. 57). This example illustrates a strategy of voluntary regulation which presumably facilitates cognition-behavior consistency. Whether or not a cognition suggesting a certain action results in its enactment depends on the actor’s ability to apply appropriate self-regulatory strategies.