SITUATING ACTION .1. TRUTH IN THE SITUATION

In their reaction to cognitivism, researchers have come to shift the f ocus of study from cognition to action, and to emphasize the essential ly situated nature of activity. In this introductory article, we exami ne examples of this move toward ''situating action'' within and beyond psychology, making special reference to issues raised by Suchman (198 7): the inseparability of action and context; the relation between the social and material conditions of action; the need to theorize the '' higher psychological functions'' in relation to situated action; and t he tension between the emphasis on situation and the scientific ideal of abstraction.