The Scribner reading from the second class describes how employees at a dairy plant developed specific cognitive abilities as an adaptation to the conditions of their work environment. With that example as a model, consider how the unique conditions of everyday activity that characterize each of our lives promotes the development of unique cognitive processes. The latter are adaptations to the unique demands and circumstances that we repeatedly encounter.

Your task: Identify and write about a unique form of activity whose development has been promoted by the conditions of your own life. The activity in question should be a form of thought/behavior that has developed through your repeated interaction with a certain type of situation, such that you perform this activity in a way that would not be possible for another person of your age confronting the situation for the very first time. To the extent that this is possible, try to focus on a unique and concrete (concrete=described in detail at a non-abstract level) form of activity, rather than one that is generic (In other words, don’t just talk about how you’re “skilled” at some particular sport. Instead, speak very concretely about specific skills, and try to identify skills that are unique due to the unique conditions of your own life history and your own particular interactions with a specific environment.). Be sure to consider the specific history of self-environment interaction that promoted the development of the activity you ultimately focus on.

The final product for the observation project is a 2-3 page write-up and a ~5-10 minute class presentation (on a scheduled date) in which you report on the activity you’ve selected and the likely conditions of its development (as described above). Early on in the semester, I will pass around a sheet for you to sign up for a presentation date—be sure that you are there for this, or if not, that you do schedule a date before the third week of class.