ABSTRACT
In the investigations of A. V. Zaporozhets and his coworkers (4), an organic relationship was found between the orienting and performance components of activity in the solution of tasks involving objects. These investigators made a comprehensive study of the function of the orienting component and showed that it had a decisive role in the organization and performance of an act. At the same time, in most studies, particularly in those employing a maze (see the descriptions of investigations of V. P. Zinchenko, O. V. Ovchinnikova, A. G. Polyakova, and U. M. Surkhaykhanova in Zaporozhets's book [4]), the relationship between the two components of an act has been studied during the performance of an act involving the same experimental object. As observations have shown, however, in actuality these components are not only dissociated in time but are also directed toward different objects. Thus, for example, examination of a plan or sketch often precedes actual construction; and in a certain sense this examination can be regarded as the orienting component of this type of activity.
