(From Bruce Abbott [941208.1000 EST)]
Rick Marken (941204.1720)
Bruce Abbott (941203.1930 EST) --
Rick, I have a few comments to make about your responses to my cat-in-the-
puzzle-box questions. Let's go over the questions one at a time:
Imagine Thorndike's cat in the puzzle box. It would like to get out of
the box and have a bit of that fish that's in the plate just outside.
1. What brought about the changes in the cat's behavior?
Reorganization; random changes in the structure of and connections
between control systems in the cat; the rate of such changes varies
depending on the deviation of the intrinsic variable (say, nutrient
level) from its reference. The changes are the visible output of the
reorganizing system -- a control system using variations in the rate of
random changes in existing control systems to control intrinsic
variables. Tom Bourbon and Bill Powers have built models of this
process.
O.K., so we agree that the process involves learning. And we agree that the
first step in the process involves the generation of varied behavioral output.
2. Do these changes have anything to do with the consequences of
pulling the string? Explain.
Yes. Since pulling the string affects a physical variable (food) that
affects an intrinsic variable (nutrient level), control systems that
control perceptual variables such as "closeness to the string", "force
exerted on the string", etc., will tend to be built and/or connected to
existing control systems in the perceptual control hierarchy.
In other words, because string-pulling leads to the consequence of affecting
an intrinsic variable, it gets selected and "connected," to use your term.
3. What would happen if you disabled the cat's sensory apparatus so
that it could no longer tell that its string-pulling had in fact unlatched
the door?
Possibly nothing. If the cat can control variables (like the sensed
position of its paw) that get the string pulled, then it might not need to
control the perceptual variables directly related to string pulling.
Deafferented monkeys, for example, can learn to control sensed
variables (like visible arm position) using now unsensed variables (like
felt arm position), though, of course, they cannot control the unsensed
variables so it looks like they are "thowing" their arms to the intended
position. Their ability to regain control of a visual variable after spinal
deafferentiation is evidence of reorganization.
This response misses the mark. I did not ask what would happen if the cat
could no longer get sensory feedback as to whether it had pulled the string,
but rather what would happen if it could not learn of the consequence of its
behavior--the opening of the door. It pulls on the string and--nothing seems
to happen. Would string-pulling then get "built and/or connected to existing
control systems"?
Your answer has to be, I would think, "no."
Congratulations! You have just described the law of effect.
Regards,
Bruce