Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of Psychology

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.17.1500)]

Here’s the reply I just got from Gary VandenBos. Anyone think this is a sufficient way to deal with this?

BestÂ

Rick

···

Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of  Doing Research on Purpose
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.17.1510)]

RM: Fred Nickols just sent this comment regarding VanderBos’s reply to me personally so I’m putting it up on the net becuase I like it so much:

···

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 3:05 PM, Fred Nickols fred@nickols.us wrote:

Not only “no,” but hell no! This is a first rate example of unprofessional behavior at its worst and I shall use it as such.

RM: I agree. So what do we do? I think we really have to have APA send out an errata notice to every recipient of the dictionary!! How do we get that do happen. Make him an offer he can’t refuse? :wink:

BestÂ

Rick

Â

On Mar 17, 2015, at 6:02 PM, Richard Marken (rsmarken@gmail.com via csgnet Mailing List) csgnet@lists.illinois.edu wrote:

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.17.1500)]

Here’s the reply I just got from Gary VandenBos. Anyone think this is a sufficient way to deal with this?

BestÂ

Rick

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: VandenBos, Gary gary@apa.org
Date: Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 2:50 PM
Subject: RE: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of Psychology
To: Richard Marken rsmarken@gmail.com

Rick: Thank you for your message. I do remember your name, from earlier editorial correspondence and your published materials.

Â

I appreciate this information about the dictionary entry on “control theoryâ€?.Â

Â

We will put the information into the “review and update� file for that further research gets done on this entry.

Â

All the best, Gary

Â

From: Richard Marken [mailto:rsmarken@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 4:57 PM
To: VandenBos, Gary
Cc: Richard Marken
Subject: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of Psychology

Â

Dear Dr. VandenBos

Â

I don’t know if you remember me but we’ve had some pleasant interactions over papers I’ve submitted (unsuccessfully) to
American Psychologist back in 2007 and 2012. This time I’m getting in touch with you regarding an
entry in the APA Dictionary of Psychology , 2nd ed, for which you are Editor in Chief: I don’t receive the dictionary myself but a colleague got in touch with me about a rather serious error in the entry on control theory. Here’s a copy of the
entry as it was copied to me:Â

Â

control theory 1. Â the idea that people regulate their behavior through repeated cycles of comparing their current state to a standard and acting to reduce discrepancies. [first proposed in 1982 by U.S. social psychologists
Charles S. Carver (1947-Â ) and Michael Scheier]Â 2. a field of mathematics and engineering dealing with monitoring and controlling the behavior of certain physical processes and systems to produce the desired or best outcome.”

Â

I found this very disturbing because just about everything in this entry is wrong.First of all, control theory is not about people regulating their
behavior; it’s about people regulating variable aspects of their own perceptual experience, a process we see as “behavior”.Â

Â

It’s hard to tell who was first to propose the application of control theory to understanding human behavior (there are many possibilities , ncluding Craik,1947, and N. Weiner , 1948) Â but it certainly wasn’t Carver and Scheier. Carver
and Scheier’s application of control theory is based on the work of William T. Powers who is, indeed, the first person to
correctly apply control theory to understanding the behavior of living organisms. The theory described in Carver and Scheier’s 1982 book is based entirely on Powers’ 1973 classic Behavior: The control of perception . And Carver and Scheier certainly
didn’t try to hide the fact that Powers’ book was the basis of their work; Powers is referenced throughout their 1982 book.

Â

So it’s a terrible disservice to the memory and contributions of William T. Powers to say that control theory was first proposed by Carver and Scheier, not only because Powers predates Carver and Scheier by nearly 10 years (actually by
far more than 10 years since the first published description of Powers’ control theory model appeared in a two part journal article in 1960.) but also because Carver and Scheier didn’t get control theory right anyway, as evidenced by the fact that they think
that control theory is about regulation of behavior when, in fact, it’s about regulation (control) of
perception.

Â

I hope you will send a note out to those who received a copy of the dictionary explaining the error and providing a corrected version of the control theory entry that would look something like this:

Â

control theory 1.  a theory of how organisms produce purposeful behavior by acting so as to maintain perceptual variables in reference states specified by the organism itself. The theory was first proposed by William T.
Powers (1926-2013 ) in Behavior: The Control of Perception (1973) 2. a field of mathematics and engineering dealing with the regulation of certain physical variables and processes to produce the desired outcome.”

Â

Best regards

Â

Rick

Â

Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of  Doing Research on Purpose

Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of  Doing Research on Purpose
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of  Doing Research on Purpose
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Yep, this certainly isn’t satisfactory!

Rick, I think it probably deserves a (polite) follow up letter to explain that we need a more immediate and effective amendment. You could explain that we are contacting Carver and Scheier, and that we have already collected signatories from a range of senior psychologists and other academic researchers in the USA and around the world to request an immediate amendment. Then, we do need to get the wording right so that the signatories know what they are signing and it is the right balance of setting the record straight immediately, and being realistic. Like Rick says, the important thing is that the message gets to everyone who might read that definition in the dictionary as soon as possible. And, of course, that electronic versions and reprints are amended as soon as possible.

How does that sound Rick?

Warren

···

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 10:12 PM, Richard Marken csgnet@lists.illinois.edu wrote:

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.17.1510)]

RM: Fred Nickols just sent this comment regarding VanderBos’s reply to me personally so I’m putting it up on the net becuase I like it so much:

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 3:05 PM, Fred Nickols fred@nickols.us wrote:

Not only “no,” but hell no! This is a first rate example of unprofessional behavior at its worst and I shall use it as such.

RM: I agree. So what do we do? I think we really have to have APA send out an errata notice to every recipient of the dictionary!! How do we get that do happen. Make him an offer he can’t refuse? :wink:

Best

Rick

On Mar 17, 2015, at 6:02 PM, Richard Marken (rsmarken@gmail.com via csgnet Mailing List) csgnet@lists.illinois.edu wrote:

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.17.1500)]

Here’s the reply I just got from Gary VandenBos. Anyone think this is a sufficient way to deal with this?

Best

Rick

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: VandenBos, Gary gary@apa.org
Date: Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 2:50 PM
Subject: RE: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of Psychology
To: Richard Marken rsmarken@gmail.com

Rick: Thank you for your message. I do remember your name, from earlier editorial correspondence and your published materials.

I appreciate this information about the dictionary entry on “control theory”.

We will put the information into the “review and update” file for that further research gets done on this entry.

All the best, Gary

From: Richard Marken [mailto:rsmarken@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 4:57 PM
To: VandenBos, Gary
Cc: Richard Marken
Subject: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of Psychology

Dear Dr. VandenBos

I don’t know if you remember me but we’ve had some pleasant interactions over papers I’ve submitted (unsuccessfully) to
American Psychologist back in 2007 and 2012. This time I’m getting in touch with you regarding an
entry in the APA Dictionary of Psychology , 2nd ed, for which you are Editor in Chief: I don’t receive the dictionary myself but a colleague got in touch with me about a rather serious error in the entry on control theory. Here’s a copy of the
entry as it was copied to me:

control theory 1. the idea that people regulate their behavior through repeated cycles of comparing their current state to a standard and acting to reduce discrepancies. [first proposed in 1982 by U.S. social psychologists
Charles S. Carver (1947- ) and Michael Scheier]2. a field of mathematics and engineering dealing with monitoring and controlling the behavior of certain physical processes and systems to produce the desired or best outcome.”

I found this very disturbing because just about everything in this entry is wrong.First of all, control theory is not about people regulating their
behavior; it’s about people regulating variable aspects of their own perceptual experience, a process we see as “behavior”.

It’s hard to tell who was first to propose the application of control theory to understanding human behavior (there are many possibilities , ncluding Craik,1947, and N. Weiner , 1948) but it certainly wasn’t Carver and Scheier. Carver
and Scheier’s application of control theory is based on the work of William T. Powers who is, indeed, the first person to
correctly apply control theory to understanding the behavior of living organisms. The theory described in Carver and Scheier’s 1982 book is based entirely on Powers’ 1973 classic Behavior: The control of perception . And Carver and Scheier certainly
didn’t try to hide the fact that Powers’ book was the basis of their work; Powers is referenced throughout their 1982 book.

So it’s a terrible disservice to the memory and contributions of William T. Powers to say that control theory was first proposed by Carver and Scheier, not only because Powers predates Carver and Scheier by nearly 10 years (actually by
far more than 10 years since the first published description of Powers’ control theory model appeared in a two part journal article in 1960.) but also because Carver and Scheier didn’t get control theory right anyway, as evidenced by the fact that they think
that control theory is about regulation of behavior when, in fact, it’s about regulation (control) of
perception.

I hope you will send a note out to those who received a copy of the dictionary explaining the error and providing a corrected version of the control theory entry that would look something like this:

control theory 1. a theory of how organisms produce purposeful behavior by acting so as to maintain perceptual variables in reference states specified by the organism itself. The theory was first proposed by William T.
Powers (1926-2013 ) in Behavior: The Control of Perception (1973) 2. a field of mathematics and engineering dealing with the regulation of certain physical variables and processes to produce the desired outcome.”

Best regards

Rick

Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of Doing Research on Purpose.

Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of Doing Research on Purpose.
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of Doing Research on Purpose.
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Dr Warren Mansell
Reader in Clinical Psychology
School of Psychological Sciences
2nd Floor Zochonis Building
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
Email: warren.mansell@manchester.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 161 275 8589

Website: http://www.psych-sci.manchester.ac.uk/staff/131406

The highly acclaimed therapy manual on A Transdiagnostic Approach to CBT using Method of Levels is available now.

Check www.pctweb.org for further
information on Perceptual Control Theory

PS Within 12 hours I already have support from a range of Professors in Psychology with a very strong pedigree (check Google!) who are not on CSGNet as far as I know:

Professors Peter Totterdell, Constantine Sedikes, Paschal Sheeran, Pasco Fearon, Doug Turkington, Peter Burke, Thomas Webb.

···

On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 8:37 AM, Warren Mansell wmansell@gmail.com wrote:

Yep, this certainly isn’t satisfactory!

Rick, I think it probably deserves a (polite) follow up letter to explain that we need a more immediate and effective amendment. You could explain that we are contacting Carver and Scheier, and that we have already collec
ted signatories from a range of senior psychologists and other academic researchers in the USA and around the world to request an immediate amendment. Then, we do need to get the wording right so that the signatories know what they are signing and it is the right balance of setting the record straight immediately, and being realistic. Like Rick says, the important thing is that the message gets to everyone who might read that definition in the dictionary as soon as possible. And, of course, that electronic versions and reprints are amended as soon as possible.

How does that sound Rick?

Warren

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 10:12 PM, Richard Marken csgnet@lists.illinois.edu wrote:

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.17.1510)]

RM: Fred Nickols just sent this comment regarding VanderBos’s reply to me personally so I’m putting it up on the net becuase I like it so much:


Dr Warren Mansell
Reader in Clinical Psychology
School of Psychological Sciences
2nd Floor Zochonis Building
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
Email: warren.mansell@manchester.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 161 275 8589

Website: http://www.psych-sci.manchester.ac.uk/staff/131406

The highly acclaimed therapy manual on A Transdiagnostic Approach to CBT using Method of Levels is available now.

Check
www.pctweb.org for further information on Perceptual Control Theory

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 3:05 PM, Fred Nickols fred@nickols.us wrote:

Not only “no,” but hell no! This is a first rate example of unprofessional behavior at its worst and I shall use it as such.

RM: I agree. So what do we do? I think we really have to have APA send out an errata notice to every recipient of the dictionary!! How do we get that do happen. Make him an offer he can’t refuse? :wink:

Best

Rick

On Mar 17, 2015, at 6:02 PM, Richard Marken (rsmarken@gmail.com via csgnet Mailing List) csgnet@lists.illinois.edu wrote:

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.17.1500)]

Here’s the reply I just got from Gary VandenBos. Anyone think this is a sufficient way to deal with this?

Best

Rick

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: VandenBos, Gary gary@apa.org
Date: Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 2:50 PM
Subject: RE: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of Psychology
To: Richard Marken rsmarken@gmail.com

Rick: Thank you for your message. I do remember your name, from earlier editorial correspondence and your published materials.

I appreciate this information about the dictionary entry on “control theory”.

We will put the information into the “review and update” file for that further research gets done on this entry.

All the best, Gary

From: Richard Marken [mailto:rsmarken@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 4:57 PM
To: VandenBos, Gary
Cc: Richard Marken
Subject: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of Psychology

Dear Dr. VandenBos

I don’t know if you remember me but we’ve had some pleasant interactions over papers I’ve submitted (unsuccessfully) to
American Psychologist back in 2007 and 2012. This time I’m getting in touch with you regarding an
entry in the APA Dictionary of Psychology , 2nd ed, for which you are Editor in Chief: I don’t receive the dictionary myself but a colleague got in touch with me about a rather serious error in the entry on control theory. Here’s a copy of the
entry as it was copied to me:

control theory 1. the idea that people regulate their behavior through repeated cycles of comparing their current state to a standard and acting to reduce discrepancies. [first proposed in 1982 by U.S. social psychologists
Charles S. Carver (1947- ) and Michael Scheier]2. a field of mathematics and engineering dealing with monitoring and controlling the behavior of certain physical processes and systems to produce the desired or best outcome.”

I found this very disturbing because just about everything in this entry is wrong.First of all, control theory is not about people regulating their
behavior; it’s about people regulating variable aspects of their own perceptual experience, a process we see as “behavior”.

It’s hard to tell who was first to propose the application of control theory to understanding human behavior (there are many possibilities , ncluding Craik,1947, and N. Weiner , 1948) but it certainly wasn’t Carver and Scheier. Carver
and Scheier’s application of control theory is based on the work of William T. Powers who is, indeed, the first person to
correctly apply control theory to understanding the behavior of living organisms. The theory described in Carver and Scheier’s 1982 book is based entirely on Powers’ 1973 classic Behavior: The control of perception . And Carver and Scheier certainly
didn’t try to hide the fact that Powers’ book was the basis of their work; Powers is referenced throughout their 1982 book.

So it’s a terrible disservice to the memory and contributions of William T. Powers to say that control theory was first proposed by Carver and Scheier, not only because Powers predates Carver and Scheier by nearly 10 years (actually by
far more than 10 years since the first published description of Powers’ control theory model appeared in a two part journal article in 1960.) but also because Carver and Scheier didn’t get control theory right anyway, as evidenced by the fact that they think
that control theory is about regulation of behavior when, in fact, it’s about regulation (control) of
perception.

I hope you will send a note out to those who received a copy of the dictionary explaining the error and providing a corrected version of the control theory entry that would look something like this:

control theory 1. a theory of how organisms produce purposeful behavior by acting so as to maintain perceptual variables in reference states specified by the organism itself. The theory was first proposed by William T.
Powers (1926-2013 ) in Behavior: The Control of Perception (1973) 2. a field of mathematics and engineering dealing with the regulation of certain physical variables and processes to produce the desired outcome.”

Best regards

Rick

Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of Doing Research on Purpose.

Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of Doing Research on Purpose.
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of Doing Research on Purpose.
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Dr Warren Mansell
Reader in Clinical Psychology
School of Psychological Sciences
2nd Floor Zochonis Building
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
Email: warren.mansell@manchester.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 161 275 8589

Website: http://www.psych-sci.manchester.ac.uk/staff/131406

The highly acclaimed therapy manual on A Transdiagnostic Approach to CBT using Method of Levels is available now.

Check www.pctweb.org for further
information on Perceptual Control Theory

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.18.1015)]

···

On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 1:37 AM, Warren Mansell wmansell@gmail.com wrote:

Yep, this certainly isn’t satisfactory!

Rick, I think it probably deserves a (polite) follow up letter to explain that we need a more immediate and effective amendment. You could explain that we are contacting Carver and Scheier, and that we have already collected signatories from a range of senior psychologists and other academic researchers in the USA and around the world to request an immediate amendment. Then, we do need to get the wording right so that the signatories know what they are signing and it is the right balance of setting the record straight immediately, and being realistic. Like Rick says, the important thing is that the message gets to everyone who might read that definition in the dictionary as soon as possible. And, of course, that electronic versions and reprints are amended as soon as possible.

How does that sound Rick?

RM: I see you’ve already done what I would have suggested! Which is write to Gary and explain that immediate correction is required. Great work. The only other thing I would suggest, since Gary seems to be quite responsive about this (I really did have some pleasant interactions with him when I submitted my papers to American Psychologist) is that you ask Gary to set aside some space in American Psychologist for us to write either a letter or, better, a  brief article called “Control Theory in Psychology” to address the egregious error made in the Dictionary. Just changing the entry is not really enough; I think a public correction is needed. So how about you (or me) writing to Gary and suggesting (demanding) that he publish a brief article describing the actual history of control theory in psychology. I suggest the authors be me, you and Tim. Even if he says no we should write such an article and submit it to AP.Â

Â

BestÂ

Rick

Warren

Â


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of  Doing Research on Purpose
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 10:12 PM, Richard Marken csgnet@lists.illinois.edu wrote:

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.17.1510)]

RM: Fred Nickols just sent this comment regarding VanderBos’s reply to me personally so I’m putting it up on the net becuase I like it so much:


Dr Warren Mansell
Reader in Clinical Psychology
School of Psychological Sciences
2nd Floor Zochonis Building
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
Email: warren.mansell@manchester.ac.uk
Â
Tel: +44 (0) 161 275 8589
Â
Website: http://www.psych-sci.manchester.ac.uk/staff/131406
Â
 The highly acclaimed therapy manual on A Transdiagnostic Approach to CBT using Method of Levels is available now.

Check www.pctweb.org for further information on Perceptual Control Theory

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 3:05 PM, Fred Nickols fred@nickols.us wrote:

Not only “no,” but hell no! This is a first rate example of unprofessional behavior at its worst and I shall use it as such.

RM: I agree. So what do we do? I think we really have to have APA send out an errata notice to every recipient of the dictionary!! How do we get that do happen. Make him an offer he can’t refuse? :wink:

BestÂ

Rick

Â

On Mar 17, 2015, at 6:02 PM, Richard Marken (rsmarken@gmail.com via csgnet Mailing List) csgnet@lists.illinois.edu wrote:

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.17.1500)]

Here’s the reply I just got from Gary VandenBos. Anyone think this is a sufficient way to deal with this?

BestÂ

Rick

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: VandenBos, Gary gary@apa.org
Date: Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 2:50 PM
Subject: RE: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of Psychology
To: Richard Marken rsmarken@gmail.com

Rick: Thank you for your message. I do remember your name, from earlier editorial correspondence and your published materials.

Â

I appreciate this information about the dictionary entry on “control theoryâ€?.Â

Â

We will put the information into the “review and update� file for that further research gets done on this entry.

Â

All the best, Gary

Â

From: Richard Marken [mailto:rsmarken@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 4:57 PM
To: VandenBos, Gary
Cc: Richard Marken
Subject: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of Psychology

Â

Dear Dr. VandenBos

Â

I don’t know if you remember me but we’ve had some pleasant interactions over papers I’ve submitted (unsuccessfully) to
American Psychologist back in 2007 and 2012. This time I’m getting in touch with you regarding an
entry in the APA Dictionary of Psychology , 2nd ed, for which you are Editor in Chief: I don’t receive the dictionary myself but a colleague got in touch with me about a rather serious error in the entry on control theory. Here’s a copy of the
entry as it was copied to me:Â

Â

control theory 1. Â the idea that people regulate their behavior through repeated cycles of comparing their current state to a standard and acting to reduce discrepancies. [first proposed in 1982 by U.S. social psychologists
Charles S. Carver (1947-Â ) and Michael Scheier]Â 2. a field of mathematics and engineering dealing with monitoring and controlling the behavior of certain physical processes and systems to produce the desired or best outcome.”

Â

I found this very disturbing because just about everything in this entry is wrong.First of all, control theory is not about people regulating their
behavior; it’s about people regulating variable aspects of their own perceptual experience, a process we see as “behavior”.Â

Â

It’s hard to tell who was first to propose the application of control theory to understanding human behavior (there are many possibilities , ncluding Craik,1947, and N. Weiner , 1948) Â but it certainly wasn’t Carver and Scheier. Carver
and Scheier’s application of control theory is based on the work of William T. Powers who is, indeed, the first person to
correctly apply control theory to understanding the behavior of living organisms. The theory described in Carver and Scheier’s 1982 book is based entirely on Powers’ 1973 classic Behavior: The control of perception . And Carver and Scheier certainly
didn’t try to hide the fact that Powers’ book was the basis of their work; Powers is referenced throughout their 1982 book.

Â

So it’s a terrible disservice to the memory and contributions of William T. Powers to say that control theory was first proposed by Carver and Scheier, not only because Powers predates Carver and Scheier by nearly 10 years (actually by
far more than 10 years since the first published description of Powers’ control theory model appeared in a two part journal article in 1960.) but also because Carver and Scheier didn’t get control theory right anyway, as evidenced by the fact that they think
that control theory is about regulation of behavior when, in fact, it’s about regulation (control) of
perception.

Â

I hope you will send a note out to those who received a copy of the dictionary explaining the error and providing a corrected version of the control theory entry that would look something like this:

Â

control theory 1.  a theory of how organisms produce purposeful behavior by acting so as to maintain perceptual variables in reference states specified by the organism itself. The theory was first proposed by William T.
Powers (1926-2013 ) in Behavior: The Control of Perception (1973) 2. a field of mathematics and engineering dealing with the regulation of certain physical variables and processes to produce the desired outcome.”

Â

Best regards

Â

Rick

Â

Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of  Doing Research on Purpose

Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of  Doing Research on Purpose
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of  Doing Research on Purpose
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

OK Rick agreed! I would think yes, that we could make the case that this situation underlines the fact that most psychologists are not aware of the origins of control theory in psychology, but that an important minority are aware (as indicated by the immediate replies to my email), and believe that the accurate history needs to be represented. I would be very happy to join in with that email, and article.

All the best,

Warren

···

On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 5:06 PM, Richard Marken rsmarken@gmail.com wrote:

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.18.1015)]

On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 1:37 AM, Warren Mansell wmansell@gmail.com wrote:

Yep, this certainly isn’t satisfactory!

Rick, I think it probably deserves a (polite) follow up letter to explain that we need a more immediate and effective amendment. You could explain that we are contacting Carver and Scheier, and that we have already collected signatories from a range of senior psychologists and other academic researchers in the USA and around the world to request an immediate amendment. Then, we do need to get the wording right so that the signatories know what they are signing and it is the right balance of setting the record straight immediately, and being realistic. Like Rick says, the important thing is that the message get
s to everyone who might read that definition in the dictionary as soon as possible. And, of course, that electronic versions and reprints are amended as soon as possible.

How does that sound Rick?

RM: I see you’ve already done what I would have suggested! Which is write to Gary and explain that immediate correction is required. Great work. The only other thing I would suggest, since Gary seems to be quite responsive about this (I really did have some pleasant interactions with him when I submitted my papers to American Psychologist) is that you ask Gary to set aside some space in American Psychologist for us to write either a letter or, better, a brief article called “Control Theory in Psychology” to address the egregious error made in the Dictionary. Just changing the entry is not really enough; I think a public correction is needed. So how about you (or me) writing to Gary and suggesting
(demanding) that he publish a brief article describing the actual history of control theory in psychology. I suggest the authors be me, you and Tim. Even if he says no we should write such an article and submit it to AP.

Best

Rick

Warren


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of Doing Research on Purpose.
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 10:12 PM, Richard Marken csgnet@lists.illinois.edu wrote:

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.
17.1510)]

RM: Fred Nickols just sent this comment regarding VanderBos’s reply to me personally so I’m putting it up on the net becuase I like it so much:


Dr Warren Mansell
Reader in Clinical Psychology
School of Psychological Sciences
2nd Floor Zochonis Building
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
Email: warren.mansell@manchester.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 161 275 8589

Website: http://www.psych-sci.manchester.ac.uk/staff/131406

The highly acclaimed therapy manual on A Transdiagnostic Approach to CBT using Method of Levels is available now.

Check
www.pctweb.org for further information on Perceptual Control Theory

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 3:05 PM, Fred Nickols fred@nickols.us wrote:

Not only “no,” but hell no! This is a first rate example of unprofessional behavior at its worst and I shall use it as such.

RM: I agree. So what do we do? I think we really have to have APA send out an errata notice to every recipient of the dictionary!! How do we get that do happen. Make him an offer he can’t refuse? :wink:

Bes
t

Rick

On Mar 17, 2015, at 6:02 PM, Richard Marken (rsmarken@gmail.com via csgnet Mailing List) csgnet@lists.illinois.edu wrote:

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.17.1500)]

Here’s the reply I just got from Gary VandenBos. Anyone think this is a sufficient way to deal with this?

Best

Rick

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: VandenBos, Gary gary@apa.org
Date: Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 2:50 PM
Subject: RE: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of Psychology
To: Richard Marken rsmarken@gmail.com

Rick: Thank you for your message. I do remember your name, from earlier editorial correspondence and your published materials.

I appreciate this information about the dictionary entry on “control theory”.

We will put the information into the “review and update” file for that further research gets done on this entry.

All the best, Gary

From: Richard Marken [mailto:rsmarken@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 4:57 PM
To: VandenBos, Gary
Cc: Richard Marken
Subject: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of Psychology

Dear Dr. VandenBos

I don’t know if you remember me but we’ve had some pleasant interactions over papers I’ve submitted (unsuccessfully) to
American Psychologist back in 2007 and 2012. This time I’m getting in touch with you regarding an
entry in the APA Dictionary of Psychology , 2nd ed, for which you are Editor in Chief: I don’t receive the dictionary myself but a colleague got in touch with me about a rather serious error in the entry on control theory. Here’s a copy of the
entry as it was copied to me:

control theory 1. the idea that people regulate their behavior through repeated cycles of comparing their current state to a standard and acting to reduce discrepancies. [first proposed in 1982 by U.S. social psychologists
Charles S. Carver (1947- ) and Michael Scheier]2. a field of mathematics and engineering dealing with monitoring and controlling the behavior of certain physical processes and systems to produce the desired or best outcome.”

I found this very disturbing because just about everything in this entry is wrong.First of all, control theory is not about people regulating their
behavior; it’s about people regulating variable aspects of their own perceptual experience, a process we see as “behavior”.

It’s hard to tell who was first to propose the application of control theory to understanding human behavior (there are many possibilities , ncluding Craik,1947, and N. Weiner , 1948) but it certainly wasn’t Carver and Scheier. Carver
and Scheier’s application of control theory is based on the work of William T. Powers who is, indeed, the first person to
correctly apply control theory to understanding the behavior of living organisms. The theory described in Carver and Scheier’s 1982 book is based entirely on Powers’ 1973 classic Behavior: The control of perception . And Carver and Scheier certainly
didn’t try to hide the fact that Powers’ book was the basis of their work; Powers is referenced throughout their 1982 book.

So it’s a terrible disservice to the memory and contributions of William T. Powers to say that control theory was first proposed by Carver and Scheier, not only because Powers predates Carver and Scheier by nearly 10 years (actually by
far more than 10 years since the first published description of Powers’ control theory model appeared in a two part journal article in 1960.) but also because Carver and Scheier didn’t get control theory right anyway, as evidenced by the fact that they think
that control theory is about regulation of behavior when, in fact, it’s about regulation (control) of
perception.

I hope you will send a note out to those who received a copy of the dictionary explaining the error and providing a corrected version of the control theory entry that would look something like this:

control theory 1. a theory of how organisms produce purposeful behavior by acting so as to maintain perceptual variables in reference states specified by the organism itself. The theory was first proposed by William T.
Powers (1926-2013 ) in Behavior: The Control of Perception (1973) 2. a field of mathematics and engineering dealing with the regulation of certain physical variables and processes to produce the desired outcome.”

Best regards

Rick

Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of Doing Research on Purpose.

Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of Doing Research on Purpose.
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of Doing Research on Purpose.
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Dr Warren Mansell
Reader in Clinical Psychology
School of Psychological Sciences
2nd Floor Zochonis Building
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
Email: warren.mansell@manchester.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 161 275 8589

Website: http://www.psych-sci.manchester.ac.uk/staff/131406

The highly acclaimed therapy manual on A Transdiagnostic Approach to CBT using Method of Levels is available now.

Check www.pctweb.org for further
information on Perceptual Control Theory

OK Rick agreed! I would think
yes, that we could make the case that this situation underlines the fact
that most psychologists are not aware of the origins of control theory in
psychology, but that an important minority are aware (as indicated by the
immediate replies to my email), and believe that the accurate history
needs to be represented. I would be very happy to join in with that
email, and article.

All the best,

Warren

[From Dag Forssell (2015.03.18.1215 PDT)]

Just back to email, I read the thread on the ATA
definintion on control theory.

Wow! As Rick said, shocking but predictable.

Surely this speaks to the pervasive, profound ignorance among
“scientists”.

Seems to me an excellent idea to submit an article by Rick, Warren and
Tim.

Might you include not just a correction of history, but also a statement
of the promise for the future?

Would a reference to
www.iapct.org be
appropriate?

How can I update this website?

Best to all, Dag

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.18.1015)]

Yep, this certainly isn’t satisfactory!
Rick, I think it probably deserves a (polite) follow up letter to
explain that we need a more immediate and effective amendment. You could
explain that we are contacting Carver and Scheier, and that we have
already collected signatories from a range of senior psychologists and
other academic researchers in the USA and around the world to request an
immediate amendment. Then, we do need to get the wording right so that
the signatories know what they are signing and it is the right balance of
setting the record straight immediately, and being realistic. Like Rick
says, the important thing is that the message get s to everyone who might
read that definition in the dictionary as soon as possible. And, of
course, that electronic versions and reprints are amended as soon as
possible.
How does that sound Rick?

RM: I see you’ve already done what I would have suggested! Which is
write to Gary and explain that immediate correction is required. Great
work. The only other thing I would suggest, since Gary seems to be quite
responsive about this (I really did have some pleasant interactions with
him when I submitted my papers to American Psychologist) is that you ask
Gary to set aside some space in American Psychologist for us to write
either a letter or, better, a brief article called “Control
Theory in Psychology” to address the egregious error made in the
Dictionary. Just changing the entry is not really enough; I think a
public correction is needed. So how about you (or me) writing to Gary and
suggesting (demanding) that he publish a brief article describing the
actual history of control theory in psychology. I suggest the authors be
me, you and Tim. Even if he says no we should write such an article and
submit it to AP.

Best

Rick
Warren

[From Rick Marken (2015.03. 17.1510)]

RM: Fred Nickols just sent this comment regarding VanderBos’s reply
to me personally so I’m putting it up on the net becuase I like it so
much:

Not only “no,” but hell no! This is a first rate example of
unprofessional behavior at its worst and I shall use it as such.

RM: I agree. So what do we do? I think we really have to have APA
send out an errata notice to every recipient of the dictionary!! How do
we get that do happen. Make him an offer he can’t refuse? :wink:

Bes t

Rick

···

On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 5:06 PM, Richard Marken > rsmarken@gmail.com > wrote:
At 10:38 AM 3/18/2015, wmansell@gmail.com via csgnet Mailing List wrote:
On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 1:37 AM, Warren Mansell wmansell@gmail.com wrote:
On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 10:12 PM, Richard Marken < csgnet@lists.illinois.edu> wrote:
On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 3:05 PM, Fred Nickols fred@nickols.us wrote:

On Mar 17, 2015, at 6:02 PM, Richard Marken (rsmarken@gmail.com via csgnet Mailing List) < csgnet@lists.illinois.edu> wrote:

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.17.1500)]

Here’s the reply I just got from Gary VandenBos. Anyone think this is
a sufficient way to deal with this?

Best

Rick

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: VandenBos, Gary
gary@apa.org
Date: Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 2:50 PM
Subject: RE: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of
Psychology
To: Richard Marken
rsmarken@gmail.com

Rick: Thank you for your message. I do remember your
name, from earlier editorial correspondence and your published
materials.

I appreciate this information about the dictionary entry on �control
theory�.

We will put the information into the �review and update� file for
that further research gets done on this entry.

All the best, Gary

From: Richard Marken
[
mailto:rsmarken@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 4:57 PM
To: VandenBos, Gary
Cc: Richard Marken
Subject: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of
Psychology

Dear Dr. VandenBos

I don’t know if you remember me but we’ve had some pleasant
interactions over papers I’ve submitted (unsuccessfully) to American
Psychologist back in 2007 and 2012. This time I’m getting in touch
with you regarding an entry in the APA Dictionary of Psychology, 2nd
ed, for which you are Editor in Chief: I don’t receive the dictionary
myself but a colleague got in touch with me about a rather serious error
in the entry on control theory. Here’s a copy of the entry as it was
copied to me:

“control theory 1. the idea that people regulate their
behavior through repeated cycles of comparing their current state to a
standard and acting to reduce discrepancies. [first proposed in 1982 by
U.S. social psychologists Charles S. Carver (1947- ) and Michael
Scheier] 2. a field of mathematics and engineering dealing with
monitoring and controlling the behavior of certain physical processes and
systems to produce the desired or best outcome.”

I found this very disturbing because just about everything in this
entry is wrong.First of all, control theory is not about people
regulating their behavior; it’s about people regulating variable
aspects of their own perceptual experience, a process we see as
“behavior”.

It’s hard to tell who was first to propose the application of control
theory to understanding human behavior (there are many possibilities ,
ncluding Craik,1947, and N. Weiner , 1948) but it certainly wasn’t
Carver and Scheier. Carver and Scheier’s application of control theory is
based on the work of William T. Powers who is, indeed, the first person
to correctly apply control theory to understanding the behavior of
living organisms. The theory described in Carver and Scheier’s 1982 book
is based entirely on Powers’ 1973 classic Behavior: The control of
perception. And Carver and Scheier certainly didn’t try to hide the
fact that Powers’ book was the basis of their work; Powers is referenced
throughout their 1982 book.

So it’s a terrible disservice to the memory and contributions of
William T. Powers to say that control theory was first proposed by Carver
and Scheier, not only because Powers predates Carver and Scheier by
nearly 10 years (actually by far more than 10 years since the first
published description of Powers’ control theory model appeared in a two
part journal article in 1960.) but also because Carver and Scheier didn’t
get control theory right anyway, as evidenced by the fact that they think
that control theory is about regulation of behavior when, in fact,
it’s about regulation (control) of perception.

I hope you will send a note out to those who received a copy of the
dictionary explaining the error and providing a corrected version of the
control theory entry that would look something like this:

“control theory 1. a theory of how organisms produce
purposeful behavior by acting so as to maintain perceptual variables in
reference states specified by the organism itself. The theory was
first proposed by William T. Powers (1926-2013 ) in Behavior: The Control
of Perception (1973) 2. a field of mathematics and engineering
dealing with the regulation of certain physical variables and processes
to produce the desired outcome.”

Best regards

Rick

Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.

Author of
Doing Research on Purpose
.

Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of

Doing Research on Purpose
.
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of

Doing Research on Purpose
.
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble


Dr Warren Mansell
Reader in Clinical Psychology
School of Psychological Sciences
2nd Floor Zochonis Building
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
Email:

warren.mansell@manchester.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 161 275
8589

Website:

http://www.psych-sci.manchester.ac.uk/staff/131406

The highly acclaimed therapy manual on

A Transdiagnostic Approach to CBT using Method of Levels
is available
now.

Check www.pctweb.org for further
information on Perceptual Control Theory


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of

Doing Research on Purpose
.
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Dr Warren Mansell

Reader in Clinical Psychology

School of Psychological Sciences

2nd Floor Zochonis Building

University of Manchester

Oxford Road

Manchester M13 9PL

Email:

warren.mansell@manchester.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 161 275 8589

Website:

http://www.psych-sci.manchester.ac.uk/staff/131406

The highly acclaimed therapy manual on

A Transdiagnostic Approach to CBT using Method of Levels
is available
now.

Check www.pctweb.org for further
information on Perceptual Control Theory

Hi,

It’s good idea to write an article explaining the historical background of Control theory. But i would advice to include also Bruce, Kent and Martin. If not for anything else, just to read article and give their oppinion. If you’ll expose article on CSGnet, you can probably expect many oppinions. It’s better to »polish« article here than to find some explanations that do not fit PCT and »polish« it in public. I hope you will not get it as offens but your recent excurse to behavior and control, stimulate fear in me that you could repeat your »old vision« like this one :

RM: I’m probably just about the only one who agrees with me about this. But that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it because I don’t want Bill to have lived in vain. Bill’s most important contribution to wour understanding of the nature of living system was that their behavior IS control. His next most important realization was that these systems control by controlling their inputs, not their outputs. These are enormous ideas and Verduzco-Flores/Riley, Threshold Control Theory, etc. show no evidence of understanding this.

HB :

Behavior is NOT CONTROL. It is means of control. So there is no next most important realization….or whatever.  Mabye you wanted to emphasize something else, but puttig together behavior and control as lonely terms give much resemblance to what is already written in Psychological Dictionary.

I really appeal on you to write strictly in PCT terms (mostly citating Bill) as I know you can if you want, avoiding your »behavioral« interpretations. Otherwise it could happen that some of us could find mistakes in your article and CSGnet discussion will turn into public. We sure don’t want that.

Best,

Boris

···

From: Richard Marken (rsmarken@gmail.com via csgnet Mailing List) [mailto:csgnet@lists.illinois.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2015 6:07 PM
To: Warren Mansell
Cc: csgnet@lists.illinois.edu
Subject: Re: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of Psychology

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.18.1015)]

On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 1:37 AM, Warren Mansell wmansell@gmail.com wrote:

Yep, this certainly isn’t satisfactory!

Rick, I think it probably deserves a (polite) follow up letter to explain that we need a more immediate and effective amendment. You could explain that we are contacting Carver and Scheier, and that we have already collected signatories from a range of senior psychologists and other academic researchers in the USA and around the world to request an immediate amendment. Then, we do need to get the wording right so that the signatories know what they are signing and it is the right balance of setting the record straight immediately, and being realistic. Like Rick says, the important thing is that the message gets to everyone who might read that definition in the dictionary as soon as possible. And, of course, that electronic versions and reprints are amended as soon as possible.

How does that sound Rick?

RM: I see you’ve already done what I would have suggested! Which is write to Gary and explain that immediate correction is required. Great work. The only other thing I would suggest, since Gary seems to be quite responsive about this (I really did have some pleasant interactions with him when I submitted my papers to American Psychologist) is that you ask Gary to set aside some space in American Psychologist for us to write either a letter or, better, a brief article called “Control Theory in Psychology” to address the egregious error made in the Dictionary. Just changing the entry is not really enough; I think a public correction is needed. So how about you (or me) writing to Gary and suggesting (demanding) that he publish a brief article describing the actual history of control theory in psychology. I suggest the authors be me, you and Tim. Even if he says no we should write such an article and submit it to AP.

Best

Rick

Warren

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 10:12 PM, Richard Marken csgnet@lists.illinois.edu wrote:

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.17.1510)]

RM: Fred Nickols just sent this comment regarding VanderBos’s reply to me personally so I’m putting it up on the net becuase I like it so much:

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 3:05 PM, Fred Nickols fred@nickols.us wrote:

Not only “no,” but hell no! This is a first rate example of unprofessional behavior at its worst and I shall use it as such.

RM: I agree. So what do we do? I think we really have to have APA send out an errata notice to every recipient of the dictionary!! How do we get that do happen. Make him an offer he can’t refuse? :wink:

Best

Rick

On Mar 17, 2015, at 6:02 PM, Richard Marken (rsmarken@gmail.com via csgnet Mailing List) csgnet@lists.illinois.edu wrote:

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.17.1500)]

Here’s the reply I just got from Gary VandenBos. Anyone think this is a sufficient way to deal with this?

Best

Rick

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: VandenBos, Gary gary@apa.org
Date: Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 2:50 PM
Subject: RE: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of Psychology
To: Richard Marken rsmarken@gmail.com

Rick: Thank you for your message. I do remember your name, from earlier editorial correspondence and your published materials.

I appreciate this information about the dictionary entry on “control theory�.

We will put the information into the “review and update� file for that further research gets done on this entry.

All the best, Gary

From: Richard Marken [mailto:rsmarken@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 4:57 PM
To: VandenBos, Gary
Cc: Richard Marken
Subject: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of Psychology

Dear Dr. VandenBos

I don’t know if you remember me but we’ve had some pleasant interactions over papers I’ve submitted (unsuccessfully) to American Psychologist back in 2007 and 2012. This time I’m getting in touch with you regarding an entry in the APA Dictionary of Psychology, 2nd ed, for which you are Editor in Chief: I don’t receive the dictionary myself but a colleague got in touch with me about a rather serious error in the entry on control theory. Here’s a copy of the entry as it was copied to me:

control theory 1. the idea that people regulate their behavior through repeated cycles of comparing their current state to a standard and acting to reduce discrepancies. [first proposed in 1982 by U.S. social psychologists Charles S. Carver (1947- ) and Michael Scheier]2. a field of mathematics and engineering dealing with monitoring and controlling the behavior of certain physical processes and systems to produce the desired or best outcome.”

I found this very disturbing because just about everything in this entry is wrong.First of all, control theory is not about people regulating their behavior; it’s about people regulating variable aspects of their own perceptual experience, a process we see as “behavior”.

It’s hard to tell who was first to propose the application of control theory to understanding human behavior (there are many possibilities , ncluding Craik,1947, and N. Weiner , 1948) but it certainly wasn’t Carver and Scheier. Carver and Scheier’s application of control theory is based on the work of William T. Powers who is, indeed, the first person to correctly apply control theory to understanding the behavior of living organisms. The theory described in Carver and Scheier’s 1982 book is based entirely on Powers’ 1973 classic Behavior: The control of perception. And Carver and Scheier certainly didn’t try to hide the fact that Powers’ book was the basis of their work; Powers is referenced throughout their 1982 book.

So it’s a terrible disservice to the memory and contributions of William T. Powers to say that control theory was first proposed by Carver and Scheier, not only because Powers predates Carver and Scheier by nearly 10 years (actually by far more than 10 years since the first published description of Powers’ control theory model appeared in a two part journal article in 1960.) but also because Carver and Scheier didn’t get control theory right anyway, as evidenced by the fact that they think that control theory is about regulation of behavior when, in fact, it’s about regulation (control) of perception.

I hope you will send a note out to those who received a copy of the dictionary explaining the error and providing a corrected version of the control theory entry that would look something like this:

control theory 1. a theory of how organisms produce purposeful behavior by acting so as to maintain perceptual variables in reference states specified by the organism itself. The theory was first proposed by William T. Powers (1926-2013 ) in Behavior: The Control of Perception (1973) 2. a field of mathematics and engineering dealing with the regulation of certain physical variables and processes to produce the desired outcome.”

Best regards

Rick

Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of Doing Research on Purpose.

Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of Doing Research on Purpose.

Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of Doing Research on Purpose.

Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Dr Warren Mansell
Reader in Clinical Psychology
School of Psychological Sciences
2nd Floor Zochonis Building
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
Email: warren.mansell@manchester.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 161 275 8589

Website: http://www.psych-sci.manchester.ac.uk/staff/131406

The highly acclaimed therapy manual on A Transdiagnostic Approach to CBT using Method of Levels is available now.

Check www.pctweb.org for further information on Perceptual Control Theory

Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of Doing Research on Purpose.

Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.18.1420)]

···

On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 1:41 PM, “Boris Hartman”

HB Behavior is NOT CONTROL. It is means of control.

RM: OK, so you want to restrict the word “behavior” to denote only variations in the actions that keep a controlled variable at its reference. Then what do you call the variations in the controlled variable itself?

RM: Your definition of “behavior” means that the behavior of a person walking down the street consists only of the variations in the muscle tensions that are the means of controlling the variations in the position of the legs that we see as “walking”. Do you think that is the meaning of “behavior” Bill Powers had in mind when he wrote “Behavior: The Control of Perception”?

Best

Rick


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of Doing Research on Purpose.
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Hi Dag, I agree and all sounds good to me!

···

On Wednesday, March 18, 2015, Dag Forssell csgnet@lists.illinois.edu wrote:

OK Rick agreed! I would think
yes, that we could make the case that this situation underlines the fact
that most psychologists are not aware of the origins of control theory in
psychology, but that an important minority are aware (as indicated by the
immediate replies to my email), and believe that the accurate history
needs to be represented. I would be very happy to join in with that
email, and article.

All the best,

Warren

On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 5:06 PM, Richard Marken > > rsmarken@gmail.com > > wrote:
[From Dag Forssell (2015.03.18.1215 PDT)]

Just back to email, I read the thread on the ATA
definintion on control theory.

Wow! As Rick said, shocking but predictable.

Surely this speaks to the pervasive, profound ignorance among
“scientists”.

Seems to me an excellent idea to submit an article by Rick, Warren and
Tim.

Might you include not just a correction of history, but also a statement
of the promise for the future?

Would a reference to
www.iapct.org be
appropriate?

How can I update this website?

Best to all, Dag

At 10:38 AM 3/18/2015, wmansell@gmail.com via csgnet Mailing List > wrote:
[From Rick Marken (2015.03.18.1015)]

On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 1:37 AM, Warren Mansell > wmansell@gmail.com > wrote:
Yep, this certainly isn’t satisfactory!
Rick, I think it probably deserves a (polite) follow up letter to
explain that we need a more immediate and effective amendment. You could
explain that we are contacting Carver and Scheier, and that we have
already collected signatories from a range of senior psychologists and
other academic researchers in the USA and around the world to request an
immediate amendment. Then, we do need to get the wording right so that
the signatories know what they are signing and it is the right balance of
setting the record straight immediately, and being realistic. Like Rick
says, the important thing is that the message get s to everyone who might
read that definition in the dictionary as soon as possible. And, of
course, that electronic versions and reprints are amended as soon as
possible.
How does that sound Rick?

RM: I see you’ve already done what I would have suggested! Which is
write to Gary and explain that immediate correction is required. Great
work. The only other thing I would suggest, since Gary seems to be quite
responsive about this (I really did have some pleasant interactions with
him when I submitted my papers to American Psychologist) is that you ask
Gary to set aside some space in American Psychologist for us to write
either a letter or, better, a brief article called “Control
Theory in Psychology” to address the egregious error made in the
Dictionary. Just changing the entry is not really enough; I think a
public correction is needed. So how about you (or me) writing to Gary and
suggesting (demanding) that he publish a brief article describing the
actual history of control theory in psychology. I suggest the authors be
me, you and Tim. Even if he says no we should write such an article and
submit it to AP.

Best

Rick
Warren

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 10:12 PM, Richard Marken > < > csgnet@lists.illinois.edu> wrote:
[From Rick Marken (2015.03. 17.1510)]

RM: Fred Nickols just sent this comment regarding VanderBos’s reply
to me personally so I’m putting it up on the net becuase I like it so
much:

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 3:05 PM, Fred Nickols > fred@nickols.us wrote:
Not only “no,” but hell no! This is a first rate example of
unprofessional behavior at its worst and I shall use it as such.

RM: I agree. So what do we do? I think we really have to have APA
send out an errata notice to every recipient of the dictionary!! How do
we get that do happen. Make him an offer he can’t refuse? :wink:

Bes t

Rick

On Mar 17, 2015, at 6:02 PM, Richard Marken > (rsmarken@gmail.com via csgnet > Mailing List) > < > csgnet@lists.illinois.edu> wrote:

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.17.1500)]

Here’s the reply I just got from Gary VandenBos. Anyone think this is
a sufficient way to deal with this?

Best

Rick

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: VandenBos, Gary
gary@apa.org
Date: Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 2:50 PM
Subject: RE: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of
Psychology
To: Richard Marken
rsmarken@gmail.com

Rick: Thank you for your message. I do remember your
name, from earlier editorial correspondence and your published
materials.

I appreciate this information about the dictionary entry on “control
theory”.

We will put the information into the “review and update” file for
that further research gets done on this entry.

All the best, Gary

From: Richard Marken
[
mailto:rsmarken@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 4:57 PM
To: VandenBos, Gary
Cc: Richard Marken
Subject: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of
Psychology

Dear Dr. VandenBos

I don’t know if you remember me but we’ve had some pleasant
interactions over papers I’ve submitted (unsuccessfully) to American
Psychologist back in 2007 and 2012. This time I’m getting in touch
with you regarding an entry in the APA Dictionary of Psychology, 2nd
ed, for which you are Editor in Chief: I don’t receive the dictionary
myself but a colleague got in touch with me about a rather serious error
in the entry on control theory. Here’s a copy of the entry as it was
copied to me:

“control theory 1. the idea that people regulate their
behavior through repeated cycles of comparing their current state to a
standard and acting to reduce discrepancies. [first proposed in 1982 by
U.S. social psychologists Charles S. Carver (1947- ) and Michael
Scheier] 2. a field of mathematics and engineering dealing with
monitoring and controlling the behavior of certain physical processes and
systems to produce the desired or best outcome.”

I found this very disturbing because just about everything in this
entry is wrong.First of all, control theory is not about people
regulating their behavior; it’s about people regulating variable
aspects of their own perceptual experience, a process we see as
“behavior”.

It’s hard to tell who was first to propose the application of control
theory to understanding human behavior (there are many possibilities ,
ncluding Craik,1947, and N. Weiner , 1948) but it certainly wasn’t
Carver and Scheier. Carver and Scheier’s application of control theory is
based on the work of William T. Powers who is, indeed, the first person
to correctly apply control theory to understanding the behavior of
living organisms. The theory described in Carver and Scheier’s 1982 book
is based entirely on Powers’ 1973 classic Behavior: The control of
perception. And Carver and Scheier certainly didn’t try to hide the
fact that Powers’ book was the basis of their work; Powers is referenced
throughout their 1982 book.

So it’s a terrible disservice to the memory and contributions of
William T. Powers to say that control theory was first proposed by Carver
and Scheier, not only because Powers predates Carver and Scheier by
nearly 10 years (actually by far more than 10 years since the first
published description of Powers’ control theory model appeared in a two
part journal article in 1960.) but also because Carver and Scheier didn’t
get control theory right anyway, as evidenced by the fact that they think
that control theory is about regulation of behavior when, in fact,
it’s about regulation (control) of perception.

I hope you will send a note out to those who received a copy of the
dictionary explaining the error and providing a corrected version of the
control theory entry that would look something like this:

“control theory 1. a theory of how organisms produce
purposeful behavior by acting so as to maintain perceptual variables in
reference states specified by the organism itself. The theory was
first proposed by William T. Powers (1926-2013 ) in Behavior: The Control
of Perception (1973) 2. a field of mathematics and engineering
dealing with the regulation of certain physical variables and processes
to produce the desired outcome.”

Best regards

Rick

Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.

Author of
Doing Research on Purpose
.

Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of

Doing Research on Purpose
.
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of

Doing Research on Purpose
.
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble


Dr Warren Mansell
Reader in Clinical Psychology
School of Psychological Sciences
2nd Floor Zochonis Building
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
Email:

warren.mansell@manchester.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 161 275
8589

Website:

http://www.psych-sci.manchester.ac.uk/staff/131406

The highly acclaimed therapy manual on

A Transdiagnostic Approach to CBT using Method of Levels
is available
now.

Check www.pctweb.org for further
information on Perceptual Control Theory


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of

Doing Research on Purpose
.
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Dr Warren Mansell

Reader in Clinical Psychology

School of Psychological Sciences

2nd Floor Zochonis Building

University of Manchester

Oxford Road

Manchester M13 9PL

Email:

warren.mansell@manchester.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 161 275 8589

Website:

http://www.psych-sci.manchester.ac.uk/staff/131406

The highly acclaimed therapy manual on

A Transdiagnostic Approach to CBT using Method of Levels
is available
now.

Check www.pctweb.org for further
information on Perceptual Control Theory


Dr Warren Mansell
Reader in Clinical Psychology
School of Psychological Sciences
2nd Floor Zochonis Building
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
Email: warren.mansell@manchester.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 161 275 8589

Website: http://www.psych-sci.manchester.ac.uk/staff/131406

The highly acclaimed therapy manual on A Transdiagnostic Approach to CBT using Method of Levels is available now.

Check www.pctweb.org for further information on Perceptual Control Theory

Rick,

Below….

···

From: Richard Marken (rsmarken@gmail.com via csgnet Mailing List) [mailto:csgnet@lists.illinois.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2015 10:22 PM
To: csgnet@lists.illinois.edu
Subject: Re: Control Theory Entry in APA Dictionary of Psychology

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.18.1420)]

On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 1:41 PM, “Boris Hartman”

HB Behavior is NOT CONTROL. It is means of control.

RM: OK, so you want to restrict the word “behavior” to denote only variations in the actions that keep a controlled variable at its reference.

HB : You are wrong. I don’t want to restrict anything. Bill did. But you alreadyknow that. Old good Rick. Directing conversation into »nowhere«.

Which »controlled variable« is kept at it’s reference ?

RM:Â

Then what do you call the variations in the controlled variable itself?

HB : First you must tell me which »controlled variable« you have in mind. Your confusion with »controlled variables« is well known. What does it mean »controlled varibel itself« ?

Something outside ? I’m also interested what you meant by »variations in controlled variable ITSELF« ? You know what is »controlled variable« itself ?

RM: Your definition of “behavior” means that the behavior of a person walking down the street consists only of the variations in the muscle tensions that are the means of controlling the variations in the position of the legs that we see as “walking”.

HB : AGAIN. It’s not my definiton. It’s Bill’s. I didn’t give any definition of »behavior«. Thanks for credits, but I’m not that smart.

But whatever you are writing, must be your definiton of »behavior« as it turned out in your past discussions with me and your discussion with Martin. You could go and read it again, what you think behavior is. It suits your »control of behavior«.

So I suppose that whatever you described above is your definition of behavior as it fits quite good in self-regulation which you promoted many times, only GOALS are missing. You seemed to be describing how people are walking down the street with activating their muscles probably to reach some goals ? Perfect self-regulation »control«.

I suppose you are again as many times before in »objective environment« ? People walking down the street ?

Maybe you meant that whoever is »walking down the street« is controlling some perceptions with some means ? It’s hard to understand you, when you are talking out of PCT, in behaviorism for example or in self regulation terms.

Where is »Control of perception« ? Which perceptions walker controls ?

RM:Â Do you think that is the meaning of “behavior” Bill Powers had in mind when he wrote “Behavior: The Control of Perception”?

HB : I don’t know what Bill had in mind. Do you ? But I can try to conclude what he thought from the Title : »Behavior : Control of Perception«. He probably meant exactly what he wrote. What do you think he meant ?

If I recal from your conversation with Martin, you think that »Perception is Control of Behavior«. Just opposite as Bill thought. So I doubt that you could know what he meant when he wrote his book. But anyway please tell us what you think Bill thought when he wrote his book ? I could bet that he meant »Behavior : control of perception«.

Â

All I was asking you, was to think before you use terms »behavior« and »control« isolated. You used it many times in wrong meaning. So it’s not about me and my defintions but you and your defintions.

I just thought that you could maybe explain what you wrote :

RM: I’m probably just about the only one who agrees with me about this. But that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it because I don’t want Bill to have lived in vain. Bill’s most important contribution to wour understanding of the nature of living system was that their behavior IS control. His next most important realization was that these systems control by controlling their inputs, not their outputs. These are enormous ideas and Verduzco-Flores/Riley, Threshold Control Theory, etc. show no evidence of understanding this.

HB :

….It seems that you made two premises from BBill’s theory :

  1.   Behavior is control
    

…and next Bill’s most important reallization was that

  1.   these systems control by controlling their inputs not their outputs.
    

These are your words.

Can you explain what all this means ? Can we really reduce Bill’s theory only to these two premises ? Could you explain how can we »understand the nature of living systems« from these two premises ?

And still I think that whatever you are up to when you intend to promote yourself (I suppose that you will write your name under what you will send to APA) instead of promoting PCT, it’s good to talk about first here on CSGnet. Otherwise who knows what can happen.

And I still think that it’s better that somebody else help with his knowledge. Like Kent for example as he already I think on 2011 CSG mitting. Maybe he can help in times when you are so busy  J.

Best,

Boris

Best

Rick

Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of Doing Research on Purpose.

Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

[From Rick Marken (2015.03.22.1245)]

···

On Sun, Mar 22, 2015 at 10:45 AM, “Boris Hartman” csgnet@lists.illinois.edu wrote:

 HB  Behavior is NOT CONTROL. It is means of control.

Â

RM: OK, so you want to restrict the word “behavior” to denote only variations in the actions that keep a controlled variable at its reference.

Â

HB : You are wrong. I don’t want to restrict anything. Bill did.

RM: I don’t think he did. He shows that the things we call behaviors involve varying actions to produce stable (controlled) results; so a behavior such as “walking” involves producing a stable result – the walk – by varying actions appropriately – the leg movements that result in the walk.Â

Â

HB: Which »controlled variable« is kept at it’s reference ?

RM: It depends on what behavior you are talking about. There are many controlled variables involved in walking, for example, but perhaps the highest level controlled variable is the person’s change of position from one place to another. This is accomplished by movements of the legs, which are the actions that result in the change in position. These leg movements are themselves controlled variables, the actions that result in control being the forces exerted by the muscles on the bones of the legs. There is clearly a hierarchy of controlled variables (and the actions that control them) that make up what we call “behavior”. This is why Bill developed the hierarchical control model of behavior.Â

Â

RM: Then what do you call the variations in the controlled variable itself?Â

Â

HB : First you must tell me which »controlled variable« you have in mind.

RM I already explained it above so you’re off the hook.Â

Â

HB: Your confusion with »controlled variables« is well known. What does it mean »controlled varibel itself« ?

RM: A controlled variable is a perceptual representation of aspects of a control system’s sensory input. It defines the aspect of the environment that the control system controls.

HB: Something outside ?

RM: Not necessarily. It could be a function of what is outside. For example, a control system that controls humidity controls a perception of something that doesn’t exist outside the system. Humidity is a perceptual function of the sensed temperature and water vapor content of the air. So while humidity is not a variable that exists “outside” the humidity control system, it is a variable that is a function of variables that do exist outside the control system. So it is possible for an outside observer to perceive what the control system is perceiving (using the appropriate measuring devices) and determine that the system is controlling a perception of humidity.

Â

HB: I’m also interested what you meant by »variations in controlled variable ITSELF« ? You know what is »controlled variable« itself ?

RM: Control systems – especially living control systems – often maintain controlled variables in variable reference states, usually as the means of controlling higher order perceptions. This is what is going on in walking, where the position of the legs is a controlled variable that is varied in order to control a person’s balance as well as control for moving the person from one place to another.Â

HB: But whatever you are writing, must be your definiton of »behavior« as it turned out in your past discussions with me and your discussion with Martin. You could go and read it again, what you think behavior is. It suits your »control of behavior«.

RM: I defined “behavior” as I am defining it now – as control – in my 1988 paper “The Nature of Behavior: Control as Fact and Theory”. It’s reprinted as the first paper in “Mind Readings”. I recommend it to you.Â

HB: Â So I suppose that whatever you described above is your definition of behavior as it fits quite good in self-regulation which you promoted many times, only GOALS are missing.

RM: “Goal” is an informal term (like behavior) but the concept of goal is implicit in the definition of behavior as control since control involves maintaining variables in (possibly variable) “goal” states.Â

Â

HB: Where is »Control of perception« ? Which perceptions walker controls ?

RM: Excellent question and it is one that can only be answered by PCT research. Indeed, this is the fundamental question of PCT research. We can tell from observation that the behavior we call walking is a control process; there are variables, such as the person’s forward progress and balance, that are clearly under control – they are stable patterns of behavior that would not happen due to disturbances – such as unevenness of the ground – without compensating actions – such as appropriately placed legs. So the problem is to figure out what variables are being controlled from the control system’s perspective; what perceptual aspects of its environment is the system controlling when it walks. This is where the test for the controlled variable comes in; it’s also where the robotics research comes in because the people building robots have to figure out what perceptions the robot should control in order to be able to produce the behavior we call walking. I would guess that the variables controlled when walking include optical variables (such as one’s orientation relative to buildings and such), proprioceptive variables (such as the feeling of orientation of the foot) and kinesthetic variables (such as rate of change in position of the leg).Â

Â

RM:Â Do you think that is the meaning of “behavior” Bill Powers had in mind when he wrote “Behavior: The Control of Perception”?Â

Â

HB : I don’t know what Bill had in mind. Do you ?

RM: It looks like he had in mind that what we are seeing when we see “behavior” is the process of a person acting to control their own perceptions.Â

Â

HB: But I can try to conclude what he thought from the Title : »Behavior : Control of Perception«. He probably meant exactly what he wrote. What do you think he meant ?

 RM: Yes, I agree.Â

Â

HB: If I recal from your conversation with Martin, you think that »Perception is Control of Behavior«.

RM: That’s just silly. All of my work is aimed at showing that behavior is the control of perception and that the appearance that perception controls behavior is an illusion.Â

HB :

….IIt seems that you made two premises from Bill’s theory :

1.      Behavior is control

…and next Bill’s most important realization was that

2.      these systems control by controlling their inputs not their outputs.Â

These are your words.

RM: Yes.Â

Â

 HB: Can you explain what all this means ? Can we really reduce Bill’s theory only to these two premises ?

RM: I think so. Of course, it takes quite a bit to explain what they mean. There’s a lot of meaning packed into the little phase “Behavior is control”. You have to know what control is and how it relates to the things we call “behaviors”. Bill did that in his 1979 BYTE article titled “Defining Behavior” (http://www.livingcontrolsystems.com/enclosures/byte_june_1979.pdf) and I did it in my 1988 “Nature of Behavior” paper, mentioned above. And, of course, there is the whole of control theory packed into that second phrase “control systems control their inputs, not their outputs”.

Â

HB: Could you explain how can we »understand the nature of living systems« from these two premises ?

RM: By reading everything Bill wrote about PCT and by doing Bill’s demos. I would also suggest that you read my three books on control theory as well (Mind Readings, More Mind Readings and Doing Research on Purpose) Â and do all my demos (http://www.mindreadings.com/demos.htm).Â

Â

 HB: And still I think that whatever you are up to when you intend to promote yourself (I suppose that you will write your name under what you will send to APA) instead of promoting PCT, it’s good to talk about first here on CSGnet. Otherwise who knows what can happen.

RM: Why don’t you write a version and we can see what what you think it should look like.Â

Â

HB: And I still think that it’s better that somebody else help with his knowledge. Like Kent for example as he already I think on 2011 CSG mitting. Maybe he can help in times when you are so busy  J.

RM: I’m going to write it just with Warren Mansell. I think too many cooks might spoil the broth.Â

BestÂ

Rick

Â


Richard S. Marken, Ph.D.
Author of  Doing Research on Purpose
Now available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble