CHUCK TUCKER 920925B - CSG-RBND
INSTRUCTIONS FOR A RUBBER BAND EXPERIMENT
1. Review the "rubber band experiment" described by Runkel in his
statement (Chapter 10) on "control theory." You will need a
rubber band knotted in the middle (called RB below), a target
diagram (three examples included and others suggested) and a
flat surface.
2. Select a person, P with which to carry out a modification of the
RB experiment. Instead of having P guess what is reasonable
for your behavior, you will ask P to adopt a particular
reference signal and perform accordingly.
3. Place the target diagram (see below) on the table and ask P to
keep the knot in the middle of the RB "over" the center of
the target by saying: "Please put your finger in this loop of
the rubber band and keep the knot in the center of the rubber
band above the "X" in the middle of the target. I will put my
finger in the other end of the rubber band and move my end but
you should keep the knot over the "X" until I say STOP."
(PAUSE UNTIL BOTH OF YOU HAVE YOUR FINGERS IN THE ENDS OF THE
RB AND HAVE PLACED THE RB ON THE TARGET DIAGRAM WITH THER KNOT
OVER THE "X") Say "STOP" when you have accomplished one of the
purposes described below.
4. Your assignment is to move your loop of the RB such that you
can place P's finger (which is inside the other RB loop) over
the letters on Diagram A to spell out the word 'CONTROL' by
having placed his/her finger on these letters in sequence:
C - O - N - T - R - O - L. When you have done that say "STOP".
Then ask P: "Do you recall what word you spelled when your
finger touched the letters?" WHAT EVER THE ANSWER TELL P: "The
word you spelled was 'CONTROL'." THEN SAY TO P: "I want you to
keep the knot over the "X" again I and will tell you to stop
for each of the letters". DO AS ABOVE AND HAVE P SPELL THE
WORD 'CONTROL' STOPING WHEN EACH LETTER IS TOUCHED BY HIS/HER
FINGER.
HINT: If P maintains her/his RS (knot over the "X"), you
should be able to place P's finger over the letters. P
cannot control both her/his finger and the knot: they are
connected by P's maintenance of the RS and P's resistance
to your disturbance. If P wants to control the knot over
the "X", P must resist your disturbance. With ingenuity
you can therefore get P to place her/his loop finger over
all of the letters.
5. You can do this assignment with Diagram B (colors) by have
P's finger touch a sequence of colors. You can make a diagram
of your own with figures (triangles, circles, squares,
rectangles) at both ends of it; another with numerals like 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 at both ends of it, as long as you can
get a sequence of moves, remember them and have P touch them.
6. Repeat this exercise with a total of three persons.
7. Your report is due {see syllabus}. It should be typed (no
more that 3 pages, double spaced) and include:
(a) a description of your procedures, P's verbal and non-
verbal actions, and the outcome for all three persons.
(b) based on the observations reported in (a), write a one
paragraph analysis of the hypothesis that you can
influence another person only if it serves some purpose
which is important to that person.
8. Your could add an Appendix to your report by descibing what
happens when you ask P to see if he/she can get you to spell a
word, touch colors, figures, symbols or numerals.
DIAGRAM A
A R C U L O T
N L O C B P F
S I Y O N C V
Q W R T O N D
A G E I U Y S
H K Z L B Z P
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A R C U L O T
N L O C B P F
S I Y O N C V
Q W R T O N D
A G E I U Y S
H K Z L B Z P
DIAGRAM B
BLACK WHITE RED BLUE YELLOW
GREEN ORANGE BLACK WHITE PURPLE
YELLOW RED GREEN BLACK WHITE
BLACK WHITE RED BLUE YELLOW
GREEN ORANGE BLACK WHITE PURPLE
YELLOW RED GREEN BLACK WHITE
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BLACK WHITE RED BLUE YELLOW
GREEN ORANGE BLACK WHITE PURPLE
YELLOW RED GREEN BLACK WHITE
BLACK WHITE RED BLUE YELLOW
GREEN ORANGE BLACK WHITE PURPLE
YELLOW RED GREEN BLACK WHITE
DIAGRAM C
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