PCT Statements

[From Fred Nickols (2010.09.21.1005 EDT)]

Please note I changed the subject line so as to not divert the revolutionary
discussion.

My focus has always been on applying PCT to workplace performance. With
that in mind, here are a few of my PCT-based axioms or statements regarding
performance.

The performer must:

- target the right variable

- be committed to achieving the specified value (goal state) for that
variable

- possess current, accurate information about the actual state of the
targeted variable

- be able to evaluate his/her own performance (actions and their effects);
that is, compare actual with intended and detect/identify any discrepancies

- possess any behavioral capabilities/competencies required to bring the
targeted variable to its goal state and keep it there

Fred Nickols
fred@nickols.us

···

-----Original Message-----
From: Control Systems Group Network (CSGnet)
[mailto:CSGNET@LISTSERV.ILLINOIS.EDU] On Behalf Of John Kirkland
Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 8:37 AM
To: CSGNET@LISTSERV.ILLINOIS.EDU
Subject: Re: Revolutionary PCT

Let's see Fred,
Since others can do this so much better than I can, I've cribbed the
following as adaptations from parsing a few of BP's remarks of chapter
I, LCS3 :
- control is the act of bringing something to a specified condition
- control systems continuously adjust actions on the basis of ongoing
consequences
- negative feedback simultaneously incorporates current perceptions,
ongoing comparisons and continuous actions
- A PCT controller senses and acts on the consequences of
disturbances, not causes
- simulations imitate all behavioral variables concurrently

And, please, I will certainly stand to be corrected by those who have
a more extensive knowledge base. But that's not the primary point.
Instead, it is to try and get a few dozen landscape markers where
distances between these is irrelevant, so long as they are PCT related
(and thus occupy a common territory).

No doubt some of the resident experts could rattle off an extended
list in a few minutes.

I hope these examples indicate what I'm getting at as I'm a tyro here.

If this idea does generate some interest then perhaps somebody who's
more acquainted with web-space could initiate a 'list' facility for
people to visit and add/edit items (but not drop/delete as we don't
want to have it erased), much like a PCTpedia.

Over to the team...

JohnK

On Tue, Sep 21, 2010 at 11:31 PM, Fred Nickols <fred@nickols.us> wrote:

[From Fred Nickols (2010.09.21.0730 EDT)]

John:

Could you provide an example? �Thanks.

Fred Nickols

-----Original Message-----
From: Control Systems Group Network (CSGnet)
[mailto:CSGNET@LISTSERV.ILLINOIS.EDU] On Behalf Of John Kirkland
Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 4:07 AM
To: CSGNET@LISTSERV.ILLINOIS.EDU
Subject: Re: Revolutionary PCT

Hi Rick
In reply to your query, I'm a seasoned teacher who's trying to gain an
understanding of the PCT landscape and it's dimensions.
Putting some of my experience of instructional design techniques into
practice I've thought about assembling a list of what could be called
'essential PCT item statements', as gleaned from the literature. From
my perspective an item-statement is a relatively short single notion
in English language textual format.
An initial task is to assemble about 50 - 70 of these basic jig-saw
like units without regard to their possible inter-relationships. By
way of analogy, these statements would be akin to having available a
lexicon of phrases. Any 'grammar' which glues these phrases together
into a meaningful frame will come subsequently. �Trust me, I've done
this before.
There's gotta be a lot of expertise out there in the CSNet commnity
that can chip in with suggestions about possible statements.
Please, I don't want to 'own' this item statement listing. �So far as
I'm concerned it'll be in the common pool.
Thus, with collegial respectfulness, I'm confident suggestions about
items could be submitted and edited on line. And when there's rough
agreement, accepted. Fine-tuning is not necessary.

As Jean-luc would say, 'Make it so'

Laters...

JohnK

On Tue, Sep 21, 2010 at 7:31 PM, Gavin Ritz <garritz@xtra.co.nz> wrote:

________________________________
(gavin Ritz 2010.09.21.19..30)

[From Rick Marken (2010.09.20.1500)]

(Gavin Ritz 2010.09.21.9.36NZT)
Build it and they will come....

I've been building it for over 30 years but "they" haven't come. Some
have, but not nearly enough to fill a stadium. I think it's because PCT

is

truly revolutionary.

You need to dig deep to look at your own abstracted controlled variables
to answer this one.

That's the only reason I bring it up; to try to understand why, if I

build

it, they don't come.

Self-honesty.

Hey, who am I gonna believe? Me or my lyin' eyes.

Hey at least u can joke about it.
Regards
Gavin

Best

RIck

--
Richard S. Marken PhD
rsmarken@gmail.com
www.mindreadings.com

[From Erling Jorgensen (2010.09.22.1420 EDT)]

John Kirkland (September 21, 2010 4:07 AM)

John Kirkland (22 Sep 2010 00:36:42 +1200)

(former Subject heading was Re: Revolutionary PCT)

I've thought about assembling a list of what could be called
'essential PCT item statements', as gleaned from the literature.

...I've cribbed the
following as adaptations from parsing a few of BP's remarks of chapter
I, LCS3 :
- control is the act of bringing something to a specified condition
- control systems continuously adjust actions on the basis of ongoing
consequences
- negative feedback simultaneously incorporates current perceptions,
ongoing comparisons and continuous actions
- A PCT controller senses and acts on the consequences of
disturbances, not causes
- simulations imitate all behavioral variables concurrently

Hello John,

Here are some additional possibilities, drawn from some CSG posts that I
contributed in July 1999 & December 2005. These were gathered into an
essay, Causation and Negative Feedback Control Loops, which is now housed
on the Living Control Systems website: Link --
<http://www.livingcontrolsystems.com/intro_papers/causation.pdf&gt;

I'm not sure if these statements can stand alone without the wider
context of that essay. Perhaps this could be a test -- read them as
listed below & see what you think, & then read the essay with the link
above, to get the broader context.

I think it's a worthy project that you are doing, although I don't yet
follow the matter of gathering them into a sort of grammar or lexicon.

These all have to do with causality, from a PCT perspective.

* the analysis of causality changes when you close the loop with
feedback processes
* processes in the loop are always in a time relationship with
themselves
* every part of a control loop is a cause of every other part
* every part of a closed loop is also a cause of itself
* only the reference is an effective cause of the stabilized state
of the perceptual input quantity
* any causal effect from the disturbance on the perceptual input
quantity is neutralized by the negative feedback action of the loop
* the disturbance becomes an effective cause (in inverted form) of
the behavioral output
* all PCT control loops in their standard form of operation are closed
through the environment
* lower level loops are part of the structure, part of the loop itself,
of the higher level control system's operation
* higher loops have the longest (and slowest) path to travel to achieve
their control
* to maintain stability, higher loops must operate on a slower time
scale than lower level loops
* it does not work to call for results faster than they can be produced

All the best,
Erling