[From Rick Marken (2005.04.29.1130)]
Dag Forssell (2005.04.28.2130)
Please clarify.
Sorry, it was late (for me) last night so I didn't catch this request. I
thought you were just explaining your basis for putting some and not other
PCT related stuff up at your site as an example of the application of PCT.
But apparently you did want clarification, presumably in answer to some
questions you asked (which seemed rhetorical, through by bleary eyes. But
now I see that they were actual question, so I'll try to answer them.
You say:
Is psychology an "application" of PCT?
No, no more than sociology. Psychology (like sociology, economics, etc)
refers to a particular domain of observations. Psychology (at least the part
of it that I find interesting) consists of observations of individual human
behavior. Sociology consists of observations of group behavior. Economics
focuses on group behavior related to the production and consumption of goods
and services. People have applied PCT in all of these domains.
I thought PCT *is* psychology (the successor to contemporary versions).
That would be nice if it were true. But I'm afraid very few people see it
this way. PCT is just one of several contending models that have been used
to explain behavior.
Is psychology something you apply to itself?
Of course not. PCT is a model that can be used (applied) to explain
phenomena that are in the domain of observations labeled "psychology".
I have never heard you claim that you apply PCT in your life, least
of all on CSGnet.
Well, actually, I do apply my general understanding of PCT in my everyday
life (when I have the poise to do so), particularly my understanding of the
hierarchical nature of perception and control.
If Dick Robertson applies PCT in his counseling practice,
does that fall under MOL?
That is surely one way Dick has applied PCT. He has also done what I think
is an excellent application of PCT to understanding learning and the
phenomenon of learning plateaus.
What does he call it?
He probably calls MOL "MOL".
What makes it an application?
He is applying his understanding of the hierarchical nature of perception
and control to what he does in therapy sessions.
How do any of the other people you mention apply PCT to psychology?
They have all applied it in the same way that the sociologists presumably
apply it: as a model to explain the phenomena in which they are interested.
Sociologists lean on psychology for their theoretical framework, and the
point of the forthcoming volume is that they find contemporary psychology
wanting, so I think that is an application.
But all the psychologists I mentioned also find contemporary psychology
wanting. That's why it seemed to me that one had to be something other than
a psychologist in order to "make the cut" as one who applies PCT.
Best
Rick
···
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Richard S. Marken
MindReadings.com
Home: 310 474 0313
Cell: 310 729 1400
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