[From Rick Marken (951113.0900)]
Bill's question:
can the experimenter find the answer [whicj know is controlled] by
calculating the correlation of the experimenter's hand movements with those
of the controller?
Bruce's answer.
Yes.
My answer:
An emphatic "No!".
Bruce Abbott (951112.1805 EST) re-answers:
Yes, I screwed this one up, by not thinking it completely through.
If you screwed this up by not thinking it through, then you must know that an
experimenter cannot determine what a person is controlling by calculating IV-
DV relationships (as is done in conventional methodology).
If you know that IV-DV relationships cannot be used to determine what is
controlled, then you must also know that the IV- DV methods described in
your text provide no means for determining what (or even whether) people are
controlling (a clear description of why IV-DV is _at best_ a starting point
for testing for controlled variables is given in Bill Powers (951112.0900
MST))
If you are convinced that people do control perceptual variables, then I have
to ask "why will you not describe methods of testing for controlled variables
in your methods text?". Why do you insist that the methods described on your
text include only those that, as you know, don't allow the experimenter to
determine what a person is controlling?
Bill Powers (951112.2200 MST) to Bruce Abbott (951112.1240 EST) --
I disagree with Rick Marken's explanation of why [Bruce made some mistakes],
and I don't care whether you "cling to S-R viewpoints" or not.
My explanation was just a guess. It is ruled out by Bruce's answer to your
question about whether one can determine which knot is controlled by
examining the S-R correlation. Since Bruce knows that controlled variables
cannot be detected by examining IV-DV relationships, then his mistakes must
have been due to something other than "clinging to S-R viewpoints".
But then I still have a problem understanding why Bruce insists that his
methods book describe only methods for determining IV-DV relationships.
Have you changed your mind about this, Bruce? If you buy perceptual control
theory then why not teach your students how to determine what perceptions
people are controlling?
Best
Rick