Rick Marken at his very best.
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Date: Wed Jan 04, 1995 8:14 pm PST
Subject: Bait and Switch
[From Bruce Abbott (950104.2050 EST)]
>Rick Marken (950104.1445)
>>Bruce Abbott (950104.1215 EST)
>>Rick: please tell me how you plan to study the properties of human memory
>>using the Test. Your results should allow you to explain, for example, how
>>it is that you are able to recognize a familiar face.
>I presume that this means that you don’t want to discuss the problems of
>using conventional IV-DV methodology to study living control systems?
Actually no, I don’t. I want to discuss the problems of using control-system
methodology to study aspects of human and animal capabilities for which that
methodology is inappropriate. In this way I hope to bolster my argument that
traditional methods have their place in psychology. I seem to recall your
saying that they have no such place. What you have done is to RESPOND as if I
had said that conventional methods are adequate for studying the phenomena of
control, which I never claimed. You are now out to prove this statement I
never made wrong. It’s a great politician’s trick, to avoid answering the
question asked by acting as though a DIFFERENT question had been asked, and
answering that one.