Wiley wants encyclopedia article

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the picture. I’ll add it to my personal PCT museum archives.

On another matter, I got a request for an undate from the editors of the Psychology section of the Wiley Encyclopedia. Someone, I think it might have been Bob, or else the that-time editor, a Chicago guy i knew at the time, asked me to wright a short article on "Control theory, " which I did. However, I don’t feel I’m in the best position to come up with an update now. Could recommend you to them? I’ll forward their letter so you can see what they want.

Best,

Dick R

I got a request for an undate
from the editors of the Psychology section of the Wiley Encyclopedia.
Someone, I think it might have been Bob, or else the that-time editor, a
Chicago guy i knew at the time, asked me to wright a short article on
"Control theory, " which I did. However, I don’t feel I’m in
the best position to come up with an update now. Could recommend you to
them? I’ll forward their letter so you can see what they
want.
Hi, Richard –

All that stuff about scholarship and reference intimidatesme, and anyway
I’m really sort of written out right now. Isn’t there anyone else who can
do it?

Bill

OK, I hear you. Any thoughts on who should I try next? Ric, David, Dag? I think my forward of their request went to the CSG net, so others must have seen it. Who’se volunteering? Wiley Encyclopedia is
maybe another source for getting PCT known.

···

----- Original Message -----
From: Bill Powers powers_w@FRONTIER.NET
Date: Sunday, November 18, 2007 6:34 am
Subject: Re: Wiley wants encyclopedia article
To: CSGNET@LISTSERV.UIUC.EDU

Hi, Richard –

I got a request for an undate

from the editors of the Psychology section of the Wiley Encyclopedia.
Someone, I think it might have been Bob, or else the that-time editor, a
Chicago guy i knew at the time, asked me to wright a short article on
"Control theory, " which I did. However, I don’t feel I’m in
the best position to come up with an update now. Could recommend you to
them? I’ll forward their letter so you can see what they
want.

All that stuff about scholarship and reference intimidatesme, and anyway
I’m really sort of written out right now. Isn’t there anyone else who can
do it?

Bill

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Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.0/1135 - Release Date:
11/16/2007 10:58 PM

[From Rick Marken (007.11.18.1410)]

Is there already an article in the Encyclopedia on PCT tht is to be revised or would this be a new piece? How long should the article be? I guess I’d be willing to do it if they are not to obsessive about a due date;-) If it is an update could you send me the existing article (by e-mail would be best)? Also, if I’m to do it I think it would be nice if I could see (or get a copy of) the Encyclopedia. Maybe they could send me a copy for Xmas;-)

Best

Rick

···

On Nov 18, 2007 1:35 PM, Robertson Richard R-Robertson@neiu.edu wrote:

OK, I hear you. Any thoughts on who should I try next? Ric, David, Dag? I think my forward of their request went to the CSG net, so others must have seen it. Who’se volunteering? Wiley Encyclopedia is
maybe another source for getting PCT known.

----- Original Message -----
From: Bill Powers powers_w@FRONTIER.NET
Date: Sunday, November 18, 2007 6:34 am
Subject: Re: Wiley wants encyclopedia article

To: CSGNET@LISTSERV.UIUC.EDU

Hi, Richard –

I got a request for an undate

from the editors of the Psychology section of the Wiley Encyclopedia.
Someone, I think it might have been Bob, or else the that-time editor, a
Chicago guy i knew at the time, asked me to wright a short article on

"Control theory, " which I did. However, I don’t feel I’m in
the best position to come up with an update now. Could recommend you to
them? I’ll forward their letter so you can see what they

want.

All that stuff about scholarship and reference intimidatesme, and anyway
I’m really sort of written out right now. Isn’t there anyone else who can
do it?

Bill

No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.0
/1135 - Release Date:
11/16/2007 10:58 PM


Richard S. Marken PhD
rsmarken@gmail.com

[From Dick Robertson, 2007.11.19.0945CST]

Rick,

Thanks for the interest in the update of the Wiley Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science. The existing one is the 3rd Edn, 1996. Your library should have it, but if not I can scan my copy and send it to you in a post. My last article was an update of the first one. I now remember that it was Corsini who invited me to do that one at the recommendation of Bob McFarland. I knew Corsini from the Il Psych Assn. The '96 article is about 1300 words in length. I think you could bring the subject forward in a great way in the update.

With your OK I will recommend they get directly in touch with you. You saw the forward of their letter to me, didn’t you? If not I can send it again.

Best,

Dick R

···

----- Original Message -----
From: Richard Marken rsmarken@GMAIL.COM
Date: Sunday, November 18, 2007 4:14 pm
Subject: Re: Wiley wants encyclopedia article
To: CSGNET@LISTSERV.UIUC.EDU

[From Rick Marken (007.11.18.1410)]

Is there already an article in the Encyclopedia on PCT tht is to
be revised or would this be a new piece? How long should the
article be? I guess I’d be willing to do it if they are not
to obsessive about a due date;-) If it is an update could you
send me the existing article (by e-mail would be best)? Also, if
I’m to do it I think it would be nice if I could see (or get
a copy of) the Encyclopedia. Maybe they could send me a copy for
Xmas;-)

Best

Rick

On Nov 18, 2007 1:35 PM, Robertson Richard R-Robertson@neiu.edu wrote:

OK, I hear you. Any thoughts on who should I try next? Ric, David, Dag? I think my forward of their request went to the CSG net, so others must have seen it. Who’se volunteering? Wiley Encyclopedia is
maybe another source for getting PCT known.

----- Original Message -----
From: Bill Powers powers_w@FRONTIER.NET
Date: Sunday, November 18, 2007 6:34 am
Subject: Re: Wiley wants encyclopedia article

To: CSGNET@LISTSERV.UIUC.EDU

Hi, Richard –

I got a request for an undate

from the editors of the Psychology section of the Wiley Encyclopedia.
Someone, I think it might have been Bob, or else the that-time editor, a
Chicago guy i knew at the time, asked me to wright a short article on

"Control theory, " which I did. However, I don’t feel I’m in
the best position to come up with an update now. Could recommend you to
them? I’ll forward their letter so you can see what they

want.

All that stuff about scholarship and reference intimidatesme, and anyway
I’m really sort of written out right now. Isn’t there anyone else who can
do it?

Bill

No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.0
/1135 - Release Date:
11/16/2007 10:58 PM


Richard S. Marken PhD
rsmarken@gmail.com

[From Rick Marken (2007.11.19.0945)]

Sure, tell them to get in touch with me. It's a pain to try to get
this stuff in the library -- that's so 1990s-- caould you send me a
scan of the existing article.

Thanks

Best

Rick

···

On Nov 19, 2007 7:52 AM, Robertson Richard <R-Robertson@neiu.edu> wrote:

[From Dick Robertson, 2007.11.19.0945CST]

Rick,

Thanks for the interest in the update of the Wiley Concise Corsini
Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science. The existing one is the
3rd Edn, 1996. Your library should have it, but if not I can scan my copy
and send it to you in a post. My last article was an update of the first
one. I now remember that it was Corsini who invited me to do that one at the
recommendation of Bob McFarland. I knew Corsini from the Il Psych Assn. The
'96 article is about 1300 words in length. I think you could bring the
subject forward in a great way in the update.

With your OK I will recommend they get directly in touch with you. You saw
the forward of their letter to me, didn't you? If not I can send it again.

Best,

Dick R
----- Original Message -----
From: Richard Marken <rsmarken@GMAIL.COM>
Date: Sunday, November 18, 2007 4:14 pm
Subject: Re: Wiley wants encyclopedia article
To: CSGNET@LISTSERV.UIUC.EDU

> [From Rick Marken (007.11.18.1410)]
>
> Is there already an article in the Encyclopedia on PCT tht is to
> be revised or would this be a new piece? How long should the
> article be? I guess I'd be willing to do it if they are not
> to obsessive about a due date;-) If it is an update could you
> send me the existing article (by e-mail would be best)? Also, if
> I'm to do it I think it would be nice if I could see (or get
> a copy of) the Encyclopedia. Maybe they could send me a copy for
> Xmas;-)
>
>
> Best
>
> Rick
>
>
On Nov 18, 2007 1:35 PM, Robertson Richard <R-Robertson@neiu.edu> wrote:
>
>
> > OK, I hear you. Any thoughts on who should I try next? Ric, David, Dag?
I think my forward of their request went to the CSG net, so others must have
seen it. Who'se volunteering? Wiley Encyclopedia is
> > maybe another source for getting PCT known.
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Bill Powers <powers_w@FRONTIER.NET>
> > Date: Sunday, November 18, 2007 6:34 am
> > Subject: Re: Wiley wants encyclopedia article
> >
> > To: CSGNET@LISTSERV.UIUC.EDU
> >
> >
>
> > Hi, Richard --
> >
> >
> I got a request for an undate
> >
> > > from the editors of the Psychology section of the Wiley Encyclopedia.
> > > Someone, I think it might have been Bob, or else the that-time editor,
a
> > > Chicago guy i knew at the time, asked me to wright a short article on
> >
> > > "Control theory, " which I did. However, I don't feel I'm in
> > > the best position to come up with an update now. Could recommend you
to
> > > them? I'll forward their letter so you can see what they
> >
> > > want.
> > >
> > > All that stuff about scholarship and reference intimidatesme, and
anyway
> > > I'm really sort of written out right now. Isn't there anyone else who
can
> > > do it?
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > Bill
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > >
> > >
> > > No virus found in this outgoing message.
> > > Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> > > Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.0
> > /1135 - Release Date:
> > > 11/16/2007 10:58 PM
> >

>

> --
> Richard S. Marken PhD
> rsmarken@gmail.com
>

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

from Fred Nickols (2007.11.20.0813 ET)

No matter who writes it, I'll volunteer to edit it. I believe Bill Powers will attest to my editing skills.

Regards,

Fred Nickols
nickols@att.net

···

-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Robertson Richard <R-Robertson@NEIU.EDU>

[From Dick Robertson, 2007.11.19.1640CST]Hi Rick,I will tell the guys from Wiley
to contact you.Here is a bad copy of the prior article. The encyclopedia pages
havesuch narrow borders that I couldn't bend the book enough to get all ofthe
text into the scan. I have run out of time editing it, but you'llget enough to
see what the last one covered.Here it is"Perceptual control theory" is a name
adopted bya group of scientists interested in the feedback-system organization
of humanand animal behavior to distinguish their work from the control theory
field ofservo engineers. The mem­bers are engaged in the development and
applicationofthe thesis advanced in W. T. Powers's (1973) book, Behavior:
TheControl of Perception. While a majority of this group arepsychologists, it
also includes biologists, sociologists, sys­tems engineers,mathematicians, and
members of other professions-all finding themselves able tocommunicate with the
common language of Powers's theory, a rather un­usualexperience in this age of
high specialization. One member of thegroup, Richard Marken,
observed that Powers has not one but two accomplishmentsto his credit. First, he
discovered, or noted, that behavior is the control ofperception, contrary to
what psychologists have believed ever since Descartes.For Descartes, the
environ­ment controlled behavior in the sense that he believedper­ception of
phenomena of the environment stimulates or triggers behavior byentering sensory
receptors to set offre­flex responses in the organism. Second,Powers developed a
theory to explain how behavior does work, showing thatfeedback-control theory
can account for how perceptual variables are maintainedagainst external
influences! disturbances by control systems, whether inorganisms or robots. The
theory he developed finally provideda coherent mechanismfor the phenomenon of
homeostasis, which had been observed much earlier bybiologists but had remained
an inexplicable phenomenon. Although biologists hadgradually accepted
self-regula­tory-homeostatic-mechanisms after Bernard asapply­ing to many bodily
functions, the idea that the same prin­ciples couldaccount for mental phenomena
gained ground more slowly. However, beginning inthe 1940s a number of
scientists, such as Norbert Wiener, began to suggest thatsuch principles could
explain certain aspects of behavior, if not all. Finally,in 1960 the team of W.
T. Powers, R. K. Clark, and R. L. McFarland published A General Feedback
Theoryof Human Behavior, which presented the first fully comprehensive view of
howall behavior could be accounted for by an integrated assembly of
hierarchically-orderedfeedback control systems. This work then led to Powers's
1973 book. The basic scheme is asfollows. Behavior occurs via a system
comprised of a closed feedback loop in which a variable perceptualsignal (PS)
is held to a specified value--reference signal (RS)-by the workingsof a
comparator (C ). The comparator subtracts the value of the referencesignal from
the value of the perceptual signal to obtain an error(ES) that is fed into an
output mechanismcapable of affecting the perceptual signal in such a way as to
counteract anydisturbance (D) comingfrom the environment. It does so by :'
driving the perceptual signal back toward (maintaining)itat the reference
value. The system worksto keep minimizing the error signal, and in so doing it
controls thepertinent­perceived aspect of the environment as a by product.
Peceptualvariables in organisms derive from sensory signals.Reference signals
are previouslystored sensory signals. Output mechanisms are ultimately muscles
and glands. Powers pointedout a number of examples of feedback circuitry
inneuroanatomy in his book and has continued to find additional
anatomicalevidence in his further work.Figure 1 shows the feedback loop outlined
in itssimplest form. The same scheme is repeated in hierarchical fasw which
thesensory signal is relayed to higher order sys:; and the output ofthe
orderabove determines the RS ci order below. This simple schema may be
effectively ap;". to a host of everyday behaviors to explain what is hag ing. A
popularillustration is the action of driving a car:, driver keeps the car in its
laneagainst external dis bances such as wind, curves, bumps, and so forth by
toringthe relationship between the front of the car anc: edgeof the road, both
of which are perceptual variable:; ducible to a higher ordervariable: the
constancy ofrk lationship. The latter is thus the presumptiveperC-E~ signal of
interest. It is matched in the brain to the refe! signal;that is, the desired
condition of that relation the result being the continualflow of error signals
r!::.a::: minimized by the actions of the driver on thesteering. wheel. Powers
showed that this analysis could be quanri£ied in simultaneous equations
5:l1ultaneousequations as PS = ° + D andES =PS - RS, ,.-':iere D represents a
disturbing condition in the environ­I:'2nt,and 0,the output ofthe system, is
some function of ~ as determined by theproperties of the particular sys­"L::D..
He applied these equations to manydifferent analy­!E:oof behavioral phenomena,
adding constants as appro­~ate to specificsystems, and created a number of
com­;rc.:er simulations of various types ofbehavior showing that i:::man actions
can be imitated by programs using hisfunc­-:lUllS, the implication being that if
a feedbackmodel, and .~ya feedback model, imitates a humanperformance, it
s=:gests that the behavior is feedback controlled. Theperceptive
reader might have noticed in the above that Powers has also solvedthe problem of
purpose, or in­tention, that has been a dilemma forstimulus-response
psychologists. It is identical with the reference signal. Thec:r:JITol system
realizes what one intends as the organism's rion brings whatis being perceived
to match the specifi­man that is to be perceived. Powerswent on to propose
theoretical answers to many other questions that one might !""'- -eabout the
nature of behavior. He sketched out a hier­J!I"'.:nyof control systems to
account for the complexity of be­havnir, in whichindividual control systems of
each level receive their reference signals fromthe output of systems of ttte
level above. Another proposal is that ofan organizing-reorganizing system
powered by an intrinsic system comprised ofgenet­ically determined reference
settings. He postulated that if any-readings" in the intrinsic system go into an
error state (ie indicatephysical malfunctioning), the reorganizing system would
be triggered to injectrandom signaling into ~ control-system hierarchy to bring
about changes inneural circuitry which, when successful in controlling some
JIFi' forthat organism) condition, constitutes what we regard. aslearning. His
insight was that only random action could afford the chance toproduce a new type
of action (in .~2n organism) because any disturbance toconditions al­~iy under
control would immediately benullified by ex­iJK:.n:g systems. A moment's
reflection leads one toconceive of how thehuman being comes to have a
learnedhierarchy in the first place, startingfrom only an intrinsic system of
genetically given life-supporting systems atbirth, acting via the reorganizing
system upon a growing mass of un­committedneurons forming and reforming
connections as human development proceeds. O)thermembers of this
group have gone on to apply Pow­ers/s analysis to a widevariety of experiments
and applica­;n:= based upon the idea thatliving organisms do not con­trol Their
environments by controlling theiroutputs, but. by controlling their
inputs-theirperceptions. Much of this work constitutes a significant advance in
the testingof hyotheses by quantitative model building and computer simulation
rather thanby inferences of causality from cor­relations, as is commonly
practiced incontemporary psy­::c: ~)gy. This work can be accessed through the
information :0-: CSGnet;the Control Systems Group homepage, http://
ed.uiuc.edu/csg/csg.html; W.T. Power’s web site, and thos of manyothers.