X-Attachments: :UX1 Eudora-Cziko:480:Intro to CSGnet:
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.csg-l
Date:         Wed, 11 Nov 1992 08:38:05 -0600
Comments:     Warning -- original Sender: tag was cziko@UX1.CSO.UIUC.EDU
From:         "Gary A. Cziko" <g-cziko@UIUC.EDU>
Subject:      *INTRO TO CSGnet*

[from Gary Cziko 921111.0515 GMT]

Here is the introduction to CSGnet prepared by Dag Forssell.  I will post
this monthly to CSGnet and send it directly to all new CSGnet subscribers
when they subscribe.

I will use the same subject description each time (*INTRO TO CSGnet*) so
you may just ignore it if you already know what CSGnet and PCT are all
about.

If you have suggestions for changes and/or additions, please send these
directly to Dag at (e-mail address: 4742580@mcimail.com).

Thank you, Dag, for pulling all this together for us and for the
subscribers-to-be.--Gary Cziko
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


    INTRODUCTION TO THE CONTROL SYSTEMS GROUP NETWORK (CSGnet)
                 AND TO THE CONTROL SYSTEMS GROUP
                   Prepared by Dag Forssell 921102.

This introduction provides information about:

   Why you might want to join the CSG and read CSGnet
   Our subject matter: The control paradigm
   The evolution of the control paradigm
   Demonstrating the Phenomenon of Perceptual Control
   The purpose of CSGnet
   CSGnet participants
   How to ask effective questions
   The Control Systems Group
   Subscribing to CSGnet
   How to obtain text and program files
   Literature references

WHY YOU MIGHT READ THE CSGnet

If you have an interest in how people and organisms work. If you are
dissatisfied with the explanations in many of the "soft" life    sciences
and would like a more rigorous approach.... If you insist on thinking
things through for yourself....

OUR SUBJECT MATTER: THE CONTROL PARADIGM

Human control is the primary subject of CSGnet, but all forms of control
are game. Here is a brief introduction by the primary creator and promoter
of the application of the control paradigm to living systems, William T.
Powers:
There have been two paradigms in the behavioral sciences since the 1600s.
One was the idea that events impinging on organisms make them behave as
they do. The other, which was developed in the 1930s, is PERCEPTUAL CONTROL
THEORY (PCT). Perceptual Control Theory explains how organisms control what
happens to them. This means all organisms from the amoeba to humankind. It
explains why one organism can't control another without physical violence.
It explains why people deprived of any major part of their ability to
control soon become dysfunctional, lose interest in life, pine away and
die. It explains what a goal is, how goals relate to action, how action
affects perceptions and how perceptions define the reality in which we live
and move and have our being. Perceptual Control Theory is the first
scientific theory that can handle all these phenomena within a single,
testable concept of how living systems work.
            William T. Powers,  November 3, 1991

THE EVOLUTION OF THE CONTROL PARADIGM

The PCT paradigm originates in 1927, when an engineer named Harold Black
invented the negative feedback amplifier, which is a control device. This
invention led to the development of purposeful machines. Purposeful
machines have built-in intent to achieve consistent ends by variable means
under changing conditions.

The discovery and formalization of the phenomenon of control is the first
alternative to the cause-effect perspective ever proposed in any science.

The first discussion of purposeful machines and people came in 1943 in a
paper called:  Behavior, Purpose and Teleology by Rosenblueth, Wiener and
Bigelow. This paper also argued that purpose belongs in science as a real
phenomenon in the present. Purpose does not mean that somehow the future
influences the present.

The first specific suggestion on how to use the concept of control to
understand people came in 1957 in a paper entitled: A General Feedback
Theory of Human Behavior by McFarland, Powers and Clark.

In 1973 William T. (Bill) Powers published a seminal book called "Behavior:
the Control of Perception," which still is the major reference for PCT. See
literature below.

This book spells out a complete model of how the human brain and nervous
system works like a living perceptual control system. Our brain can be
viewed as a system that controls its own perceptions. This view suggests
explanations for many previously mysterious aspects of how people interact
with their world.

Perceptual Control Theory has been accepted by a few independently thinking
psychologists, scientists and other interested people. The result is that
an association has been formed (the Control System Group), several books
published, this CSGnet set up and that at latest count 16 professors are
teaching PCT in American universities today.

DEMONSTRATING THE PHENOMENON OF CONTROL

The phenomenon of control is largely unrecognized in science today. It is
not well understood in important aspects even by many control engineers.
Yet the phenomenon of control, when it is recognized and understood,
provides a powerful enhancement to scientific perspectives.

It is essential to recognize that this phenomenon exists and deserves an
explanation before any of the discourse on CSGnet will make sense.

Please download the introductory demonstration dem1a.exe, which is an
inter- active program and/or rubberbd.txt, which is a text telling you how
to demon- strate the phenomenon to yourself and a friend using only two
rubber bands.

THE PURPOSE OF CSGnet

CSGnet provides a forum for development, applications and testing of PCT.

CSGnet PARTICIPANTS

Many interests and backgrounds are represented here. Psychology, Sociology,
Linguistics, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Social Work, Neurology,
Modeling and Testing. All are represented and discussed. A quality of
participants on this net is that most are prepared to question and re-
consider what they think they know.

HOW TO ASK EFFECTIVE QUESTIONS

Since PCT puts much conventional, well established wisdom on its head, it
is helpful to begin by demonstrating the phenomenon of control to yourself
and studying a few references. As you catch on, read this net and follow a
thread that interests you for a month or more.

When you ask a question, please consider that in order to give you a good
answer, a respondent will need to put your question in context.

Therefore, please introduce yourself with a statement of your professional
interests and background. It will help if you spell out which
demonstrations, introductory papers and references you have taken the time
to digest and what you learned.

People on this net are in various stages of learning and understanding PCT.
When you get a reply to your post, please consider that the respondent who
found your question of interest and invested time in a reply, may benefit
from knowing how you perceived the answer. Did it answer your question? Was
it clear? Were you able to understand it?

THE CONTROL SYSTEMS GROUP

Serious enthusiasts of PCT have formed the Control Systems Group. Annual
dues are $45 for regular members and $5 for students (subsidized). This
group meets once a year (1993: July 28-Aug 1) in Durango, Colorado, for
informal presentations and exchanges. The group also publishes threads from
this net on a quarterly basis in a booklet called the Closed Loop. These
booklets are distributed to members and are available separately for a fee.
For membership information and back issues of Closed Loop, write: CSG, c/o
Mary Powers, 73 Ridge Place CR 510, Durango, CO 81301-8136.

SUBSCRIBING TO CSGnet

When you subscribe to CSGnet, you get this message, CSGINTRO.DOC. But you
may have received it from a friend who printed it, seen it on a demodisk,
or seen it on USEnet. To subscribe, send a message as follows:

To: (Internet)    LISTSERV@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU
Subscribe CSG-L Lastname, Firstname, Affiliation, City, State
help

(Technically, your last name, first name etc is optional).  ("help"
requests a list of most commonly used commands). (The Bitnet address is:
LISTSERV@UIUCVMD). (This server is not sensitive to upper or lower case
letters).

CSGnet can also be accessed via Usenet (NetNews) where it is listed as the
newsgroup bit.listserv.csg-l.

HOW TO OBTAIN TEXT AND PROGRAM FILES

A number of ASCII documents and binary computer programs are available on a
fileserver maintained by Bill Silvert. It is possible to download all these
files via e-mail. If you are on internet, it is easiest to obtain binary
program files via anonymous FTP. If you are on MCI mail, you have read
about how you can transfer binary files with Kermit or Zmodem protocols.
(Type help at the MCI mail prompt for directions). But the server cannot
send binary files over the internet mail network, so download uue.scr
first, then request the binary files uuencoded as ASCII files. The Internet
address for the server is BIOME.BIO.NS.CA. CSGnet files are kept in the
subdirectory pub/csg.

To get basic information and a current listing of available documents, send
a message as follows:

To: (Internet)         SERVER@BIOME.BIO.NS.CA.
help
get csg/Index

"help"            asks the server to send you commands and explanations.
"ftp"             requests the scoop on anonymous FTP for internet. "get
csg/Index"   requests the Index for the csg subdirectory.

In your message, pay attention to upper and lower case! DOS is not dos.

As part of the index (of the csg directory), you may be looking at:

programs/msdos: dem1a.exe      128437  Bill Power's demonstration of
perceptual control dem2a.exe      123649  Bill Power's modeling of control

programs/source: uud.scr         54371  ASCII. Compile uud.exe w/ DOS
debug. Directions @ end.

If you want to request dem1a.exe (uuencoded) to get a "live" demonstration
of the phenomenon of control, and the ASCII file uud.scr which allows you
to use DOS debug to create uud.exe to decode it, send the following
message:

uue csg/programs/msdos/dem1a.exe get csg/programs/source/uud.scr

The uuencoded dem1a.exe will be sent in four parts. Remove headers and use
an editor to make it into one file (starting with table and ending with
end) before you use uud.exe to restore the file. dem1a.exe is a
self-extracting archive file. Put it in it's own directory before you
execute it. You get complete documentation and a running program.

LITERATURE REFERENCES

For a complete list of CSG-related publications, get the file biblio.pct
from the fileserver as described above. Here are some selected books on
perceptual control theory:

Powers, William T., Behavior: The Control of Perception. Hawthorne, NY:
Aldine DeGruyter, 1973, 296 pages. The foundation of PCT!  A seminal book.

Robertson, Richard J. and Powers, William T., editors. INTRODUCTION TO
MODERN PSYCHOLOGY; The Control Theory View. CSG Books ($25 postpaid) 1990,
238 pages. Textbook on psychology for universities. Highly recommended.

Powers, William T. LIVING CONTROL SYSTEMS I: Selected Papers. CSG Books
1989, ($16.50 postpaid) 300 pages. A collection of previously published
papers.

Powers, William T. ,LIVING CONTROL SYSTEMS II: Selected Papers. CSG Books
($22 postpaid) 1992, 274 pages. A collection of previously unpublished
papers.

Marken, Richard S, MIND READINGS: Experimental Studies of Purpose. CSG
Books ($18 postpaid) 1992, 212 pages. Research papers exploring control.

Marken, Richard S., editor. PURPOSEFUL BEHAVIOR: The Control Theory
approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications: American Behavioral
Scientist, special issue. Vol. 34, Number 1.  September/October 1990. 11
articles, 16 contributors, 121 pages.  A very readable introduction to a
science of purpose and supportive research. Highly recommended.

Runkel, Philip J., CASTING NETS AND TESTING SPECIMENS. New York: Praeger,
1990, 186 pages. Contrasting the proper and improper uses of statistics
with modeling for understanding and prediction of people as well as
processes. Highly relevant to TQM efforts!

Hershberger, Wayne, editor, VOLITIONAL ACTION, CONATION AND CONTROL.
Advances in Psychology 62. NY: North-Holland, 1989. 25 chapters, 33
contributors, 572 pages.

Ford, Edward E., FREEDOM FROM STRESS. Scottsdale AZ: Brandt Publishing,
1989, 184 pages. A highly readable introduction to PCT and a personal
problem solving guide. The most accessible text available. Written as a
comprehensive counseling story anyone can relate to. Most recommended!

Gibbons, Hugh, THE DEATH OF JEFFREY STAPLETON; Exploring the Way Lawyers
Think. Concord NH: Franklin Pierce Law Center, 1990, 197 pages. Textbook
for law students which spells out how lawyers think by explaining and using
a PCT framework.

McClelland, Kent, PERCEPTUAL CONTROL AND SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY. 1992. This
unpublished paper suggests that individual control as a phenomenon is
central to understanding sociology. Available from the author.

McPhail, Clark, THE MYTH OF THE MADDING CROWD. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de
Gruyter, 1990, 265 pages. Explains group behavior as a function of
purposeful individuals.

Petrie, Hugh G., DILEMMA OF ENQUIRY AND LEARNING. Univ. of Chicago press,
1981. Discusses learning with explicit recognition of PCT insight.

Richardson, George P., FEEDBACK THOUGHT IN SOCIAL SCIENCE AND SYSTEMS
THEORY. Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 1991, 374 pages.  A review of systems
thinking in history, cybernetics, servo mechanisms and social sciences.
Provides a perspective placing PCT in context in relation to other
paradigms of human behavior.

CSG Book publishing: 460 Black Lick Road, Gravel Switch, KY, 40328
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU