The Interdisciplinary Handbook of Perceptual Control Theory: Living Control Systems IV

by Warren Mansell (editor)

Interdisciplinary Handbook of Perceptual Control Theory Volume Living in the Loop   brings together the latest research, theory, and applications from W. T. Powers’ Perceptual Control Theory (PCT) that proposes that the behavior of a living organism lies in the control of perceived aspects of both itself and its environment. Sections cover theory, the application of PCT to a broad range of disciplines, why perceptual control is fundamental to understanding human nature, a new way to do research on brain processes and behavior, how the role of natural selection in behavior can be demystified, how engineers can emulate human purposeful behavior in robots, and much more. Each chapter includes an author biography to set the context of their work within the development of PCT.

680 pages, Paperback

Published June 4, 2020

Reviews

[Richard Pfau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having carefully read The Interdisciplinary Handbook of Perceptual Control Theory, edited by Warren Mansell, I highly recommend it to readers and researchers (including social and behavioral scientists) who wish to understand why people and other organisms behave as they do. The book describes perceptual control theory (PCT), a generally unknown paradigm for understanding behavior that William T. Powers introduced over 60 years ago. This paradigm, that many who understand it would call "revolutionary", is based on a key insight that we control our perceptions, not (as popularly believed) our behavior. And it explains why this is so, scientifically as well as mathematically, providing a model of behavior whose predictions approach the accuracy of physics and chemistry.
As the handbook indicates, the range of applicability of PCT is broad, ranging from human and animal behavior to robotics, including social sciences such as psychology, sociology, and linguistics, neuroscience, and applications to areas such as industrial-organizational worker motivation and psychotherapy.
I suggest that you read this book if you are seriously interested in understanding human behavior. By doing so, you will learn how PCT contrasts with established approaches in the behavioral sciences and why the handbook's editor feels that PCT "has no parallel among other interdisciplinary theories of behavior in terms of its explanatory power, breadth of application, and its impact on research methodology" (p. xxxvi). Highly recommended!