A Control System Approach to Cardiovascular Reactivity: Behavioral Models That Behave

William T. Powers (2009) We hear quite a lot about models such as weather models which can be used to predict what will happen in the next few days, or models of colliding galaxies which […]

This intro to PCT is slanted toward those coming into to this subject from the physical sciences. Bill Powers develops an argument that leads from conventional views of behavior to the new view that PCT gives us, emphasizing in the end the odd role that organisms, seen through the eyes of PCT, play in a world otherwise dominated by physical laws. The point will be to show that control theory provides us with the germ of a radically new understanding, a break with all traditional theories of behavior—and many new ones as well […]

“Quantitative Analysis of Purposive Systems: Some Spadework at the Foundations of Scientific Psychology“ William T. Powers Psychological Review, 1978, Vol. 85, No. 5, 417-435