The Interdisciplinary Handbook Of Perceptual Control Theory

Book Description :

The Interdisciplinary Handbook of Perceptual Control Theory 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. Presents case studies that show how PCT can be applied in different disciplines Illustrates the Test for the Controlled Variable (TCV) and the construction of functional models as fruitful alternatives to mainstream experimental design when studying behavior Shows how theory illuminates structure and functions in brain anatomy Compares and contrasts PCT with other contemporary, interdisciplinary theories

Book Description :

Given the fundamental challenges to society in this era, a radical rewrite of how we approach science and culture is necessary. This handbook applies Perceptual Control Theory (PCT) to achieve a much needed convergence across the physical, life and social sciences, the humanities and arts. In doing so it addresses challenges such as mental illness, dementia, cancer care, toxic masculinity and societal oppression. It also reveals how PCT can be applied to practical issues such as understanding healthcare service implementation and human-machine interaction, as well as deeper questions such as consciousness and imagination. This second volume of the successful interdisciplinary handbook offers rich examples of how the unifying perceptual control framework can provide a viable alternative to existing theories and methodologies for a timely paradigm shift. Examines the relationship between our perceptions, consciousness, and imagination Provides computational and mathematical models for physiological systems, such as human movement, human-machine interaction, and psychological processes such as recovery from mental health problems Presents health as control which leads to game-changing suggestions in designing interventions for health behavior, cancer support, care for dementia, and mental health services Helps readers comprehend goals of teachers and students in education from a PCT perspective to show how educative interactions could be less coercive and foster flourishing The value of PCT is demonstrated in understanding cultural memes and social challenges such as toxic masculinity

Book Description :

This book proposes and explores the idea that the forced union of the aleatory and epistemic aspects of probability is a sterile hybrid, inspired and nourished for 300 years by a false hope of formalizing inductive reasoning, making uncertainty the object of precise calculation. Because this is not really a possible goal, statistical inference is not, cannot be, doing for us today what we imagine it is doing for us. It is for these reasons that statistical inference can be characterized as a myth. The book is aimed primarily at social scientists, for whom statistics and statistical inference are a common concern and frustration. Because the historical development given here is not merely anecdotal, but makes clear the guiding ideas and ambitions that motivated the formulation of particular methods, this book offers an understanding of statistical inference which has not hitherto been available. It will also serve as a supplement to the standard statistics texts. Finally, general readers will find here an interesting study with implications far beyond statistics. The development of statistical inference, to its present position of prominence in the social sciences, epitomizes a number of trends in Western intellectual history of the last three centuries, and the 11th chapter, considering the function of statistical inference in light of our needs for structure, rules, authority, and consensus in general, develops some provocative parallels, especially between epistemology and politics.

Book Description :

This book describes psychological research methods that treat the behavior of living organisms as purposeful rather than mechanical.

Book Description :

Download The Effects of the Covid 19 Pandemic on Sport Mental Health Implications on Athletes Coaches and Support Staff book written by Tadhg Eoghan MacIntyre,James A. Green,Juergen Beckmann,Andrew M. Lane,Robert Vaughan,Robert Morris,Dr. Eddie Murphy,Göran Kenttä,Britton W. Brewer,Judy Van Raalte,Giovanna Calogiuri, available in PDF, EPUB, and Kindle, or read full book online anywhere and anytime. Compatible with any devices.

Book Description :

Studying behaviour in animals requires numerical measurement. This book provides a scientific framework for what to measure and why.

Book Description :

Exploring Animal Behavior in Laboratory and Field, Second Edition provides a comprehensive manual on animal behavior lab activities. This new edition brings together basic research and methods, presenting applications and problem-solving techniques. It provides all the details to successfully run designed activities while also offering flexibility and ease in setup. The exercises in this volume address animal behavior at all levels, describing behavior, theory, application and communication. Each lab provides details on how to successfully run the activity while also offering flexibility to instructors. This is an important resource for students educators, researchers and practitioners who want to explore and study animal behavior. The field of animal behavior has changed dramatically in the past 15 - 20 years, including a greater use and availability of technology and statistical analysis. In addition, animal behavior has taken on a more applied role in the last decade, with a greater emphasis on conservation and applied behavior, hence the necessity for new resources on the topic. Offers an up-to-date representation of animal behavior Examines ethics and approvals for the study of vertebrate animals Includes contributions from a large field of expertise in the Animal Behavior Society Provides a flexible resource that can be used as a laboratory manual or in a flipped classroom setting

Book Description :

These introductions and readings provide a comprehensive range of information for the study of Perceptual Control Theory—papers, books, book reviews, resources on-line, demos and tutorial programs for your computer. Perceptual Control Theory, PCT, results from one man's curiosity, expertise, creativity and determination. The articles, books, and tutorial programs introduced in this volume would not have been written, certainly not this way, if it were not for William T. (Bill) Powers's seminal insight and tireless efforts across more that sixty years. The PCT explanation for what behavior is, how it works and what it accomplishes is well documented. It lays a foundation for a new natural science and can handle behavioral phenomena within a single testable concept of how living systems work. You can demonstrate it yourself with functioning computer simulations. Whether you are interested in improving education, resolving chronic psychological stress, understanding what is going on with an inconsolable baby, understanding the basis for our universal sense of justice, getting a different take on what emotions are, resolving conflict in general, becoming a better parent, manager, sales person, friend or lover, you will find fascinating insight when you review these readings and study this new explanatory concept with care.

Book Description :

Control Systems Theory, a newly developing theoretical perspective, starts from an important insight into human behaviour: that people attempt to control the world around them as they perceive it. This book brings together for the first time the work of prominent sociologists contributing to the development of this wideranging theoretical paradigm.

Book Description :

Download Behavior the Control of Perception book written by William Treval Powers, available in PDF, EPUB, and Kindle, or read full book online anywhere and anytime. Compatible with any devices.

Book Description :

Do perception and action share some of the same cognitive structures? What is the relationship between cognitive processes for sequencing, timing, and error detection in perception and action? Such issues form the basis for this fresh and absorbing study of the perception and production of language and other cognitive skills such as chess and piano playing. The Organization of Perception and Action provides a coherent and innovative synthesis of available data, challenges classical theories, and offers new insights into relations between language, thought, and action. Its broad, interdisciplinary approach and wealth of detailed examples extend from the motor control of typing to the role of attention in perception and action and the flexibility of conscious vs. unconscious processes. Not only researchers, but anyone with a general interest in the cognitive and brain sciences will find in this book new and interesting insights into topics long considered fundamental to psychology and related disciplines.

Book Description :

Perception is one of the oldest and most deeply investigated topics in psychology, and it raised some profound philosophical questions. It is concerned with how we use the information reaching our senses to inform our behaviour, and to create our subjective experience of the surrounding world. Brian Rogers discusses the philosophical question of what it means to perceive, and describes how we are able to perceive the particular characteristics of objects and scenes such as their lightness, colour, form, depth, and motion. He argues that perception should not be seen as a separate process but rather as part of a 'perceptual system', involving both the extraction ofperceptual information and the control of action--Amazon.com.

Book Description :

Measurement plays a fundamental role both in physical and behavioral sciences, as well as in engineering and technology: it is the link between abstract models and empirical reality and is a privileged method of gathering information from the real world. Is it possible to develop a single theory of measurement for the various domains of science and technology in which measurement is involved? This book takes the challenge by addressing the following main issues: What is the meaning of measurement? How do we measure? What can be measured? A theoretical framework that could truly be shared by scientists in different fields, ranging from physics and engineering to psychology is developed. The future in fact will require greater collaboration between science and technology and between different sciences. Measurement, which played a key role in the birth of modern science, can act as an essential interdisciplinary tool and language for this new scenario. A sound theoretical basis for addressing key problems in measurement is provided. These include perceptual measurement, the evaluation of uncertainty, the evaluation of inter-comparisons, the analysis of risks in decision-making and the characterization of dynamical measurement. Currently, increasing attention is paid to these issues due to their scientific, technical, economic and social impact. The book proposes a unified probabilistic approach to them which may allow more rational and effective solutions to be reached. Great care was taken to make the text as accessible as possible in several ways. Firstly, by giving preference to as interdisciplinary a terminology as possible; secondly, by carefully defining and discussing all key terms. This ensures that a wide readership, including people from different mathematical backgrounds and different understandings of measurement can all benefit from this work. Concerning mathematics, all the main results are preceded by intuitive discussions and illustrated by simple examples. Moreover, precise proofs are always included in order to enable the more demanding readers to make conscious and creative use of these ideas, and also to develop new ones. The book demonstrates that measurement, which is commonly understood to be a merely experimental matter, poses theoretical questions which are no less challenging than those arising in other, apparently more theoretical, disciplines.

Book Description :

Speech perception has been the focus of innumerable studies over the past decades. While our abilities to recognize individuals by their voice state plays a central role in our everyday social interactions, limited scientific attention has been devoted to the perceptual and cerebral mechanisms underlying nonverbal information processing in voices. The Oxford Handbook of Voice Perception takes a comprehensive look at this emerging field and presents a selection of current research in voice perception. The forty chapters summarise the most exciting research from across several disciplines covering acoustical, clinical, evolutionary, cognitive, and computational perspectives. In particular, this handbook offers an invaluable window into the development and evolution of the 'vocal brain', and considers in detail the voice processing abilities of non-human animals or human infants. By providing a full and unique perspective on the recent developments in this burgeoning area of study, this text is an important and interdisciplinary resource for students, researchers, and scientific journalists interested in voice perception.

Book Description :

Symposium held at Purdue Univ. in June 4-5, 2010.

Book Description :

A comprehensive and integrated introduction to the phenomena and theories of perceptual learning, focusing on the visual domain. Practice or training in perceptual tasks improves the quality of perceptual performance, often by a substantial amount. This improvement is called perceptual learning (in contrast to learning in the cognitive or motor domains), and it has become an active area of research of both theoretical and practical significance. This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the phenomena and theories of perceptual learning, focusing on the visual domain. Perceptual Learning explores the tradeoff between the competing goals of system stability and system adaptability, signal and noise, retuning and reweighting, and top-down versus bottom-down processes. It examines and evaluates existing research and potential future directions, including evidence from behavior, physiology, and brain imaging, and existing perceptual learning applications, with a focus on important theories and computational models. It also compares visual learning to learning in other perceptual domains, and considers the application of visual training methods in the development of perceptual expertise and education as well as in remediation for limiting visual conditions. It provides an integrated treatment of the subject for students and researchers and for practitioners who want to incorporate perceptual learning into their practice.Practice or training in perceptual tasks improves the quality of perceptual performance, often by a substantial amount. This improvement is called perceptual learning, in contrast with learning in the cognitive or motor domains. Perceptual learning has been a very active area of research of both theoretical and practical interest. Research on perceptual learning is of theoretical significance in illuminating plasticity in adult perceptual systems, and in understanding the limitations of human information processing and how to improve them. It is of practical significance as a potential method for the development of perceptual expertise in the normal population, for its potential in advancing development and supporting healthy aging, and for noninvasive amelioration of deficits in challenged populations by training. Perceptual learning has become an increasingly important topic in biomedical research. Practitioners in this area include science disciplines such as psychology, neuroscience, computer sciences, and optometry, and developers in applied areas of learning game design, cognitive development and aging, and military and biomedical applications. Commercial development of training products, protocols, and games is a multi-billion dollar industry. Perceptual learning provides the basis for many of the developments in these areas. This book is written for anyone who wants to understand the phenomena and theories of perceptual learning or to apply the technology of perceptual learning to the development of training methods and products. Our aim is to provide an introduction to those researchers and students just entering this exciting field, to provide a comprehensive and integrated treatment of the phenomena and the theories of perceptual learning for active perceptual learning researchers, and to describe and develop the basic techniques and principles for readers who want to successfully incorporate perceptual learning into applied developments. The book considers the special challenges of perceptual learning that balance the competing goals of system stability and system adaptability. It provides a systematic treatment of the major phenomena and models in perceptual learning, the determinants of successful learning and of specificity and transfer. The book provides a cohesive consideration of the broad range of perceptual learning through the theoretical framework of incremental learning of reweighting evidence that supports successful task performance. It provides a detailed analysis of the mechanisms by which perceptual learning improves perceptual limitations, the relationship of perceptual learning and the critical period of development, and the semi-supervised modes of learning that dominate perceptual learning. It considers limitations and constraints on learning multiple tasks and stimuli simultaneously, the implications of training at high or low levels of performance accuracy, and the importance of feedback to perceptual learning. The basis of perceptual learning in physiology is discussed along with the relationship of visual perceptual learning to learning in other sensory domains. The book considers the applications of perceptual learning in the development of expertise, in education and gaming, in training during development and aging, and applications to remediation of mental health and vision disorders. Finally, it applies the phenomena and models of perceptual learning to considerations of optimizing training.

Book Description :

The theory of adaptive control is concerned with construction of strategies so that the controlled system behaves in a desirable way, without assuming the complete knowledge of the system. The models considered in this comprehensive book are of Markovian type. Both partial observation and partial information cases are analyzed. While the book focuses on discrete time models, continuous time ones are considered in the final chapter. The book provides a novel perspective by summarizing results on adaptive control obtained in the Soviet Union, which are not well known in the West. Comments on the interplay between the Russian and Western methods are also included.

Book Description :

This book sets out a generative structuralist conception of general theoretical sociology; its philosophy, its problems, and its methods. The field is defined as a comprehensive research tradition with many intersecting subtraditions that share conceptual components.

Book Description :

During the last three decades there have been enormous advances in our understanding of the neural mechanisms of selective attention at the network as well as the cellular level. The Oxford Handbook of Attention brings together the different research areas that constitute contemporary attention research into one comprehensive and authoritative volume. In 40 chapters, it covers the most important aspects of attention research from the areas of cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, human and animal neuroscience, and computational modelling. The book is divided into six main sections. Following an introduction from Michael Posner, The Oxford Handbook of Attention begins by looking at theoretical models of attention. The next two sections are dedicated to spatial attention and non-spatial attention respectively. Within section 4, the authors consider the interactions between attention and other psychological domains. The last two sections focus on attention related disorders and on computational models of attention. A final epilogue chapter written by Nobre and Kastner summarizes the questions, methods, findings, and emerging principles of contemporary attention research. For both scholars and students, The Oxford Handbook of Attention provides a concise and state-of-the-art review of the current literature in this field.

Book Description :

We effortlessly recognize all sorts of events--from simple events like people walking to complex events like leaves blowing in the wind. We can also remember and describe these events, and in general, react appropriately to them, for example, in avoiding an approaching object. Our phenomenal ease interacting with events belies the complexity of the underlying processes we use to deal with them. Driven by an interest in these complex processes, research on event perception has been growing rapidly. Events are the basis of all experience, so understanding how humans perceive, represent, and act on them will have a significant impact on many areas of psychology. Unfortunately, much of the research on event perception--in visual perception, motor control, linguistics, and computer science--has progressed without much interaction. This volume is the first to bring together computational, neurological, and psychological research on how humans detect, classify, remember, and act on events. The book will provide professional and student researchers with a comprehensive collection of the latest research in these diverse fields.