PCT books and videos |
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PCT literature and resources — download
Originally created for book exhibits in conjunction with the Philosophy of Education Society and the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI), this flyer offers a rather comprehensive overview of books and other resources that introduce, explain and apply PCT. PDFfile, six pages. |
PDF flyer,
six pages
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PCT: A Book of Readings — Free download
This Book of Readings samples the literature on Perceptual Control Theory, PCT, its scientific nature and applications.
The 272-page book includes 21 papers and complete chapters from 12 books—five by Powers, seven by his colleagues. Subjects include psychotherapy, management, emotions, baby brain development, computer simulations and tutorials, scientific revolutions, dogma in psychology, scientific method, reverse engineering, robots, cybernetics, and more.
x, 272 pages, 8.25x11 inches,
illustrated, paperback. ©
2010 Living Control Systems Publishing,
Hayward, CA. ISBN 097401558X |
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Behavior:
The Control of Perception
“Powers’
manuscript, Behavior: The Control of Perception, is among the most
exciting I have read in some time. The problems are of vast importance,
and not only to psychologists; the achieved synthesis is thoroughly
original; and the presentation is often convincing and almost invariably
suggestive. I shall be watching with interest what happens to research
in the directions to which Powers points.” —Thomas S.
Kuhn
“Here is a
profound and original book with which every psychologist—indeed
every behavioral scientist—should be acquainted. It is delightful
to have a person of such varied and unorthodox background come forth
with a unique theory of the way in which behavior is controlled
in and by the individual, a theory which should spark a great deal
of significant research.”—Carl R. Rogers
© 2005 Benchmark Publications Inc. 332 pages, 6x9 inches, illustrated, paperback, Benchmark
Publications, Montclair, NJ. ISBN 0-9647121-7-2 |
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Control in the Classroom
—An Adventure in Learning and Achievement
This new book is a great addition to the educational literature. It introduces educators to the most important and revolutionary new development in psychology in decades, PCT. And it does this in an easy, accessible style. It has something for everyone in education, from pre-school teachers to secondary teachers, as well as their students. Even college instructors and educational policy makers can find much of value in this slim volume.
... Read this book! You’ll be glad you did. — Hugh G. Petrie
© 2012 Timothy A. Carey. 178 pages, 6.9 x 9.6 inches, illustrated.. Living Control Systems Publishing, Hayward, CA. Paperback: ISBN 0-9740155-4-7 Hardcover: ISBN 978-1-938090-11-0 |
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Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief
Approaches to a Science of Life
—Word Pictures and Correlations
versus Working Models
Throughout this volume, Phil and Bill exchange candid assessments of the players, methods and dominant approaches in psychology and the social sciences, and the difficulties that go with advocating an entirely new framework for doing science. You follow Phil Runkel's thinking as he comes to grips with PCT thanks to Bill Powers's patient tutoring, understands it and its significance, and develops his subsequent books: Casting Nets and Testing Specimens, and People as Living Things.
610
pages, 8.25x11
inches, paperback. ©
2011 Living Control Systems Publishing, Hayward, CA. ISBN 0-9740155-1-2 |
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People
as Living Things
—The Psychology of Perceptual Control
“I started
reading your book to see whatever you have to say about systems.
Then I really got fascinated by your book and read it from start
to finish. Very impressive! And a feast of recognition where you
say that integrating PCT into your thinking does not come overnight
but takes years. Your knowledge of the psychological literature
is enormous and the way you linked PCT thinking with that literature
(or discussed it against the background of that literature) was
very instructive to me.” —Frans X. Plooij, Director,
International Research-institute on Infant Studies (IRIS), The
Netherlands
©
2003 Philip J. Runkel. 539 pages, 8.25x11
inches, illustrated, paperback. Living Control Systems
Publishing, Hayward, CA. ISBN 0-9740155-0-4 |
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The Method of Levels—
How to do
Psychotherapy Without Getting in the Way
"I've just finished
the Method of Levels, and I'm astonished, delighted, and inspired.
I was a psychotherapist for many years, using a variety of approaches
(predominantly Gestalt Therapy, several versions of family therapy,
and more recently Psychology of Mind), and while my clients were
often happy with the results, I frequently wasn't. My fundamental
dissatisfaction arose from the fact that I never knew WHY we were
successful when we were, and what had gone wrong or failed to
go right when we weren't. Now I think maybe at last I know."
— Kalen Hammann, Ph.D.
©
2006 Timothy A. Carey.
200 pages, 8.25x11 inches, illustrated,
paperback. Living Control Systems Publishing,
Hayward, CA. ISBN 0-9740155-4-7 |
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Management and Leadership:
Insight for Effective Practice
When i first learned
of PCT about seven years ago, I read everything I could get my hands
on and your articles, for me, most clearly explained PCT. Somehow,
your unique use of language, (perhaps it's more humanizing?) allowed
me to understand it better, whereas much that was written (that
seems to be changing) is so technical. The result being, if one
has not mastered PCT language one becomes lost—at least for a
time. Your explanations revealed PCT almost immediately for me.
— David Hubbard, LMHC
©
2008 Dag C. Forssell. 104 pages, 8.25x11 inches,
illustrated, paperback. Living Control Systems Publishing,
Hayward, CA. ISBN 0-9740155-5-5 |
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Ways of Learning and Knowing:
The Epistemology of Education
For most of his career, Hugh was way ahead of his time.
His papers in this volume still are. The role of the evolutionary process of blind variation and selective retention in all knowledge processes and the understanding of behavior as the control of perception are still mostly unknown in mainstream educational research, theory and philosophy. These perspectives, combined with Hugh’s analytical skills and accessible writing, lead to some radical (and radically useful) implications for our understanding of the process of knowledge growth and the practice of education. — Gary Cziko
© 2012 by Hugh G. Petrie. 371 pages, 6.7 x 9.6 inches, illustrated. Living Control Systems Publishing, Hayward, CA. Paperback: ISBN 978-1-938090-06-6 Hardcover: ISBN 978-1-938090-07-3 |
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The Dilemma of Enquiry and Learning
I think that this book will be ‘compulsory reading’ in graduate schools of education around the country, and that it will arouse a vigorous and healthy controversy by shaking people out of unexamined assumptions and compelling them to rethink stale issues in fresh terms. — Stephen Toulmin
© 1981, 2011 Hugh G. Petrie. 252 pages, 6.7 x 9.6 inches, illustrated. Living Control Systems Publishing, Hayward, CA. Paperback: ISBN 978-0-9740155-3-8 Hardcover: ISBN 978-1-938090-04-2 |
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Casting
Nets and Testing Specimens
— Two Grand Methods of Psychology
The spring semester is nearly half completed. I am using your book in two classes. My experience this year is identical to that last year., when I wrote to you, "As time passes … I am increasingly convinced that your book ranks alongside Bill's [Powers] book in 1973 as a seminal work in the new behavioral science." So it is. —Tom Bourbon, 1991
©
1990, 2007, Philip J. Runkel 8.25x11 inches,
illustrated. Living Control Systems Publishing,
Hayward, CA. ISBN 0-9740155-7-1 |
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The
Wonder Weeks
—How to stimulate your baby’s mental development and help him turn his 10 predictable, great, fussy phases into magical leaps forward
Van de Rijt and Plooij's work on infant development has enormous value for clinical use and scientific application. Not only have they explained the periods of puzzling, difficult behavior in infancy which so worry parents, they have also shown how these behaviors mark developmental leaps and have described the stages in the infant's understanding. Together, this gives parents and professionals soundly based insight into babies' developing minds.....
—John Richer, Ph.D., Dip. Psych., John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford
By
Hetty van de Rijt, Ph.D. and Frans Plooij, Ph.D (2010). 510 pages,
6.7x9.6 inches, illustrated, paperback. Kiddy World Promotions B.V., The Netherlands. ISBN 978–90–79208–04–3. |
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Making Sense of Behavior
— The Meaning of Control
For almost a century, it has been the custom among American psychologists to seek to understand human nature by watching what people do. Most books about human nature focus on human doings; they focus on nameable acts with beginnings and endings. Consider a television set. What does a TV do? It shows us moving pictures on its screen; that is the "behavior" we see. But we could spend an entire lifetime studying the action on the screen and never come to understand a thing about how a TV functions. This book does not focus on visible acts. It focuses on perception. It shows us how action comes about if and only if we find a discrepancy between what we are experiencing and what we want to experience. — Philip J. Runkel.
©
1998-2004 Benchmark Publications Inc. 180 pages, 5.5x8.5 inches, paperback, Benchmark Publications, Montclair, NJ. ISBN 0-9647121-5-6 |
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Living Control
Systems III
— The Fact of Control
"Living Control Systems III continues Powers' revolutionary approach to understanding living organisms as purposeful agents whose actions serve to control their environments. A unique feature of the book is the accompanying computer programs where Powers `puts his models where his mouth is,' graphically demonstrating how negative feedback control systems can account for a wide range of goal-oriented behavior. This book is required reading (and computing) for anyone seeking a deep understanding of the behavior of living organisms."
— Gary Cziko, Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois
©
2008 Benchmark Publications Inc. 214
pages, 6 x 9 inches, Paperback, Benchmark Publications, Montclair, NJ. ISBN 978-0-9647121-8-8 |
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Living Control
Systems
14 previously published papers, 1960-1988.
The
control theory viewpoint has gained many supporters in recent
years because of its rigor, its beauty, and its explanatory abilities.
This viewpoint was first developed by William T. Powers in the
papers in this book.
©
1989 William T. Powers 295
pages, 5.5x8.5 inches, paperback, Benchmark Publications, New Caanan,
CT. ISBN 0-9647121-3-X |
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Living Control
Systems II
22
Previously unpublished papers, 1959-1990.
Powers
critiques the theories of mainstream behavioral scientists, showing
how their defects are avoided by applying control theory instead.
He also demonstrates the need for truly generative models if a
genuine science of living control systems is to be developed.
©
1992 William T. Powers 275 pages, 5.5x8.5 inches,
paperback, Benchmark Publications, Montclair, NJ. ISBN 0-9647121-4-8 |
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A People Primer:
The Nature of Living Systems
“What a blast of a book! Shelley Roy obviously has a deep and clear understanding of Perceptual Control Theory, and her style of presentation shows respect for the intelligence of the reader while at the same time making sure that her message gets across. Shelley successfully suppresses the writer’s ego and never condescends — a very nice combination.” William T. Powers
©
2008 Shelley A.W. Roy. 231 pages, 6 x 9 inches, paperback.
Published by New View Publications, N.C. ISBN 0-944337-47-3 |
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Behavior:
The Control of Perception—Chinese
At the end of 2002, we found the book Behavior: Control of Perception by William T. Powers. After close reading of the book, we hold that Powers' PCT is a further development on the basis of Wiener's classical cybernetics, and with many innovations in theory and practice, is superior to the latter in the delicate illustration of the control mechanism scheme, in the creation of the new concept about purpose, that is, reference signal, in the hierarchy of the control of human perception, in its application in biology, computer science and cognitive science, and so on.
— President Yan Zexian and Fan Dongping, Professors, Philosophy, South China Normal University; Zhang Huaxia, Professor, Philosophy, Zhongshan University.
©
2004 William
T. Powers. 317 pages, 6.5x9.5 inches,
illustrated, paperback. Guongdong Higher Learning Education Press, Guangzhou, China. ISBN 7-5361-2996-3 |
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Introduction
to Modern Psychology
The Control-Theory View
Suitable
as the primary text for introductory college-level psychology courses
and for independent study, this textbook provides a unified approach
to the entire field of psychology, from laboratory studies of animal
behavior, through ethology and studies of human social behavior,
to clinical work.
©
1990 Richard J. Robertson and William
T. Powers. 220
pages, References & Index, 8.5x11 inches, illustrated, paperback,
Benchmark Publications, Montclair, NJ. ISBN 0-9647121-6-4 |
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Mind
Readings
Experimental Studies of Purpose
This
is a book that can show a willing psychologist how to do a new kind
of research. The theme that runs through all these papers is modeling,
the ultimate way of finding out what a theory really means. Richard
Marken is a skilled modeler, as will be seen. But he has a talent
that goes beyond putting ideas into the form of working simulations,
a talent that can be admired but is hard to imitate. He finds the
essence of a problem and an elegantly simple way to cast it in the
form of a demonstration or an experiment. — William T.
Powers.
©
1992 Richard S. Marken, 222 pages, 5.5x8.5 inches, illustrated,
paperback, Benchmark Publications, Montclair, NJ. ISBN 0-9624154-3-X |
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More
Mind Readings
This book expands on Marken's first book, Mind Readings, by venturing further into speculative modeling and even criticism, both ventures being successful and thought-provoking. His great talent for organizing complex subjects into comprehensible models—and then showing that the models actually work—is evident and as satisfying as it was in the first volume. Despite its being far ahead of its time, this book is essential reading for anyone who wants to know where psychology is, or should be, headed.
William T. Powers, author Behavior: The Control of Perception
©
2002 Richard S.
Marken, 210 pages, 5.5x8.5
inches, illustrated, paperback, new view, St. Louis, MO. title page
says ISBN 0-9704701-7-7, cover
says ISBN 0-944337-43-0 |
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Freedom From Stress
Ed's
aim in this book is first to teach control theory in terms that
are relevant to ordinary life and the problems of real people
who aren't theoreticians. In this book he slants the message toward
the specific problem of stress: what it is and what people can
do to free themselves of this difficulty. He is convinced, and
I agree, that the basic task is to understand what is going on,
not to prescribe some pill or procedure that will work like a
cold remedy. Out of understanding will come awareness of what
has to change. And then the change will come about naturally.
—William T. Powers
©
1989, 1993 Edward E. Ford, 220 pages, 5.5x8.5
inches, illustrated, paperback, Brandt publishing, Scottsdale,
AZ. ISBN 0-9616716-1-0 |
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Fundamentals—Discipline
for Home and School
In this latest book in Ed Ford's series on RTP, the focus is on change. How do people change their ways? What are good ways to make change possible? In particular, how should the key person in the RTP system, the teacher in the Responsible Thinking Classroom or RTC, deal with students sent there to think about their infractions and to plan how to avoid them in the future? It was seeing a poorly run RTC that got Ed Ford to ask these questions, and this book is the result of his cogitations and enquiries that propose some answers. —From Foreword by William T. Powers
©
2004 Edward E. Ford, 93 pages, 5.5x8.5 inches, paperback, Brandt publishing, Scottsdale,
AZ. ISBN 0-9616716-9-6 |
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