The Interdisciplinary Handbook of Perceptual Control Theory

Dr. Mansell has written over sixty interdisciplinary publications on perceptual control theory, has convened three international conferences on PCT, and hosts a website pctweb.org that has received over 35,000 views since its inception in 2009. His work on PCT has appeared on UK national television, in science museums, and online newspaper and magazine articles. He has authored and edited various books, including: Coping with Fears and Phobias (2007), A Transdiagnostic Approach to CBT using Method of Levels Therapy (2012), Principles-Based Counselling and Psychotherapy (2015), Oxford Guide to Metaphors in CBT (2010), and The Bluffer’s Guide to Psychology (2006).

"This is a marvelous book. It serves as a tribute to Bill Powers, as the father of PCT (now grandfather, as he himself says), and as a comprehensive overview of the history, theory and application of PCT within the social and natural sciences. The subject range is vast, from neurodynamics to organizational psychology, from animal contests to psychotherapy, with each chapter beautifully judged in terms of coverage and detail. The Interdisciplinary Handbook of Perceptual Control Theory thus makes the strongest possible case for PCT as both a unifying theory within psychology, and a bridge to other disciplines. Everyone involved in its production should be congratulated, and everyone else should read it." --Louise Barrett, FRSC, Professor of Psychology, Canada Research Chair in Cognition, Evolution and Behaviour, Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada"More than a century after John Dewey's insight that the response is not merely to the stimulus but it is into it, William Powers' community continues to challenge the "central dogma" of behavioral neuroscience: stimulus, then processing and, finally, response. While defining behavior as output is a form of covert anthropomorphism, conceiving behavior as control of perception better respects the nature of life and mind." --Alex Gomez-Marin, Principal Investigator, Behaviour of Organisms Laboratory Cellular and Systems Neurobiology Unit Instituto de Neurociencias CSIC-UMH, Alicante, Spain"Perceptual control theory is a fascinating, complex, and profoundly fertile understanding of human being that combines scientific rigour with a deeply humanistic ethos. This interdisciplinary handbook is a much needed resource which pulls together contemporary thinking and research in the field. Ranging from robotics to neuroscience to psychotherapy, the book will be of great value to those who want to deepen their understanding of this unique approach and apply its insight to the fields of psychological and social practices." --Mick Cooper, Professor of Counselling Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Roehampton, London, UK"This powerful volume is the amplifying extension of Bill Powers’ legacy that the academic world has long needed. While other, more popular psychological theories have foundered in the much discussed "replication crisis", this collection of dogged researchers, and others like them, have quietly and persistently been piling up increasing evidence of the profound explanatory power nestled within the elegant simplicity of PCT. Skillfully curated by editor, Mansell, the rigour of their revolutionary work across a wide spectrum of fields within the biological and social sciences stands as compelling evidence that PCT is no longer simply an idea whose "time has come", but is, rather, a powerful field of application that has well and truly "arrived"." --Tom Scholte, Professor, Department of Theatre and Film, The University of British Columbia

• Part IWhy do we need perceptual control theory?1. The world according to PCT2. Understanding purposeful systems: the applicationof control theory in engineering and psychology3. The crisis in neuroscience4. When causation does not imply correlation: robustviolations of the faithfulness axiomPart IIModels of brain and behavior5. Unraveling the dynamics of dyadic interactions:perceptual control in animal contests6. How the brain gets a roaring campfire: Structuringfor Perceptual Results7. How the brain gets a roaring campfire: input andoutput functions8. The phylogeny, ontogeny, causation and function ofregression periods explained by reorganizations of thehierarchy of perceptual control systemsPart IIICollective control and communication9. Social structure and control: perceptual control theoryand the science of sociology10. Perceptual control in cooperative interaction11. Language and thought as control of perceptionPart IVApplications12. Perceptions of control theory inindustrial-organizational psychology: disturbancesand counter-disturbances13. Method of Levels Therapy14. Robotics in the real world: the perceptual controltheory approach15. PCT and beyond: toward a computational frameworkfor ‘intelligent’ communicative systemsPart VSynthesis16. Ten vital elements of perceptual control theory,tracing the pathway from implicit influence toscientific advance