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3 - Getting Started

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2021

Richard S. Marken
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles
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Summary

Research on purpose starts with learning how to look at purposeful behavior as a process of control. This means learning to see behavior as being organized around the control of perceptual variables. The next step is to try to see what these variables might be. Ideas about what these variables might be come from the names we commonly use for various behaviors, as well as from existing research studies. Once you have an idea of what variable or variables an organism is controlling, you can refine that hypothesis by looking at the control process from the point of view of the behaving system itself. The refined hypothesis is then tested using the method of specimens, which involves testing one organism at a time under all experimental conditions. The results of this research are evaluated in terms of scientific rather than statistical significance.

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The Study of Living Control Systems
A Guide to Doing Research on Purpose
, pp. 35 - 47
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Getting Started
  • Richard S. Marken, University of California, Los Angeles
  • Book: The Study of Living Control Systems
  • Online publication: 02 February 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108752138.004
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Getting Started
  • Richard S. Marken, University of California, Los Angeles
  • Book: The Study of Living Control Systems
  • Online publication: 02 February 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108752138.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Getting Started
  • Richard S. Marken, University of California, Los Angeles
  • Book: The Study of Living Control Systems
  • Online publication: 02 February 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108752138.004
Available formats
×