Plans and the Structure of Behavior

by George Armitage Miller, Eugene Galanter, Karl H. Pribram

2013 Reprint of 1960 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. By 1960, psychology had come to be dominated by behaviorism and learning theory, which emphasized the observable stimulus and response components of human and animal behavior while ignoring the cognitive processes that mediate the relationship between the stimulus and response. The cognitive phenomena occurring within the "black box" between stimulus and response were of little interest to behaviorists, as their mathematical models worked without them. In 1960, the book "Plans and the Structure of Behavior," authored by George A. Miller, Eugene Galanter, and Karl H. Pribram, was published. In this volume, Miller and his colleagues sought to unify the behaviorists' learning theory with a cognitive model of learned behavior. Whereas the behaviorists suggested that a simple reflex arc underlies the acquisition of the stimulus-response relationship, Miller and his colleagues proposed that "some mediating organization of experience is necessary" somewhere between the stimulus and response, in effect a cognitive process which must include monitoring devices that control the acquisition of the stimulus-response relationship. They named this fundamental unit of behavior the T.O.T.E. for "Test - Operate - Test - Exit".

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

226 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1986

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Plans and the Structure of Behavior’ is considered by some to be one of the most important books in psychological science in the second half of the Twentieth Century. In it, Miller, Galanter and Pribram reject a reductionist shift from behavior to physiology to show that a scientifically acceptable language can be used to describe psychological function without recourse to a physiological level of description. Published in 1962, ‘Plans’ includes reviews of the computational theories of Turing, McCulloch and Pitts, of the precise formulations of grammar modeled by Chomsky, and of concept learning by Bruner, Goodnow, and Austion. And in some opinions these reviews remain the most elegant ever written.

Why is ‘Plans’ so important? It is held as the book that ushered in the cognitive revolution in psychological science, triggering much of the research covered in Neisser’s later work ‘Cognitive Psychology’. It is also believed to be the book that ended the era of Skinnerian behaviorism. In a contemporary sense, by providing the first real alternative to the Reflex Arc as a fundamental model of behavior, it presaged the introduction of complex-systems theory to psychology, which emerged as a working paradigm probably first in Haskin’s Laboratories, in New Haven Connecticut during the mid 1980’s. My scientific interest, which is an interest in psychophysical dynamics, owes a very great deal to this line of theoretial development.

[Alex Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty advanced

This boom has lots of good information and I got some good metaphors from it. It’s a fun read and really gets you thinking about now humans do things.

[Brendan]

Didn't read all of, but I finally get it now about the ' reflex arc '

[Nathen]

this is a fundamental book for using a systems approach in psychology. This leads one to a holistic approach to mapping the psyche with feedback loops in a circulatory fashion.

[Yirong · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing book..... :D