Plans and the Structure of Behavior

by George Armitage Miller

1960. No Edition Remarks. 226 pages. No dust jacket. This is an ex-Library book. Red cloth with gilt. Library copy, with expected inserts, stamps and inscriptions. Pages remain clear with minimal tanning and foxing. Binding remains firm. Boards have mild edge-wear with slight rubbing to surfaces. Mild crushing to spine ends. Book has a slight forward lean. Gilt lettering is bright and clear.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

205 pages, Textbook Binding

First published September 1, 1986

Reviews

[Mark]

‘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.

[Joosep]

"Because stimulus and response are correlative and contemporaneous, the stimulus processes must be thought of not as preceding the response but rather as guiding it to a successful elimination of the incongruity. That is to say, stimulus and response must be considered as aspects of a feedback loop."

[Alex Morgan]

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 '

[learnedHamster]

“Hand-waving,” according to Margaret Boden. She was spot on. Bonkers book, worth it for the historical inspiration.

[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]

amazing book..... :D