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Furedy's Straw Man: Wrong Purpose
Author(s) -
Pavloski Raymond
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1989.tb01955.x
Subject(s) - falsifiability , psychology , context (archaeology) , control (management) , teleology , diagram , mechanism (biology) , mode (computer interface) , variable (mathematics) , cognitive psychology , epistemology , social psychology , computer science , statistics , artificial intelligence , mathematics , philosophy , paleontology , biology , operating system , mathematical analysis
Furedy's (1989) characterization of the control system mode of analysis as a teleological form of explanation is based on a definition of purpose that is not used in my paper (Pavloski, 1989). He incorrectly describes reactivity as a controlled variable or condition, and incorrectly describes the control system error theory as not being falsifiable while ignoring the specific testing procedures proposed. His characterization of my diagram of a control system (Figure 1 in Pavloski, 1989) misrepresents the description given in the body of the paper: it is a diagram of cause‐effect relationships that when physically realized produce covariation of a reference signal and a controlled condition; it is not merely a restatement of observations (such as a stated relationship between motivation and performance). Finally, he misrepresents the attempts of theoreticians who attempt to explain emotion and motivation within the context of a mechanism that behaves.