Richard J. Robertson
Richard J. Robertson, Professor of Psychology at Northeastern
Illinois University in Chicago, credits his interest in control theory to an
encounter at the University of Chicago Counseling Center in 1957, where he was
then an intern. He attended a lecture presented by Bill Powers, Bob Clark and
Bob McFarland, a lecture that was later published as the opening statement of
"an approach to psychology which has felt worth pursuing ever since...That lecture
'opened my eyes' and filled me with an excitement about the underlying nature
of human behavior which has never left." As an early advocate of control
theory, Professor Robertson is well acquainted with the struggle of gaining
acceptance for new ideas. He acknowledges "an intellectual indebtedness to Thomas
Kuhn for his seminal concept of the scientific revolution...I have drawn support
from his description of the processes of crisis, resistance, and eventual paradigm
shift...when I felt discouraged...." Luckily, for his students and his readers,
Richard Robertson 's commitment to an inevitable paradigm shift to control theory
from the conventional wisdom has been a significant factor in the progress toward
that goal.
Contributors to Introduction to Modern Psychology
| David M. Goldstein |
Clinical psychologist, consultant and pioneer
in the development
of a truly workable research- and theory-based approach to
clinical psychology. |
| Richard S. Marken |
Former professor of psychology at Augsburg College, human-factors
engineer, and now senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. |
| Frans X. Plooij |
Developmental psychobiologist who heads the Department
of R & D, Pedological Institute of the City of Amsterdam
(Institute of Child Studies) |
| William T. Powers |
Associate editor of this work; originator of the control-theory
model. See Powers on PCT. |
| Richard J. Robertson |
Editor of this work and professor of psychology at
Northeastern Illinois University. |
Richard S. Marken
.GIF)
Richard S. Marken, Ph.D. is a research psychologist
and human factors engineer. He received his BA in psychology (cum laude) from
UCLA and his Ph. D. in experimental psychology from UCSB. Dr. Marken was Associate
Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychology at Augsburg College in
Minneapolis, Minnesota where he taught courses in introductory psychology, research
methods, statistics, mental testing, history of psychology, perception, human
development, control theory, and computer applications. He also consulted at
Honeywell, Inc. on statistical, methodological and human factors issues related
to workspace design and human-computer interface technology.
Dr. Marken is Senior Behavioral Scientist at The RAND Corporation
in El Segundo, Los Angeles. He is the author of three books, Methods in Experimental
Psychology, (Brooks/Cole, 1981) and Mind Readings: Experimental Studies
of Purpose (CSG Press, 1992), More Mind Readings (Life Learning Associates,
2002), and over 40 papers on control theory and psychology. He is currently
teaching an upper-class level course in Cognition at Loyola Marymount University
in Los Angeles. Behavior: The Control of Perception is on the reading
list.
Philip J. Runkel
A
distinguished educator, the late Dr. Runkel was Professor Emeritus of Psychology
and Education at the University of Oregon. For the past 50 years, he taught
and wrote extensively in the fields of social psychology, research methods,
and organizational consultng.
In addition to People as Living Things, Professor Runkel
has contributed numerous papers and chapters to scholarly publications, and
authored several books, including Casting Nets and Testing Specimens: Two
Grand Methods of Psychology, Praeger, 1990; Research of Human Behavior:
A Systematic Guide to Method (with Joseph E. McGrath), Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, 1972, and Handbook of Organization Development in Schools and
Colleges (4th edition, with Richard A. Schmuck), Waveland Press, 1994.
His lengthy and lively correspondence with Bill Powers has been
respectfully collected and faithfully reproduced by Dag Forssell, Publisher,
Living Control Systems Publishing Inc., Hayward, California.