The Psychologist As Systems Analyst
NeuroCybernetic Psychology
NeuroCybernetic psychology views the brain as a
biocontroller, the control device of the body. It has
aspects of a computer as well, but its primary function
is control, not computation. This is not an analogy or
metaphor, that is, I am not suggesting that the brain is
similar to a computer. I mean, rather, the brain is an
information processing and control system. As such, it
has commonalities with man‑made computers, or vice‑versa,
but it is not a computer. It is a biocontroller.
NeuroCybernetic psychology tries to provide a coherent,
comprehensive conceptual framework synthesizing broad
areas of psychology, including neuropsychology. It is not
a model of brain processes, but a hypothetical
description of the actual processes used in the brain. It
is also not reductionistic because the hypothesized
processes are described at a functional psychological
level, neither physiological nor anatomical, except for
aspects of the proposed Integration System. Nevertheless,
where it is valid, there should be complementary
physiological and anatomical concepts.
A distinction is made between hardware and software.
Hardware refers to hypothesized structures or processors,
while software entails the processes by which these
structures operate. It is assumed that the brain consists
of several discrete, relatively independent systems, each
with specialized functions (Wolff, 1974). Behavior
results from the operation of various functional
combinations of these systems (Luria, 1966). Processing
is hypothesized to be both in parallel and serial.
The processes by which various systems are engaged and
sequenced as well as which control or modify operations
of each system are the software. The term mind is
associated largely software, while brain has more to do
with hardware. The distinction is also made between
firmware and software. Firmware refers to systems in
which operations are largely inherent to the structure of
the system, while software refers to operations patterned
by informational content derived largely from experience.
Firmware operations are amenable to modification by
information inputted from the environment, but to a
lesser degree than software.
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