1. Introduction

2. Modes of Perception

3. Perceptual Control Introduction

4. Perceptual Control and imagination

5. Hierarchic Perceptual Control

6. Multiple data sources

7. Learning and Conflict

8. The Bomb in the Hierarchy

9. Degress of Freedom in the individual

10. Degrees of Freedom in the organization

11 Modes of Perception (Reprise)

12. Side Effects and Military intelligence

13. Communication

Four Modes of Perception:

1: Active Modes

• Active control. Continuous control of perception relies on difference between existing and reference state of perception to affect physical environment.
  Tracking: Same as Active control, but with perceptions controlled in a simulated internal world and compared with those based on the physical environment. Can be an aspect of Active Control.
• Searching: Does not actively control any perception, but sets reference signals that control perceptions used in the search activity. Does not intrinsically affect physical environment.
• Exploring: Active variation of perception in a non-dangerous situation. Uses similarity rather than difference detection.

Active Control and Tracking involve the same kind of behaviour within their ECSs, but we now distinguish them because Active Control maintains the value of a perceptual signal, whereas Tracking does not. Tracking maintains situation awareness by controlling in imagination rather than in the outer environment. Both use the similarity and difference modes of perception, with perhaps an emphasis on the difference mode, for reasons of accuracy.

Search and Exploration involve the manipulation of sensor systems or the perceptual systems that use the sensor inputs. There is active control, but it is not of the perceptions that are part of the search or exploration. Search may well concentrate on difference perception, as the issue is whether the environment has a particular structure or behaviour, whereas Exploration is likely to favour similarity. Exploration may involve the development of new perceptual functions.

2. Passive Modes

Alerting. Massively parallel comparison of pre-specified patterens with the incoming data. Uses similarity detection to determine whether the incoming data may change which perceptions are to be controlled actively. Alerting corresponds to the traditional view of data fusion as the analysis and reduction of incoming data, perhaps in light of special instructions from the commander as to special items to be looked for.

Alerting is the only completely passive mode of perception. It requires no perceptual control, and therefore could, in principle, handle as many perceptual degrees of freedom as there are sensory degrees of freedom. An alerting element is a detector for some pattern of events in the environment. As such, it may be built-in or it may be settable according to the requirements of the active control system. A Data Fusion system based on statistical regularities may serve as the peripheral parts of an alerting system for a commander, but a useful alerting system must be based on patterns that serve the commander's momentary needs. Although it is distinct from the commander's search function, an effective data fusion alert system may well incorporate its own search function, to allow it to utilize negative information.

Discovery is included here because it is a passive function, and although it is not itself a perception, it affects future possibilities for perception.