3. Perceptual Control Introduction
4. Perceptual Control and imagination
5. Hierarchic Perceptual Control
9. Degress of Freedom in the individual
10. Degrees of Freedom in the organization
11 Modes of Perception (Reprise)
Hierarchic Control
Each ECS connects many-to-many with other ECSs at higher and lower levels. In the Powers version of PCT, which I take to be the conventional interpretation, there are no connections within levels, and therefore there are no cyclic connections. No ECS incorporates its own perceptual signal (however transformed) in the input to its own Perceptual Input Function, and no ECS incorporates its own output signal (however transformed) in the input to its own reference signal.
There are, of course, influences, because the entire structure is a feedback system. The output of an ECS is connected specifically so that it can affect its perceptual signal, and thereby affect the output itself. And since the same output will affect elements of the feedback loops of other ECSs at the same level, there are cyclic effects. But there are no direct cyclic connections.
A Control Hierarchy
This example shows a few ECSs that might be involved in supporting the control of a high-level perception. At each level, there are a variety of possible ways of achieving the desired perception "a satisfactory briefing." It may be done through a pictorial situation display or through a written report. Either (on a computer) may involve entering words and selecting chunks of material for editing. To do either might involve using a keyboard or a mouse, and to do either of these involves the correct tensioning and relaxation of muscles. The perceptions derive from muscle sensors, eyes, and ears initially, but at the different levels these data are fused to become controlled perceptions such as "mouse location" or "effective map display".