Responsible Thinking Home Page

Actions

In PCT, we draw a distinction between what we, as outside observers, see other people "doing ," and what the other people tell us they are doing. What we see from the outside are a person's actions -- the movements of her various body parts, relative to one another and to parts of the environment. We see a driver do things like curl her fingers around the steering wheel, move her arms in a twisting motion while she grasps the wheel, move her lower legs and feet so as to place her feet on different pedals and to press or release those pedals from time to time. When a young child "plays like driving," he will mimic those same kinds of actions (movements), usually in an exaggerated manner.

On the other hand, if we ask the driver what she is doing, she will not talk about grasping, or moving her arms and feet. Instead, she will talk about "keeping the car in the correct lane and the correct distances from other cars on the road," or about "staying under the speed limit," or about "driving across the city to my office." She will describe the consequences of her actions, as she perceives them. A young child who mimics the general outward appearances of the driver's actions does not create perceptions like the ones the driver creates and controls.

Perceptual control theory explains how a person controls (specifies, creates and defends) perceptions, by way of  actions that are not controlled. A person's actions must be free to vary in any way necessary, in order for the person to create and control his perceptions.