Summary of the Reorganization Video

1.   (first 14 minutes or so) A computer demo is shown of how the E. coli bacteria moves towards or away from substances (chemotaxis). In the demo, a person can play the role of the E. Coli and move into a circle in the center of the screen (which corresponds to maximum or minimum substance concentration) by taking one of two actions—‘tumble’ which changes the direction of movement or ‘not tumble’ which results in movement in a straight line. The Reorganization System is hypothesized to work like this method of movement of the E. Coli. The Reorganization System is responsible for a basic kind of learning which builds new or changes already acquired control systems. The E. coli can take one of two ‘actions’, namely, tumble or not tumble. The E. coli tumbles when the sensed concentration of the substance it ‘cares about’ changes in the wrong way. When it does not tumble, it keeps moving in the same direction. Moving in the same direction corresponds to not changing the characteristics of a control system. When it tumbles, it starts moving in a different, random direction. Moving in a different direction corresponds to changing the characteristics of a control system. The discussion was interesting and involved issues such the following: What happens to reorganization during depression? How does reorganization compare to operant conditioning?
How does reorganization compare to the theory of natural selection? 

2. The next computer demo (about from 14 minutes to 28 minutes) was of three control systems among which the internal conflict can be increased or decreased. One sees three lines—a white line which shows the reference signals; a yellow line which shows the perceptual signals; and an aqua line which shows environmental variables. The E. Coli model described above was the basis of these three control systems organizing in the output function. The progress of reorganization is shown by a graph over time. When internal conflict was increased, the actions of the control systems had to increase in order to counteract the changes brought about by the other systems; the system had to exert a great deal of effort as shown by the Environmental variables line. This demo shows that internal conflict, independent of the content of the conflict, is a big problem for systems organized like people. Much effort has to go into ‘fighting ourselves.’ This fact is the reason that MOL Therapy focuses on the role of internal conflict. 

3. The third computer demo (from about 28 minutes to 38 minutes) was of the Reorganization of the output functions for the 14 control systems involved in moving a human arm in a certain way. In the beginning, the outputs affect each of the 14 control systems. At the end, after reorganization has taken place, each output affects only its own input. Thus, the change can be described as going from a state of being undifferentiated to one of being differentiated, which is consistent with a basic principle of how development proceeds. 

4. The fourth demo (from about 38 minutes to the end) was of a person moving through a crowd from one point to another point. The person is modeled by two controls systems. One controls closeness to the goal. The other controls closeness to other ‘person.’ This demo did not show the operation of Reoganization. However, it does what appears to be intelligent behavior. Sometimes the person moves away from the goal in order to get to the goal. It also shows that the apparent characteristics of the person can be changed by changing the properties of the control systems involved in the action. With one set of parameters, the person can seem ‘aggressive’ and gets to the goal quickly by going through the crowd. With a different set of parameters, the person seems ‘fearful’ and goes around the crowd to reach the goal. One must know the perceptions a person is controlling in order to understand the person actions in a situation. Return to the Video