What are the meanings of “perceptual” and “control” in PCT?
“Perception” in PCT refers to the world as we experience it. The dimensions of our experience — the colors, shapes, movements, relationships and so on that we experience as aspect of the world we live in — are called perceptual variables. Perceptual variables are what we control. Perceptual variables, such as the color of a house, can have many different possible values, such as white, yellow, green, etc. Control refers to the process of bringing a perceptual variable to a pre-selected state and maintaining it in that state, protected from disturbances. When you decide to paint your house white and then do it (or have someone do it for you) you are controlling the perceived color of your house.
