Interactionism and Control Theory

Abstract

Hyland has identified the person × situation debate as a methodological, not a theoretical issue. He has shown that the proposed resolution of this issue, interactionism in any of several forms, is not really a resolution but an overdue statement of the nature of the problem that still remains for psychologists to solve. And he has suggested that a real solution might be found in the directions indicated by control theory. In my opinion, he has identified the crux of the real issue, which is the difference between an old cause-effect paradigm based on a lineal form of analysis and a new paradigm based on what we might call, in the present context, principles of concurrent interactionism. This fundamental difference deserves further discussion.