The concept of stimulus has had a long history and is clearly very useful despite the recognized difficulty in establishing its rigorous definition. We suggest that general systems theory provides a suitable conceptual framework for this purpose. From the systems standpoint it is clear that there is an essential duality which the unitary concept of stimulus is inadequate to encompass. This implies that it is more relevant to search experimentally for the identity of the “controlled variable” than to seek the identity of “the stimulus.” The concept of the “test of the controlled variable” is a direct consequence of this observation, and represents a new and unique experimental orientation.
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