Wiener, Norbert - (b. 1894, Columbia, MO, d. 1964, Stockholm, Sweden, Ph.D. Philosophy, Harvard University, 1913). Wiener launched the discipline of ‘Cybernetics’ with the publication of his book, Cybernetics, in 1948. He defined ‘cybernetics’ as a discipline concerned with the comparative study of control mechanisms in the nervous system and high-speed computers.
From 1919 to 1960, he held positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Wiener launched the discipline of ‘Cybernetics’ with the publication of his book, Cybernetics, in 1948. He defined ‘cybernetics’ as a discipline concerned with the comparative study of control mechanisms in the nervous system and high-speed computers. In a chapter of Cybernetics, Wiener proposed essentially the same method for measuring information as had Shannon. Both had arrived at the idea independently. Wiener’s effect on psychology was twofold. He suggested that human behavior could be modeled computationally, and he introduced information theory into psychology. Since any stimulus may be considered to contain information, the behavior of organisms could be treated as information-processing behavior and quantified in addition, because all information could be converted to bits and added, regardless of the original form of stimulation. Thus, Wiener is responsible for the introduction of terms like input, output, signal, signal-to-noise ratio, uncertainty, redundancy, bits and chunks of information, information processing, encoding, etc., into psychology. He also published two other books of psychological interest: The Human use of Human Beings (1950) and Cybernetics of the Nervous System (1965).
Zusne, Leonard (1984). Biographical dictionary of psychology. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. [bookstore]
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