WORK
Plans and the Structure of Behavior
The 1960 book by Miller, Galanter, and Pribram that proposed human behavior is organized by hierarchical TOTE (test-operate-test-exit) units — a foundational text of cognitive psychology that located
chunking within a broader architecture of goal-directed action.
Plans and the Structure of Behavior was the founding document of what would later be called cognitive psychology's hierarchical turn. Co-authored by
George Miller, Eugene Galanter, and Karl Pribram, the book proposed that all human behavior — from reaching for a glass of water to designing a cathedral — is organized by hierarchical structures called TOTE units: Test-Operate-Test-
Exit. Before acting, the mind tests the current state of the world against a desired state. If there is a mismatch, it operates — performs some action to reduce the discrepancy. It then tests again. If the mismatch persists, it operates again. If the mismatch is resolved, it exits to the next unit in the hierarchy. A plan is a nested structure of TOTE units, arranged from the most abstract
goal to the most concrete action, with each level of the hierarchy decomposing a single goal into sub-goals. The book was dense, technical, wildly ambitious — and,