On the 737 classic the thottle position asks for a certain amount of thrust, in poor words, but that thrust is refined electronically by the PMC at the variation of the external conditions.
These refinements don't cause the throttles to move.
So probably on the older big birds they didn't have such electronic refinement.
Your manuals refer to EEC, I think.
Last generation 737 don't have hydromechanical system with electronic refinement, but full FADEC.