BCSSS

International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

2nd Edition, as published by Charles François 2004 Presented by the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science Vienna for public access.

About

The International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics was first edited and published by the system scientist Charles François in 1997. The online version that is provided here was based on the 2nd edition in 2004. It was uploaded and gifted to the center by ASC president Michael Lissack in 2019; the BCSSS purchased the rights for the re-publication of this volume in 200?. In 2018, the original editor expressed his wish to pass on the stewardship over the maintenance and further development of the encyclopedia to the Bertalanffy Center. In the future, the BCSSS seeks to further develop the encyclopedia by open collaboration within the systems sciences. Until the center has found and been able to implement an adequate technical solution for this, the static website is made accessible for the benefit of public scholarship and education.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

LEARNING (Trial and error) 1)

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This expression was coined by L. MORGAN in England and E.L. THORNDIKE in the United States.

W.R. ASHBY observes: "The process of trial and error can then be viewed from two very different points of view. On the one hand it can be regarded as simply an attempt at success; so that when it fails, we give zero mark for success. From this point of view it is merely a second rate way of getting to success. There is, however, the other point of view that gives it an altogether higher status, for the process may be playing the invaluable part of gathering information, information that is absolutely necessary if adaptation is to be successfully achieved" (1960, p.83).

The result of every trial is:

1. recorded in the memory of the system

2. integrated in a non-contradictory structure of internally organized information i.e. knowledge

3. also possibly integrated into a repertory of automatic responses or skills.

Each trial modifies the internal state of the system and predisposes it to a better adapted future activity, even if some cases some trials (followed by good or negative results) must be repeated several times.

ASHBY's own Law of Requisite Variety is obviously an elaboration on the usefulness for a system to enrich its repertories of possible states or responses to variations in its environment.

Learning by trial and error, as an internal ordering process, is also related to the model of order from noise.

Categories

  • 1) General information
  • 2) Methodology or model
  • 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
  • 4) Human sciences
  • 5) Discipline oriented

Publisher

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science(2020).

To cite this page, please use the following information:

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]

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