ALGEDONIC LOOP
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 72 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
A positive or negative reward feedback.
Algedonic means: by pain or pleasure, i.e. implying punishment or reward.
Rewards can be quite various in kind. St. BEER cites as examples: teaching, bribing, the epigenetic landscape (1968, p.368). The concept appeared in psychology with PAVLOV and was (over) exploited by B. SKINNER.
According to BEER the algedonic loop “… interferes with the alleged randomness with which the variety generator pose solutions, as well as vetoing further attempts to pose the same unsatisfactory solution as before. It biases the throw of the dice” (p.368)
Further along BEER explains how this reward feedback allows very complex systems to produce in due time — notwithstanding the necessity of considering many interconnected conditions for action — “… a very ingenious and appropriate response” (p.395)… and how, if corrective mechanisms “were highly stable, their response to gross perturbation would be too sluggish and would call for huge control energies” (p.396).
The algedonic loop could probably be usefully mimicked in Artifical Intelligence