BEHAVIOR (Specific action)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 267 ▶ |
| Object type | Discipline oriented |
A type of action standardised in accordance with a specific task.
A specific action pertaining to a pattern of behavior can be repeated without any adaptive variations as many times as needed.
Only machines — mainly so-called robots — can be programed for specific action behavior.
Living systems, particularly human beings, are not efficient specific behavior actors, precisely because they are good at adaptive variations.
H. COLLINS observes:“We can replace workers on production lines with machines, but only after we have organised the factory so that the tasks can be accomplished through standardised behavior, rather than varying actions” (1992, p.39).
Specific action behavior thus introduced as algorithms and routines, become completely stabilized and context independent.
COLLINS adds: “The theory of the specific action behavior… gives us a simple test which highlights most of the difficulties of making machines that mimic human action” (p.39).
This is true at least for machines guided by algorithms, but could become less so for machines trained by learning.