SCHEMA
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2936 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics, Methodology or model |
1.“A mental structure that codes and stores external inputs, driving the search of the organisms for new inputs” (E. PESSA, 1992, p.433).
E. PESSA quotes NEISSER who redefined the concept (1976). He explains that the structure is influenced by the inputs “when they cannot be coded by using the existing categories and a schema modification is required. On the other hand, we have a trend toward self-consistency, because the organism is searching only for the stimuli that are required by the schema itself” (Ibid).
This is the autopoietic aspect of the schema: it tends to organizational closure.
This schema concept also seems useful in organizations, which appearently react in the same fashion.
Schema construction is more or less equivalent to back propagation algorithm shaping.
2. “A symbolic structure that can be filled by a specific type of information” (E. BUCHBERGER, 1987, p.51).
This is a more formal meaning, in no way contradictory to the former one.
From the viewpoint of culture , schemas are social constructions obtained through consensus , and transmitted by imitation or education (H. PLOTKIN, 2000, p.60)
Schemas do undergo a frequent process of transformation through reevaluation of their soundness, by debate.