STRUCTURE (Self-facilitating)
Charles François (2004). STRUCTURE (Self-facilitating), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(2): 3240.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3240 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Epistemology, ontology or semantics, Methodology or model |
This concept proposed by R.W. FULLER and P. PUTNAM, is interesting because it connects structure and function.
The authors explain that, in networks, structures tend to be self-reinforcing through the following mechanism: random search processes in the network tend to produce the emergence of relative dominance of some patterns (crf. D. HEBB's habituation). This in turn tends to stop the random search:
- “What stops a random search is reinforced again and again — every time the associated drive factor is excited — because what satisfies a drive factor once will do so again if it catches the basic principle involved” (1967, p.105).
… and: “The historical sequence of random searches becomes linked together in a chain” (Ibid., p. 106)