Cybernetics and Systems

Question 1

fundamental assumptions systems/cybernetics

Answer 1

What, reciprocal causality, holistic, dialectical, subjective/perceptual, freedom of choice/proactive, patterns, here-now focus, relational, contextual, relativistic

Question 2

simple cybernetics

Answer 2

place ourselves outside the system as observers of what is going on inside the system; we do not see ourselves as part of said system nor concerned with why it does, only on what is happening

Question 3

recursion

Answer 3

=mutual influence

circularity; mutual cause and mutual influence; relational–how each interacts and influences the other reciprocally

relation between individuals and elements as each defines the other

Question 4

feedback

Answer 4

=recursion involving self-correction
=process whereby information about past behaviors is fed back into the system in a circular manner
=self-correction

Question 5

positive feedback

Answer 5

=change amplifying

=acknowledges change has occurred and has been accepted by the system

Question 6

negative feedback

Answer 6

=maintenance of the status quo

=deviation counteracting

Question 7

morphostasis

Answer 7

tendency of a system toward stability/state of equilibrium

Question 8

morphogenesis

Answer 8

system-enhancing behavior that allows for growth, innovation, and change

allows system to adapt to changing needs in ways that continue to support individuals within that system

Question 9

rules

Answer 9

unique to a system; determine how a system operates; comprised of the characteristic relationship patterns within the system; express values of system as well as roles appropriate to behaviors within the system

determine boundaries of a system and help to distinguish a system from other systems

often unspoken

Question 10

boundary

Answer 10

connotes separateness of a system from a larger system; ____ act as a buffer for information from outside the system AND outflow of information from the system

invisible lines that separate groups and subgroups

may be open, closed, or exhibit varying degrees of permeability

Question 11

openness/closedness

Answer 11

extent to which a system screens out (closedness) or permits the input of (openness) of information

Question 12

entropy

Answer 12

tending toward maximum disorder and disintegration (aka dysfunctional)

Question 13

negentropy

Answer 13

tending toward maximum order (balance, equilibrium, survival)

Question 14

equifinality

Answer 14

different starting points–> same end point

Question 15

multifinality

Answer 15

same starting point–> different end point

Question 16

digital mode

Answer 16

verbal communication; least powerful in defining how message is received

Question 17

nonverbal mode

Answer 17

command aspect of message (voice, tone, inflection, gestures, facial expression)– tells how message should be received and therefore is the relationship-defining mode

Question 18

analog

Answer 18

nonverbal+context

Question 19

context

Answer 19

where we are, who were are with, when, what each person is thinking

Question 20

content

Answer 20

digital portion; spoken word

Question 21

process

Answer 21

=analog= context and nonverbal

Question 22

incongruent communication

Answer 22

process and content do not match

Question 23

congruent communication

Answer 23

process and content align

Question 24

cybernetics of cybernetics

Answer 24

the observer is a part of/participant in that which is observed; no reference to an outside environment–boundary is unbroken and system is closed; mutual connectedness of observer and observed

system+ observer understood to be mutually interacting within a larger system whose boundary is closed

Question 25

autonomy

Answer 25

=organization as the whole

attained by self-reference; highest order of recursion or feedback processes whereby range of deviation or stability maintained is that of the organization of the whole

Question 26

structure

Answer 26

relations between the parts as well as the identity of the parts that constitute the whole

ex: organization of a family with different structures: married man and woman with child; or child and child’s paternal grandmother

Question 27

organization

Answer 27

relations that define a system as a unity and determine its properties (no reference of identity)

ex: individuals operating according to some generational hierarchy in support of mutual welfare and individual development= organization of a family

Question 28

autopoiesis

Answer 28

process of self generation as an autonomous system

Question 29

structural determinism

Answer 29

the system determines the range of structural variations it can accept without loss of identity

system is limited by the virtue of its structure to what it can and cannot do

from this POV–what a system does is always correct b/c the system can only do what its structure determines it can do

Question 30

structural coupling

Answer 30

degree to which systems are able to coexist

organisms survive by fitting with one another and with other aspects of their context

Question 31

reality as a multiverse

Answer 31

each of us lives in and creates a reality in a different manner based off of our frame of reference and each of thus therefore lives in a slightly different but equally true and valid reality

there is no one way in which the system is

we live in a multiverse of equally valid, observer-dependent realities

Question 32

first order change

Answer 32

occurs within the system CONSISTENT WITH the rules of that system

what we think of as logical solutions to problems

Question 33

second order change

Answer 33

change of the rules of the system and thus a change of the system itself –different system altogether

illogical to context or when considered within framework of existing rules

Question 34

reframe

Answer 34

change in perception

takes a situation and lifts it out of its old context/old set of rules and places it in a new context with a new set of rules that defines it equally well

Question 35

stochastic

Answer 35

=random

Question 36

meaningful noise

Answer 36

questions/reflections offered by the therapist’s presence and interactions within the system that help the family to create a new perspective that allows them to see things differently and thus behave differently

Question 37

aesthetic

Answer 37

inherent goodness

Question 38

cybernetics

Answer 38

concerned with understanding and managing patterns of organization

study of feedback mechanisms in self-regulating systems

Question 39

mind

Answer 39

the mind is a cybernetic system because it contains feedback

Question 40

calibration

Answer 40

control of feedback

Question 41

homeostasis

Answer 41

process of maintaining stability through change; and/or process of achieving change through management of stability

Question 42

pragmatics

Answer 42

mechanics of practical strategies and problem solving

Question 43

systems

Answer 43

groups of parts and their relationships to each other that when viewed together have a meaning and purpose that cannot be understood by observing the parts separately

Question 44

wholeness

Answer 44

whole is different from the sum of its parts–parts+ interactions and relationships among parts+ context

Question 45

metarule

Answer 45

rules about changing rules/rules about rules

tend to be less flexible

Question 46

isomorphism

Answer 46

patterns of interactions in families are reflected in several areas of the family’s functioning

Question 47

pattern

Answer 47

occur repeatedly over time and across content areas (recursion)

Question 48

punctuation

Answer 48

tendency to believe there is a starting point