Task 6 Surfing the edge of chaos

Question 1

Self-organization

Answer 1

A process in which a structure/pattern in an open system emerges without specifications from the outside environment
Example:
Everytime rat smells new odour the ofactory bulb reorganizes storage space in a new way, so that already stored odours are also reorganized

Question 2

Dynamic system

Answer 2

A system whose changes over time can be characterised by equations that show how current values of variables depend mathematically on previous values of those variables (Can be linear and Non-linear)

Question 3

Non-linearity

Answer 3

Change in a system does not happen gradually, but in a discontinuous, nonlinear way that includes destabilisation

Question 4

Linearity

Answer 4

Change in a system happens gradually, in a steady way

Question 5

Attractors

Answer 5

Relatively stable states that a system tend to settle into, system usually has multiple attractor states

Question 6

Phase transitions

Answer 6

Change from one attractor state to another

Question 7

Catastrophe theory

Answer 7

Small changes in certain parameters of a nonlinear system can cause large changes of the behaviour of the system

Question 8

Cusp catastrophe

Answer 8

A model that is three dimensional and has two control variables and one behavioural variable in which the stable solution will suddenly jump to an alternate outcome.

Question 9

Fold catastrophe

Answer 9

At negative values of a, the potential has two extremes, one stable and one unstable, one dependent and one independent variable

Question 10

Hysterisis

Answer 10

Tendency of system to stick to the lower level before suddenly making “catastrophic jump” ➔depending on the history

Question 11

Chaos

Answer 11

Small changes in variables can produce dramatically different outcomes, explains catastrophic jumps

Question 12

Bifurcation set

Answer 12

The shaded area in a cusp catastrophe model, where the behavior is bimodal and the edges serve as thresholds for a catastrophic jump. In shaded area behavior is unpredictable

Question 13

Bimodality

Answer 13

one single combination of independent variables can have multiple dependent variable

Question 14

Splitting factor

Answer 14

independent variable; it is the one responsible for the “splitting” in behaviour , determines bimodality

Question 15

Chaotic attractors

Answer 15

Attractors that have a bounded pattern but becomes discontinuous after some repetitions which results in unpredictability

Question 16

Liu - The catastrophic link between the importance and extremity of political attitudes

Answer 16

Splitting factor: Importance of issue
Independent variables: Importance of issue and positivity of information
Dependent variable: Favorability of information
Result: Important issues act as categories with bipolar distributions and catastrophic and abrupt changes in favorability (evaluation)