The study of systems which respond disproportionately (nonlinearly) to initial conditions or perturbing stimuli. Nonlinear systems may exhibit "chaos" which is classically characterized as sensitive dependence on initial conditions. Chaotic systems, while distinguished from more ordered periodic systems, are not random. When their behavior over time is appropriately displayed (in "phase space"), constraints are evident which are described by "strange attractors". Phase space representations of chaotic systems, or strange attractors, usually reveal fractal (FRACTALS) self-similarity across time scales. Natural, including biological, systems often display nonlinear dynamics and chaos
A theoretical technique utilizing a group of related constructs to describe or prescribe how individuals or groups of people choose a course of action when faced with several alternatives and a variable amount of knowledge about the determinants of the outcomes of those alternatives
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Théories des matémathiques. : Differentiable germs and catastrophes / Th. Bröcker & L. Lander ; [translated by L. Lander]
A philosophically coherent set of propositions (for example, utilitarianism) which attempts to provide general norms for the guidance and evaluation of moral conduct. (from Beauchamp and Childress, Principles of Biomedical Ethics, 4th ed)
Theoretical construct used in applied mathematics to analyze certain situations in which there is an interplay between parties that may have similar, opposed, or mixed interests. In a typical game, decision-making "players," who each have their own goals, try to gain advantage over the other parties by anticipating each other's decisions; the game is finally resolved as a consequence of the players' decisions
Principles, models, and laws that apply to complex interrelationships and interdependencies of sets of linked components which form a functioning whole, a system. Any system may be composed of components which are systems in their own right (sub-systems), such as several organs within an individual organism
A system which emphasizes that experience and behavior contain basic patterns and relationships which cannot be reduced to simpler components; that is, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
An interdisciplinary study dealing with the transmission of messages or signals, or the communication of information. Information theory does not directly deal with meaning or content, but with physical representations that have meaning or content. It overlaps considerably with communication theory and CYBERNETICS
theories of literacy. : Theoretical models and processes of literacy / edited by Donna E. Alvermann, Norman J. Unrau, Misty Sailors and Robert B. Rudell
A psychological theory based on dimensions or categories used by a given person in describing or explaining the personality and behavior of others or of himself. The basic idea is that different people will use consistently different categories. The theory was formulated in the fifties by George Kelly. Two tests devised by him are the role construct repertory test and the repertory grid test. (From Stuart Sutherland, The International Dictionary of Psychology, 1989)
The branch of mathematics dealing with the purely logical properties of probability. Its theorems underlie most statistical methods. (Last, A Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)
Conceptual system developed by Freud and his followers in which unconscious motivations are considered to shape normal and abnormal personality development and behavior
Conceptual system developed by Freud and his followers in which unconscious motivations are considered to shape normal and abnormal personality development and behavior
The theory that the radiation and absorption of energy take place in definite quantities called quanta (E) which vary in size and are defined by the equation E=hv in which h is Planck's constant and v is the frequency of the radiation
Principles, models, and laws that apply to complex interrelationships and interdependencies of sets of linked components which form a functioning whole, a system. Any system may be composed of components which are systems in their own right (sub-systems), such as several organs within an individual organism
Psychophysical technique that permits the estimation of the bias of the observer as well as detectability of the signal (i.e., stimulus) in any sensory modality. (From APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed.)
Principles, models, and laws that apply to complex interrelationships and interdependencies of sets of linked components which form a functioning whole, a system. Any system may be composed of components which are systems in their own right (sub-systems), such as several organs within an individual organism