Learning to Design Systems

This article describes a brief overview of systems design concepts, and provides an example of the use of one very simple framework for utilizing systems design. Its purpose is to demonstrate the value of even the simplest of systems design models in clarifying the issues behind what are often perceived to be organizational conflicts. The example provided is that of a medical function within an industrial organization, but the implications apply to almost any support function or department found within a large organization.     

Evaluating Multiple-Attribute Decision Support Systems

Differences in the perceived usefulness of five multiple-attribute decision support systems versus a basic spreadsheet are empirically assessed. Twenty-four college faculty members participated in a repeated measures experiment in which they used decision support software for personal computers to analyse semistructured multiple-attribute problems. The software packages employed were Criterium, Expert Choice, Logical Decision, VIMDA, VISA and the spreadsheet package Quattro Pro. A questionnaire was developed to assess user-friendliness of the software, confidence in the procedure implemented by the software, and users’ confidence in their results when employing the decision aids. Time to reach a decision was also measured. Significant differences were fund in the overall way users ranked these aids, in the perceived user-friendliness and the confidence in procedure among aids, and in the time it took to arrive at a result. Comments from users are also reported. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Formal Model for the Study of Communication Support Systems

The lack of conceptual frameworks available for integrating research on organizational computer-based communication technologies is documented. An integrated model for studying communication support phenomena in organizations is formalized from a knowledge management perspective using set-theoretic notation. Key constructs for understanding and exploring communication support systems are identified, such as knowledge workers, knowledge management activities, communicate-abilities, and knowledge management episodes. The implications associated with the identification and formalization of each of the foregoing constructs is discussed and further research avenues are explored. The model provides researchers and system developers with a means of studying both human and computer-based knowledge workers in organizations. Two types of communication support systems are defined.     

Emotion and Pain: A Functional Cerebral Systems Integration

Emotion and pain are psychological constructs that have received extensive attention in neuropsychological research. However, neuropsychological models of emotional processing have made more progress in describing how brain regions interact to process emotion. Theories of emotional processing can describe inter-hemispheric and intra-hemispheric interactions during emotional processing. Due to similarities between emotion and pain, it is thought that emotional models can be applied to pain. The following review examines the neuropsychology of emotion and pain using a functional cerebral systems approach. Specific comparisons are made between pain and anger. Attention is given to differences in cerebral function and physiology that may contribute to the processing of emotion and pain. Suggestions for future research in emotion and pain are given.     

Connectionist Models and Linguistic Theory: Investigations of Stress Systems in Language

We question the widespread assumption that linguistic theory should guide the formulation of mechanistic accounts of human language processing. We develop a pseudo-linguistic theory for the domain of linguistic stress, based on observation of the learning behavior of a perceptron exposed to a variety of stress patterns. There are significant similarities between our analysis of perception stress learning and metrical phonology, the linguistic theory of human stress. Both approaches attempt to identify salient characteristics of the stress systems under examination without reference to the workings of the underlying processor. Our theory and computer simulations exhibit some strikingly suggestive correspondences with metrical theory. We show, however, that our high-level pseudo-linguistic account bears no causal relation to processing in the perception, and provides little insight into the nature of this processing. Because of the persuasive similarities between the nature of our theory and linguistic theorizing, we suggest that linguistic theory may be in much the same position. Contrary to the usual assumption, it may not provide useful guidance in attempts to identify processing mechanisms underlying human language.     

Empirical Evidence for Extended Cognitive Systems

We present an empirically supported theoretical and methodological framework for quantifying the system-level properties of person-plus-tool interactions in order to answer the question: “Are person-plus-tool-systems extended cognitive systems?” Nineteen participants provided perceptual judgments regarding their ability to pass through apertures of various widths while using visual information, blindfolded wielding a rod, or blindfolded wielding an Enactive Torch—a vibrotactile sensory-substitution device for detecting distance. Monofractal, multifractal, and recurrence quantification analyses were conducted to assess features of person-plus-tool movement dynamics. Trials where people utilized the rod or Enactive Torch demonstrated stable “self-similarity,” or indices of healthy and adaptive single systems, regardless of aperture width, trial order, features of the participants’ judgments, and participant characteristics. Enactive Torch trials exhibited a somewhat greater range of dynamic fluctuations than the rod trials, as well as less movement recurrence, suggesting that the Enactive Torch allowed for more exploratory movements. Findings provide support for the notion that person-plus-tool systems can be classified as extended cognitive systems and a framework for quantifying system-level properties of these systems. Implications concerning future research on extended cognition are discussed.     

Self-Defeating Behavior Workshops: Systems Approach for Hard-to-Serve Veterans

For the past two and one-half years, the self-defeating behavior (SDB) theory has been applied to a population of veterans who had a history of problems in job training, vocational placement, and academic settings. A group-therapy structure meeting eight times during a four-week period is the basic approach of the SDB seminar. In conjunction with the SDB seminar, a variety of support people and agencies have combined efforts to develop a systems approach to helping the veterans eliminate behaviors that are self-defeating. Results from the systems approach have been excellent.     

Aikido: A Model for Brief Strategic Therapy

Building on Watzlawick's observations of certain similarities between judo and brief strategic therapy, this paper develops theoretic and pragmatic parallels between brief strategic therapy and a sophisticated martial art system, Aikido. After presenting the contextual similarities of the two conceptual systems as parallel “challenges” to the therapist and Aikidoist to effect change, the similarities in basic principles of practice are presented. The similarities in the philosophical and attitudinal positions of these conceptual systems are then delineated, followed by a case example that integrates the various concepts in the paper.     

Looking at Systems as Process

This article proposes that the social systems family therapists are concerned with may usefully be conceived of as interactive processes. It discusses limitations to the organismic view, in which social systems are seen as autonomous entities with boundaries, internal structures, and self-perpetuating behaviors, and argues, from Maturana and Varela, that social systems are qualitatively different from organisms. It develops from chaos theory an alternative view in which social systems are seen as complex nonlinear processes. It proposes that this view can free the therapist from the notions of family dysfunction and the systemic function of symptoms, and from reifications in which the family is seen as having covert rules, keeping secrets, neutralizing the therapist, and the like. This view leads to a redefinition of the therapist's place in the system and to the conclusion that family therapists can only influence systemic process by working with individuals.     

Councils as Empowering Contexts: Mobilizing the Front Line to Foster Systems Change in the Response to Intimate Partner Violence

Collaborative approaches to change are common, and though evidence for their effectiveness is equivocal, there is growing support that councils facilitate desired changes in the systems response to intimate partner violence. Questions remain regarding the specific mechanisms by which this change is facilitated, and recent work has focused on examining the intermediate processes through which councils may produce more distal change. One such mechanism relates to the potential of councils to be empowering contexts for their membership, often comprised of front-line providers and responders. The present study examines what factors are positively related to perceived individual empowerment as an outcome for members, and importantly, considers not only perceived council context, but also the perceived organizational contexts in which each council member is employed. Study findings suggest that both contexts-council and organizational-are important when considering the degree to which members are empowered. Specifically, member participation, council leadership, and supportive council and organizational climates are significantly positively related to the degree to which councils function as empowering contexts. However, the effect of belonging to a council with a supportive climate, characterized in particular by shared power in decision-making, is stronger when members are from high organizational support settings versus low support settings.     

The gender similarities hypothesis

The differences model, which argues that males and females are vastly different psychologically, dominates the popular media. Here, the author advances a very different view, the gender similarities hypothesis, which holds that males and females are similar on most, but not all, psychological variables. Results from a review of 46 meta-analyses support the gender similarities hypothesis. Gender differences can vary substantially in magnitude at different ages and depend on the context in which measurement occurs. Overinflated claims of gender differences carry substantial costs in areas such as the workplace and relationships.     

系统论视角下重型急性胰腺炎的治疗

重症急性胰腺炎(severe acute pancreatitis,SAP)是临床上常见的急腹症之一,本文试从系统生物学角度出发,探讨其在SAP营养支持治疗、抗生素的选用以及外科手术治疗中的应用。强调应用整体的、综合的、发展的观点去研究SAP的治疗,从而找到最佳治疗方案。     

Hyperformulas and Solid Algebraic Systems

Defining a composition operation on sets of formulas one obtains a many-sorted algebra which satisfies the superassociative law and one more identity. This algebra is called the clone of formulas of the given type. The interpretations of formulas on an algebraic system of the same type form a many-sorted algebra with similar properties. The satisfaction of a formula by an algebraic system defines a Galois connection between classes of algebraic systems of the same type and collections of formulas. Hypersubstitutions are mappings sending pairs of operation symbols to pairs of terms of the corresponding arities and relation symbols to formulas of the same arities. Using hypersubstitutions we define hyperformulas. Satisfaction of a hyperformula by an algebraic system defines a second Galois connection between classes of algebraic systems of the same type and collections of formulas. A class of algebraic systems is said to be solid if every formula which is satisfied is also satisfied as a hyperformula. On the basis of these two Galois connections we construct a conjugate pair of additive closure operators and are able to characterize solid classes of algebraic systems. Presented by Wojciech Buszkowski     

基于广义谢弗竖的分析性模态公理系统

沿着安德森等人开创的方向,我们将分析性公理系统从经典逻辑推向模态逻辑,所定义的广义谢弗竖混合了模态词和广义析舍。在这篇论文中,我们给出常见的正规模态逻辑的分析性公理系统及其强完全性定理和插值定理,并讨论演绎关系的性质：单调性和切割性。     

Dream experience and a revisionist account of delusions of misidentification

Standard accounts of delusion explain them as responses to experience. Cognitive models of feature binding in the face recognition systems explain how experiences of mismatch between feelings of "familiarity" and faces can arise. Similar mismatches arise in phenomena such as déjà and jamais vu in which places and scenes are mismatched to feelings of familiarity. These cognitive models also explain similarities between the phenomenology of these delusions and some dream states which involve mismatch between faces, feelings of familiarity and identities. Given these similarities it makes sense to retain that aspect of the standard account in the face of revisionist arguments that feature binding anomalies which lead to delusions of misidentification are not consciously experienced.     

Realization for Causal Nondeterministic Input-Output Systems

There are two well-developed formalizations of discrete time dynamic systems that evidently share many concerns but suffer from a lack of mutual awareness. One formalization is classical systems and automata theory. The other is the logic of actions in which the situation and event calculi are the strongest representatives. Researchers in artificial intelligence are likely to be familiar with the latter but not the former. This is unfortunate, for systems and automata theory have much to offer by way of insight into problems raised in the logics of action. This paper is an outline of how the input-output view of systems and its associated solution of state realization may be applied to the formalization of dynamics that uses a situation calculus approach. In particular, because the latter usually admits incompletely specified dynamics, which induces a non-deterministic input-output system behavior, we first show that classical state realization can still be achieved if the behavior is causal. This is a novel systems-theoretic result. Then we proceed to indicate how situation calculi dynamic specifications can be understood in systems-theoretic terms, and how automata can be viewed as models of such specifications. As techniques for reasoning about automata are abundant, this will provide yet more tools for reasoning about actions.     

Cut-Elimination and Quantification in Canonical Systems

Canonical Propositional Gentzen-type systems are systems which in addition to the standard axioms and structural rules have only pure logical rules with the sub-formula property, in which exactly one occurrence of a connective is introduced in the conclusion, and no other occurrence of any connective is mentioned anywhere else. In this paper we considerably generalize the notion of a “canonical system” to first-order languages and beyond. We extend the Propositional coherence criterion for the non-triviality of such systems to rules with unary quantifiers and show that it remains constructive. Then we provide semantics for such canonical systems using 2-valued non-deterministic matrices extended to languages with quantifiers, and prove that the following properties are equivalent for a canonical system G: (1) G admits Cut-Elimination, (2) G is coherent, and (3) G has a characteristic 2-valued non-deterministic matrix.     

A Dynamical Systems Approach to Skill Acquisition

This paper argues that the answer to the question, what has to be learned, needs to be established before the question, how is it learned, can be meaningfully addressed. Based on this conviction, some of the limitations of current and past research on skill acquisition are discussed. Motivated by the dynamical systems approach, the question of “what has to be learned” was tackled by setting up a non-linear mathematical model of the task (i.e. learning to make sideways movements on a ski apparatus). On the basis of this model, the phase lag between movements of the platform of the apparatus and the actions of the subject was isolated as an ensemble variable reflecting the timing of the subject in relation to the dynamics of the apparatus. This variable was subsequently used to study “how” the task was learned in a discovery learning experiment, in which predictions stemming from the model were tested and confirmed. Overall, these findings provided support for the hypothesis, formulated by Bernstein (1967), that one of the important effects of practice is learning to make use of reactive forces, thereby reducing the need for active muscular forces.

In addition, the data from a previous learning experiment on the ski apparatus—the results of which had been equivocal—were reconsidered. The use of phase lag as a dependent variable provided a resolution of those findings.

On the basis of the confirmatory testing of predictions stemming from the model and the clarification of findings from a previous experiment, it is argued that the dynamical systems approach put forward here provides a powerful method for pursuing issues in skill acquisition. Suggestions are made as to how this approach can be used to systematically pursue the questions that arise as a natural outcome of the experimental evidence presented here.     

Moving Forward with Systems of Care: Needs and New Directions

The articles in this Special Issue on system change within systems of care (SOCs) provide guidance regarding strategies for modifying SOCs to address the needs of different populations, and ways for changing systems to support more positive child and family outcomes. This paper frames central needs, unanswered questions, and issues that remain for those working to implement SOCs. Specific needs and new directions considered include: (1) rigorous implementation-focused research to identify the necessary and sufficient elements of SOCs and the primary practice approach currently used in SOCs, wraparound; (2) applied research to assess SOCs and document their effectiveness in non-standard or non-traditional settings (i.e., non-mental health settings, including child welfare, juvenile justice, local housing authorities); (3) controlled outcome studies for school-based wraparound initiatives; (4) research to document the effectiveness of the family support efforts that are part of most SOCs; and (5) attention to context, for families, service providers, and collaborative implementation efforts, by researchers and providers alike. Progress in these areas can inform well-targeted system change efforts in the context of SOCs, a critical need given changes in federal funding for these initiatives.     

The Community Response to Rape: Victims' Experiences with the Legal, Medical, and Mental Health Systems

This research examined how the legal, medical, and mental health systems respond to the needs of rape victims. A national random sample of rape victim advocates (N = 168) participated in a phone interview that assessed the resources available to victims in their communities. as well as the specific experiences of the most recent rape victim with which they had completed work. Results from hierarchical and iterative cluster analysis revealed three patterns in victims' experiences with the legal, medical, and mental health systems. One group of victims had relatively positive experiences with all three systems, a second group had beneficial outcomes with only the medical systems, and the final group had difficult encounters with all three systems. Multinominal logistic regression was then used to evaluate an ecological model predicting cluster membership. Community-level factors as well as features of the assault and characteristics of the victims predicted unique variance in victims' outcomes with the legal, medical, and mental health systems. These findings provide empirical support for a basic tenet of ecological theory: environmental structures and practices influence individual outcomes. Implications for ecological theory and interventions to improve the community response to rape victims' needs are discussed.