A difficult-to-define concept. One things is clear though: it is not the same as complication; the human body with its interlocking systems and rhythms is complex while a bad piece of theatre is complicated because it does not cohere. Intuitively, complexity is usually greatest in systems whose components form intricate patterns and lowest when a …
Author Archives: Brian Hopkins
Competitive exclusion model
A model of imprinting proposed by Patrick Bateson that posits experience with the imprinting stimulus as the causal factor for the end of the sensitive period. The model also holds that exposure to an imprinting object makes another one less effective, and leads individuals (chicks in this case) to prefer the one to which they …
Complex system
In a non-technical sense, a complex system is one in which the number of interacting independent components is large, there are multiple pathways by which the system can evolve over time, and whose evolution is sensitive to small perturbations or to initial conditions. In such systems, emergence of novel properties can occur (i.e., features that …
Competence (psychology)
The display of (age-) adequate abilities or skills for a particular task or situation. While this definition applies to individuals, the concept of competence can be extended to the group level. Like intelligence, it covers a number of different areas such as emotional competence, perceived competence, physical competence and social competence. See Ability, Developmental readiness, …
Competence (embryology)
A reactive state permitting directional development and differentiation in response to a stimulus or organiser. What constitutes an organiser, a concept originally introduced into embryology by Hans Spemann (1869-1941), continues to be a topic of intense research. The concept of competence in embryology is closely associated with that of sensitive period. In biology, more generally, …
Competence (linguistics)
Also referred to as linguistic competence, it was brought into linguistics by Noam Chomsky to refer to an idealized mature speaker’s underlying knowledge of the grammatical rules of a natural language, in particular generative grammar and transformational grammar, something he contrasts with performance. Competence in this sense, according to Chomsky, who labeled it formal linguistics, …
Comparative method
The combined evaluation of both similarities and differences in behavior and its roots across species, developmental periods, individuals, and cultures. In linguistics, it is a method to detect genetic relationships through reconstructing the common ancestor of the languages under consideration, and by devising a plausible sequence of regular changes that originated from a common ancestor. …
Community (ecology)
A well-defined assemblage of populations inhabiting a common environment. Communities are usually named with reference to a dominant species’ feature (e.g., a community of rhesus monkeys) or a prominent physical feature (e.g., a community of mountain dwellers). See Cohort, Community survey, Competitive exclusion model, Ecology, Habitat (ecology), Levels of organization, Niche (ecology), Population (biology and …
Community survey
A research design in which conclusions are intended to be drawn about the whole of the people in the community (usually defined geographically), or a particular sub-group within it. Attention is therefore given to the representativeness of the sample from which data are recorded. See Community (ecology), External validity, Generalization
Communication
A process occurring when a person transmits a message to another person who receives it. The message may be comprised of verbal (e.g., thoughts, feelings) or non-verbal information (e.g., gestures, emotional expressions) or both. Both the person transmitting the message and the person receiving it must share a common code (e.g., system of shared symbols, …