General Systems Theory (GST) & Cybernetics – Flashcards
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General Systems Theory & Cybernetics
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The theoretical foundations of the family therapy movement
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Eco-systemic perspective
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The family therapy movement led to a shift away from mechanistic and reductionistic Lockean philosophy to a more ...
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Father of GST
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Ludwig von Bertalanffy
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Organism (von Bertalanffy)
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Self-regulating form of life with mutually dependent, interactive subsystems; an open system engaged in continuous flow of energy/information with its environment; capacity for autonomous activity within the system
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Father of cybernetics
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Gregory Bateson (Anthropologist interested in self-correcting systems)
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Bateson's view of communication
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The means through which systems maintain themselves through positive and negative feedback loops
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Primary principle of GST
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The whole or system is more than the sum of its parts (essential to understanding any system)
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Expansive rather than reductionistic
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Systems theory
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Emergents
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Distinct entities of a whole system that are not present in the parts/individuals; GST
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von Bertalanffy's view
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perspectivism; described in Robots, Men, and Minds (1967)
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James Miller
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pioneer of general living systems theory (GLST)
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General Living Systems Theory (GLST)
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exhaustive categorization of the elements of family systems within one broad framework; isomorphism
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Cybernetics
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Study of organization, pattern, and process (instead of matter, material, and content)
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Communication
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A system's mechanism for control or correction; part of GST and cybernetics
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Cybernetic system
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Framework that functions according to laws of recursiveness, feedback, and self-correction
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Boundaries (GST/C)
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Theoretical lines of demarcation in a family; define a system as an entity; separate subsystems from one another; separate the system from its environment
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Semi-permeability
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All boundaries resist introductions but can never completely block out what lies beyond the boundary
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Boundary interface
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Regions between each subsystem of the family and between the family and the suprasystem (society); aka familial boundary in family systems therapy
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Familial boundary
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Regions between each subsystem of the family and between the family and the suprasystem (society); aka boundary interface in cybernetics
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Properties of boundaries
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Permeability, selectivity, and variability
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Open system
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A system that interacts relatively freely with the environment
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Closed system
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A system that is more isolated and resists interactions with the environment
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Family models and maps
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Used to manage boundaries and make sense of a family's individual and collective realities; Used by therapist to identify, negotiate, and alter family boundaries
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Circular causality
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The mutual influence of two beings interacting in a recursive relationship; e.g., it is not useful to determine if the egg came before the chicken or after (aka mutual causality)
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Linear causality
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An event at one time causes another to occur at a later time; e.g., a chicken lays an egg
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Entropy
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A system's tendency to break down; threatens the survival of the system
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Negative entropy
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A state that emerges when a system is balanced between closeness and openness; Information is allowed to enter the system and change can occur when appropriate
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Equifinality
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An organism or system can reach a certain end state from a variety of different sources, conditions, and means or from different initial states; Therefore, a therapist focuses on patterns and processes when working with a family, rather than individual topics. e.g., depression from bio or trauma
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Equipotentiality
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Different end states can occur from the same initial conditions e.g., a single trauma may lead to depression/PTSD, have little impact, lead to growth
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Feedback Loops
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Self-correcting mechanisms by which families attempt to adjust deviations from established patterns and maintain organizational integrity; outside the system = feedback, within the system = input; also the process by which information about past behaviors is fed back into the system for self-maintainenance
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Key Concept of Cybernetics
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Feedback loops
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Negative feedback
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Attempts to keep the system at a steady state; attenuation; decreases deviation and maintains homeostasis; controls behavior within previously defined limits; aspect of systemic structure; e.g., thermostat in a home; e.g., child's behavior exceeds limit, parent reacts to bring back to homeostasis, child stops acting out = parent's response stops
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Positive feedback
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amplifies growth and change to a new homeostasis; increases deviation; aspect of systemic structure; e.g., family wants to decrease child's tantrums, mother yells at child, tantrums increase
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Homeostasis
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Tendency of a system to resist change and maintain dynamic equilibrium (steady state); maintained by negative feedback and input loops; principle emerged from cybernetics, introduced to FT by Don Jackson
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Isomorphism
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"same structure"; phenomenon in which 2+ systems/subsystems exhibit similar or parallel structures; structures or patterns are repeated from one level of a system to another; e.g., therapist ses a family that rejects suggestions of change and becomes rejecting of supervisor's suggestions for change in tx approach
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Metaphor
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A symbolic representation that captures the basic, essential features of an object/event by using a description of a different category of objects/events; illustrates important information about and individual family and how it functions
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Morphogenesis
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A system's tendency towards growth, creativity, change, and innovation; similar in function to amplifying/positive feedback loops; bring values of behavior into new ranges
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Morphostasis
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A system's tendency toward stability; similar in function to attenuating/negative feedback loops; reduce deviation from existing values/establish system goals
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Process
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Dynamic aspects that are changing within a system; distinct from content and structure
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Process v. structure
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Process = infrequent behavior Structure = frequent, predictable, and definable patterns of behavior e.g., occasional marital argument = process; every payday Dad gets drunk and argues w/ Mom = structure
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Recursiveness
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Reciprocal or circular causality; the mutual influence of interactions between a system, its environment, and its own subsystems; "Behavior A and B are complementary, no element exists in a vacuum"; e.g., in a couple, a "distancer" does not exist without a "pursuer" and vice versa
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"Meaning" in cybernetics/systems
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Derived from the relationship between individuals and elements, each defining the other; Causality is circular and is located at the interface of relationships
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Ripple effect
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How a change that occurs at one level of a system will result in changes across other levels of the system
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Structures
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Aspects of a system that are relatively static/enduring; Can be adapted, changed, and influenced by a variety of events... There is no one true structure for any given system; Defined by the observer's perspective
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System
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A unit bounded by a set of interrelated elements; Exhibits coherent behaviors
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Therapist's point of operation
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Interface of the boundary of the family and the outside world
