information about the results of a process which is used to change the process itself. Negative feedback reduces the error or deviation from a goal state. Positive feedback increases the deviation from an initial state. (
Umpleby )
A flow of
information back to its origin. A circular causal process in which a
system 's
output is returned to its
input, possibly involving other systems in the loop. Negative feedback or
deviation reducing feedback decreases the input and is inherently stabilizing (
see stability, regulation ,
homeostasis ), e.g., the governor of a steam engine. Positive feedback or
deviation amplifying feedback increases the input and is inherently destabilizing, explosive or vicious, e.g., the
growth of a city when more people create new opportunities which in turn attract more people to live there. Feedback is not the term for a response to a stimulus rather for the circularity implied in both. (
Krippendorff )
