Trial and error
Trial and error ( english trial and error ) is a heuristic method to solve problems , be tried in so long permissible solutions, was until the desired solution is found. In doing so, the possibility of failure is often consciously accepted. In colloquial language, this procedure is called "trying out".
History and application
The term was coined by Herbert Spencer Jennings and W. Holmes. According to this, an organism becomes sensitive to cues through drive / motivation in order to obtain the relaxation classified as pleasant. In order to achieve this relaxation, i.e. to reach this goal, the organism tries several ways (experiment). Unsuccessful attempts are by Edward Thorndike as a mistake (error) called; in the case of successful attempts, the achievement of the goal is referred to as an effect.
Robert Yerkes experimented with earthworms , which he made crawl through a T-shaped passage from the base to the crossbeam. When turning to the left, the earthworm first had to crawl over sandpaper and then received a light electric shock; when turning to the right, the worm was able to reach the target without obstructing difficulties. Initially, the worms turned right or left with the same frequency. After twenty to one hundred experiments , the worm had learned that it had to crawl to the right at the fork in order to avoid the trouble that would otherwise await it.
Thorndike was also able to demonstrate that trial and error in cats is an integral part of the learning process.
In the philosophy of science of critical rationalism , according to Karl Popper, progress in knowledge takes place through trial and error (see falsificationism ).
In computer science, there are many algorithmic procedures based on the trial-and-error approach, e.g. B. the brute force method . These include classic backtracking - algorithms that recursively search a set of possible solutions is found to a correct solution.
Many optimization methods iterate on a trial and error basis .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Lexicon of Handling Devices and Industrial Robotics , p. 284.
- ↑ Jochen Musseler, Wolfgang Prinz (Ed.): General Psychology. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-8274-1128-9 , p. 404.
- ↑ Reinhold Zippelius: Basic concepts of legal and state sociology, § 3 (experimental world orientation), 3rd edition. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-16-151801-0 .