algorithm

n. a well-defined procedure or set of rules that is used to solve a problem or accomplish a task or that is used for conducting a series of computations. An example is trying all the possible combinations in sequence in order to open a combination lock. Algorithms, which may be represented visually as flow charts, are essential to computer programming and information processing. The word is derived from the name of the 9th-century Arab mathematician al-Khwarizmi. Compare heuristic. See also British Museum algorithm; brute force; exhaustive search. —algorithmic adj.

Browse dictionary by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Psychology term of the day

December 23rd 2024

Edwards Social Desirability Scale

a 39-item inventory derived from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and used to measure whether respondents are truthful in self-reports or are misrepresenting themselves in a way likely to be seen as positive by others. [developed in the 1950s by Allen L. Edwards]