cellular automata

computer programs used in the study of artificial life. Typically, a display is used on a computer screen, split into an array of cells, with an initial pattern of occupied cells. The pattern evolves through a sequence of steps according to certain rules (e.g., whether or not certain numbers of neighboring cells are occupied). Programs of this type have been used in investigations of such phenomena as social behavior and evolutionary development. [developed in the 1940s by Austrian-born U.S. mathematician John von Neumann (1903–1957)]

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Psychology term of the day

March 17th 2025

dominance–subordination

a form of social relationship within groups with a leader or dominant member who has priority of access to resources over other, subordinate members of the community. Among nonhuman animals, dominance–subordination relationships are highly organized in troops of baboons, in which dominant males have more access to food resources and mates than do subordinate males and all males often appear to have dominance over females. In hyena groups, the relationship is reversed, with males subordinate to females.