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closed-loop system

1. a system that recirculates materials, information, or energy without external input.

2. a self-regulating system in which feedback from sensors enables a control mechanism to maintain a set of operating conditions. An example would be a central heating or air-conditioning system that is set to maintain an environment at a particular temperature. Compare open-loop system.

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Psychology term of the day

January 14th 2025

Kruskal–Shepard scaling

Kruskal–Shepard scaling

a type of multidimensional scaling applied to judgments of similarity or dissimilarity for pairs of items (e.g., cities). The dissimilarities are represented by distances between items in a highly dimensional space: Larger distances indicate greater dissimilarity. [William Henry Kruskal (1919–2005), U.S. statistician; Roger N. Shepard (1929–  ), U.S. experimental and cognitive psychologist]