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Gödel’s proof

a proof that in any logic system at least as powerful as arithmetic it is possible to state theorems that can be proved to be neither true nor false, using only the proof rules of that system. Published in 1931, this incompleteness result was very challenging to the mathematics of the time. British mathematician Alan Turing (1912–1954), with his proof of the undecidability of the halting problem, extended this result to computation (see Turing machine). [Kurt Gödel (1906–1978), Austrian-born U.S. mathematician]

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Psychology term of the day

November 22nd 2024

constant error

constant error

a systematic error in some particular direction. Constant error is computed as the average positive or negative difference between the observed and actual values along a dimension of interest. For example, if a weight of 1 kg is judged on average to be 1.5 kg, and a weight of 2 kg is judged to be 2.5 kg, the constant error is 500 g. See also absolute error; random error.