Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Systems Thinking > Systems Thinking Final Exam Study Cards > Flashcards

Systems Thinking Final Exam Study Cards Flashcards

1
Q

Which of the following is not an aspect of complex adaptive systems?

A. Multiple interacting components
B. Nonlinear feedback and response
C. Collective, self-similarity
D. Emergent behavior

A

C. Collective, self-similarity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Which of the following is not a system?

A. Car
B. Football team
C. Marriage
D. Sands in the beach

A

D. Sands in the beach

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Which of the following provide examples of self-governance?

A. Fraternities and sororities
B. Cemetery districts
C. Homeowner associations
D. All of the above

A

D. All of the above

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Which of the following is a property of systems?

A. Relationships/interconnections
B. Components
C. Function or purpose
D. All of the above

A

D. All of the above

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Which of the following are not correct about systems?

A. A system is more than sum of its parts
B. Systems can be nested within systems
C. Interconnections are the most obvious feature of systems
D. System structure is the source of the system behavior

A

A. A system is more than sum of its parts

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Why would optimization be a bad strategy to manage complex systems?

A. The nature of the system is constantly changing-dynamic
B. There is often no optimal state
C. It is usually not clear what to improve or optimize
D. All of the above

A

D. All of the above

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Social-ecological systems are complex adaptive systems because:

a. They have direct, linear feedback loops
b. They are comprised of multiple, interacting components
c. They adapt through learning but do not evolve
d. All of the above

A

B. They are comprised of multiple, interacting components

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Which of the following is less likely to be a wicked problem?

A. Global climate change
B. Social injustice
C. Sea lion problem in La Jolla
D. GMO foods

A

C. Sea lions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Which of the following provides an example of sensitivity to initial conditions?

A. The staggered starting position in a race
B. Weather patterns
C. Political elections
D. All of the above

A

B. Weather patterns

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Why is it harder to solve wicked problems?

A. there is more uncertainty
B. there are many stakeholders having conflict of interest
C. They require more resources to be solved
D. All of the above

A

D. All of the above

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Which of the following are aspects of a complex adaptive system?

A. Many parts
B. Non-linear interactions
C. Emergent collective properties
D. All of the above

A

D. All of the above

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is the first step to solving a problem?

A. Problem/goal definition
B. Brainstorming
C. Formulating the relationships
D. Modeling

A

A. problem/goal definition

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Maxwell’s demon:

A. Relates to entropy
B. Is about mental “work”
C. Is a thought experiment
D. All of the above

A

D. All of the above

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What is slow about a slow variable?

A. Its rate of change
B. The speed of its discovery
C. The interactions of the denominator
D. How it catalzyes the fast variables

A

A. Its rate of change

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Which of the following is not correct for casual loop diagrams?

A. CLD is useful to capture feedback structure of a system
B. CLD must show every variable in the real system
C. CLD is an overview of the system observed where the complex relationships are explained in a simplified form
D. Variable names in CLD shouldn’t be a verb

A

B. CLD must show every variable in the real system

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Why is it necessary to conceptualize systems?

A. To capture the feedback structure of the system
B. to define the boundary of the problem (scope)
C. to identify the most important system elements
D. All of the above

A

D. All of the above

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Resilience is neither good nor bad

True
False

A

True

18
Q

Once we pass the threshold for a particular system, it could be very hard to return to its previous state. Why?

A. the feedback mechanism of the system changes after the regime changed
B. discovering slow variables are harder after the regime changed
C. discovering fast variables are easier after the regime change
D. All of the above

A

A. the feedback mechanism of the system changes after the regime changed

19
Q

Which of the following describes the back loop of the adaptive cycle?

A. it is a time of uncertainty and surprise
B. can be described as release and reorganization
C. fits with Joseph Shumpeter’s “creative destruction”
D. All of the above

A

D. All of the above

20
Q

Which of the following is not correct?

A. stocks are accumulation points
B. controlling stocks is possible only by controlling their inflows and outflows
C. Auxiliary variables help to keep flow equations simple and understandable
D. Reinforcing feedback loops are circles of cause and effect that counter a change with a push in the opposite direction

A

D. Reinforcing feedback loops are circles of cause and effect that counter a change with a push in the opposite direction

21
Q

The Halting Problem:

A. eliminated the uses of Turing machines
B. was one of Godel’s contributions to society
C. answered the question of whether mathematics is decidable
D. all of the above

A

C. answered the question of whether mathematics is decidable

22
Q

Stock variables are harder to manage. Why?

A. they change slowly
B. stocks can only be changed indirectly by its flows
C. stocks introduce delays
D. all of the above

A

D. all of the above

23
Q

The r phase of adaptive cycle is:

A. generally emerges from the conservation phase
B. a period of rapid growth and high resilience
C. about collapse and rebirth
D. all of the above

A

B. a period of rapid growth and high resilience

24
Q

Which of the following is not correct about front loops of adaptive cycle?

A. r and k phase are in the front loop
B. front loop is about the time of growth and increasing connectivity
C. there is more instability and uncertainty in front loop
D. capital (human, economic, etc) acccumulates in front loop

A

C. there is more instability and uncertainty in front loop

25
Q

Robustness is:

A. analagous to general resilience
B. is about trade-offs and responses to specific disturbances
C. may often decrease adaptive capacity
D. focuses on function diversity

A

B. is about trade-offs and responses to specific disturbances

26
Q

Which of the following is more likely to be a different system in terms of its feedback structure (kind of zoo animal/system)?

A. population
B. industrial economy
C. business inventory
D. none of the above

A

C. business inventory

27
Q

Which of the following is not correct?

A. nonrenewable resources are stock-limited
B. renewable resources are flow-limited
C. delays are more of the main causes of oscillations
D. dynamic equilibrium for capital stock is not possible in nonrenewable resource dependent economies

A

D. dynamic equilibrium for capital stock is not possible in nonrenewable resource dependent economies

28
Q

In an economy depending on your non-renewable resources, the faster you grow, the faster you collapse.

True
False

A

True

29
Q

Which of the following can help strengthen general resilience?

A. diversity
B. modularity
C. tightness of feedback
D. all of the above

A

D. all of the above

30
Q

What do the following have in common: Manage a car dealer’s inventory, cash in a bank account, and water in a reservoir.

A. They all have at least one balancing loop
B. They all have delays
C. There is nothing in common

A

A. They all have at least one balancing loop

B. They all have delays

31
Q

Fractals:

A. are dimensionless
B. were created by Herbert Simon to look at hierarchy
C. exhibit self-similarity
D. lack detail once they are magnified

A

C. exhibit self-similarity

32
Q

What is the first step when modeling a dynamic system?

A. problem definition
B. identifying stocks
C. conceptualization of problem
D. simulating the system

A

A. problem definition

33
Q

Punctuated equilibrium:

A. is used exclusively by paleontologists
B. builds on theories of historical contingency
C. challenges the gradualism of evolution
D. has little support in the fossil record

A

C. challenges the gradualism of evolution

34
Q

Which of the following is correct about lookup variables in Venism?

A. they are used to define relationships between two variables quantitatively
B. they change slowly
C. they have no units
D. none of the above

A

A. they are used to define relationships between two variables quantitatively

35
Q

The fractal dimension of something is the number of copies of a self-similar object at each level of magnification.

True
False

A

True

36
Q

Which of the following is correct about measures of complexity?

A. there is a lot of debate about how to measure complexity
B. using “complexity as logical depth” can reveal information about how the system functions at different spatial scales
C. “complexity as complexity as algorithmic information” might be used to explore mathematical concepts and other logic-based systems such as computer programs
D. all of the above

A

D. all of the above

37
Q

Scale-free networks:

A. share characteristics with fractals
B. are resilient to hub targeting
C. are rarely found in the natural world
D. all of the above

A

A. share characteristics with fractals

38
Q

Which of the following system traps can also be an opportunity?

A. policy resistance
B. escalation
C. rule beating
D. all of the above

A

D. all of the above

39
Q

Zipf’s law:

A. can help librarians sort books and texts
B. has multiple proposed causal mechanisms for its occurrence
C. explains metabolic scaling phenomena
D. does not follow a power law distribution

A

B. has multiple proposed causal mechanisms for its occurrence

40
Q

Which of the following is a possible way to avoid “success-to-successful” system trap?

A. diversifying resources for the players in the system
B. Enforcing and developing fair “antitrust laws”
C. creating incentives for the weaker
D. all of the above

A

D. all of the above

41
Q

Strengthening the information flows in a system is a more effective leverage point compared to:

A. changing the goal of a system
B. changing the stock and flow structures in a system
C. changing the rules of a system
D. changing the paradigm of a system

A

B. changing the stock and flow structures in a system

42
Q

Which of the following is correct about self-organization?

A. it is the strongest form of resilience
B. self-organization produces diversity and unpredictability
C. complex forms of self-organization may arise from simple rules and structures
D. all of the above

A

D. all of the above

Systems Thinking (1 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions