Feedback+(Glossary)

Feedback
The thoughts and opinions of an individual or group conveyed about a specific piece of work, concept, or object. Feedback is often an influential aspect during the thought process or creation of a project as it can bring to light certain perspectives that have yet to surface. It may be positive or negative however, it is up to the individual to take it for what it is and decided whether this new information will affect the end result of the project.

The concept of feedback originated in the hard sciences, with applications in electronics, computers, servomechanisms, and various cybernetic devices. The concept was adopted and adapted by the behavioral sciences.

Feedback: A Distorted View

The adoption by the behavioral sciences of the concept of feedback, a well-defined technical term, has not been without mishap. Nowhere is this clearer than in the feedback given as part of an employee’s annual or quarterly performance review. Much of what passes for feedback there isn’t feedback at all. At its worst, it is a mix of unfounded criticism, irrelevant personal judgment, and expectations that are being shared for the very first time. Positive and negative feedback, strictly utilitarian terms in their technical usage, have taken on affective shadings in the contexts of performance appraisals and interpersonal interactions. Positive feedback is viewed as complimentary, pleasing and, generally speaking, consistent with the recipient’s self-image. Negative feedback is seen as critical, apt to be rejected if not delivered skillfully, and almost as unpleasant to give as to receive. In both cases, feedback is seen as emanating from sources external to the recipient.

Feedback: A Technical View

In its first meaning, feedback referred to information about an actual condition or position with respect to some ordered or required condition or position. For example, the gunfire control computer located in the plotting room on board the destroyers of my day calculated an ordered position that was transmitted to a gun mount (see Figure 1). The ordered position was received by a controller in the gun mount. It compared the gun mount’s actual position with its ordered position and any difference resulted in an error signal that was fed to amplifiers controlling the motors that positioned the gun mount. In turn, this caused the gun mount to move in a direction that reduced the difference between actual and ordered positions.



Resources:

1. "Feedback About Feedback." 24 Sept 2007, [|http://home.att.net/~nickols/feedback.htm]

Image:

2."The Plotting Room." 24 Sept 2007, [|http://home.att.net/~nickols/gun_mount.gif]