Negative feedback is inhibition, of a process, initiated by a product or outcome of that process. Negative feedback tends to make a system self-regulating; it can produce stability and reduce the effect of fluctuations. Negative feedback loops where just the right amount of correction is applied in the most timely manner can be very stable, accurate, and responsive. Negative feedback is widely used in mechanical and electronic engineering, but it also occurs naturally within living organisms, and can be seen in many other fields from chemistry and economics to social behaviour and the climate.
In some systems controlled by a negative feedback loop, the level of some measured parameter is compared to a reference value, and any difference triggers an action that reduces the gap between the two levels.
Read more about Negative Feedback: Overview
Famous quotes containing the word negative:
“Most literature on the culture of adolescence focuses on peer pressure as a negative force. Warnings about the “wrong crowd” read like tornado alerts in parent manuals. . . . It is a relative term that means different things in different places. In Fort Wayne, for example, the wrong crowd meant hanging out with liberal Democrats. In Connecticut, it meant kids who weren’t planning to get a Ph.D. from Yale.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)