Modelling & Design Samimi

A comprehensive set of question-and-answer flashcards covering key concepts from Weeks 1-7, including reasoning methods, modelling notations, systems theory, computing paradigms, information theory, optimisation, narratives, argumentation, and social-aware design.

What are the three classical types of reasoning?

Deduction, Induction, and Abduction

Give an example of deductive reasoning using birds.

"If bird(x) then flies(x)" and "Tweety is a bird" therefore "Tweety flies"

Induction

Which type of reasoning infers a general rule from many observations?

Which reasoning type forms a best-guess explanation for a fact?

Abduction

Name three popular graphical notations for procedures.

Flow charts, Finite-state machines, and Petri nets

States

In a Petri net, what do Places represent?

Events

In a Petri net, what do Transitions represent?

Tokens

What moves through a Petri net to show process progress?

How are Petri nets formally defined?

As a bipartite graph (P,T,A) with Places P, Transitions T, and Arcs A

What is the main advantage of Petri nets over flow charts or FSMs?

They naturally model parallel processes

Define a model in the context of Week 1.

A representation that helps understand, explore, or reproduce aspects of the world

State two reasons why explicit modelling is useful.

Deepens understanding through reasoning/simulation and improves communication through focused abstractions

What are the three classical types of reasoning?

Deduction, Induction, and Abduction

What is the core issue provinces of modelling try to address?

Making sense of reality and complexity

Weinberg distinguishes three kinds of complexity. Name them.

Organized simplicity, Unorganized complexity, Organized complexity

Which philosophical stance combines Critical Naturalism and Transcendental Realism?

Critical Realism

A reference (target), direction of control, and the mechanism itself

In control theory, what three elements define any regulative mechanism?

Differentiate Syntax and Semantics in modelling languages.

Syntax is the valid composition of symbols; Semantics is their meaning relative to the domain

What are the three basic kinds of semiotic signs?

Index, Icon, and Symbol

Give an example of an iconic sign.

A picture of a cat representing a cat

How does Pragmatics extend Syntax and Semantics?

It studies language use within social context and purpose

Complete the slogan: Models are used for and for .

Reasoning; Language

Define a system in Week 2 terms.

A set of interacting components forming an integrated whole

Objects persist in space; Events occur in time and change objects

Explain the difference between Objects and Events

What is Cybernetics concerned with?

Control and communication in animals and machines

State Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety in one sentence.

A system must have at least as much variety as the environment it needs to regulate

What is an autopoietic system?

A system that produces and maintains itself (e.g. living cells)

How do autopoietic systems differ from allopoietic systems?

Autopoietic produce themselves; allopoietic produce something other than themselves

What does the Viable System Model aim to ensure?

That a system can continue to exist (viability)

Name Mintzberg’s five organisational parts.

Strategic apex, Middle line, Operating core, Techno-structure, Support staff

List three of Gareth Morgan’s metaphors for organisations.

Machines, Organisms, Brains, Cultures, Psychic Prisons, Flux & Transformation, Instruments of Domination (any three)

Who built the first working mechanical adder ‘Pascaline’?

Blaise Pascal (≈1650)

Which inventor proposed the Analytical Engine and inspired Ada Lovelace?

Charles Babbage

What three resources matter in all computing according to Week 3?

Data, Algorithm (Code), and Compute

Give two responsibilities of an operating system.

File management, Memory management, Process scheduling, I/O management (any two)

What is the Internet versus the Web?

Internet is the global network infrastructure; the Web is the collection of information and applications accessed via the Internet

Define Cloud Computing in one line.

Provision of IT services (e.g. storage, compute) over the Internet by third parties

What are the four axes used to classify programming paradigms?

Imperative/Declarative, Procedural/Object-oriented, Sequential/Concurrent/Parallel, Static/Dynamic

State Kowalski’s formula relating algorithms.

Algorithm = Logic + Control

In imperative programming, the focus is on .

How to compute (control flow)

In declarative programming, the focus is on .

What to compute (desired outcome)

Name two declarative languages.

SQL, HTML, Prolog, Linear programming specification (any two)

What key benefit do object-oriented paradigms claim?

Reusable and extensible code through encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism

Differentiate concurrent and parallel execution.

Concurrent may interleave on shared components causing non-determinism; Parallel runs on separate components ensuring determinism

What is event-driven programming chiefly triggered by?

Asynchronous events dispatched to subscribed modules

Shannon defined one bit as the answer to what kind of question?

A yes/no question

What is entropy in information theory?

Average information per symbol produced by a source

What does redundancy allow in communication channels?

Error detection and correction

Name the coding method that minimizes average code length for given symbol probabilities.

Huffman coding

How does Bayes’ theorem help in diagnostic testing?

It updates the probability of a condition given observed test results

What is Kolmogorov complexity?

Length of the shortest program that can generate a given string

State the Minimum Description Length (MDL) principle.

Best theory minimizes combined length of theory plus data encoding

Distinguish ontological and epistemic uncertainty.

Ontological: future not yet determined; Epistemic: outcome determined but unknown to us

Simplicity Theory defines unexpectedness as minus .

Descriptional complexity minus causal complexity

In problem-solving, what three kinds of solutions exist according to the notes?

Solution-object, Solution-path, Solution-action

Translate Data → Information → Knowledge in one sentence.

Raw symbols become meaningful when interpreted, and actionable when we know what to do with them

What is the main idea behind Model-Driven Development (MDD)?

Models are primary artefacts and code is generated automatically from them

How does Test-Driven Development (TDD) start the workflow?

By writing tests before writing the functional code

Give two core values of the Agile Manifesto.

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools; Working software over comprehensive documentation; Customer collaboration over contract negotiation; Responding to change over following a plan

Order these artefacts by maturity: Pilot, Prototype, Proof of Concept, MVP.

Proof of Concept → Prototype → MVP → Pilot

What does Integer Linear Programming (ILP) restrict about variables?

All decision variables must take integer values

Explain Pareto-optimality in multi-objective optimisation.

No objective can be improved without worsening at least one other objective

Prospect Theory states that people are typically toward losses.

Loss-averse

Describe Taleb’s Barbell Strategy in two points.

Allocate a large portion to safe assets and a small portion to high-risk, high-reward options

What are the two components of an argument according to Toulmin?

Claim and Data (plus Warrant, Backing, Qualifier, Rebuttal)

Define ‘Warrant’ in Toulmin’s model.

The reasoning that connects the data to the claim

Which rhetorical pillar appeals to emotion?

Pathos

Provide an example of a Straw Man fallacy.

Misrepresenting someone’s proposal to reduce meat as demanding everyone become vegetarian

In Greimas’ actant model, who sends the hero on a quest?

The Sender

List the seven Design Justice questions in brief (one keyword each).

Equity, Beneficiaries, Values, Scope, Sites, Ownership/Accountability, Discourse

What does ‘lived experience’ add to participatory AI design?

Direct embodied and contextual insights, especially of marginalized groups

Why does the EU AI Act mandate impact assessments?

To evaluate and mitigate potential harms to fundamental rights before deploying AI

Name the three risk levels in the EU AI Act (simplified).

Unacceptable risk, High risk, Low or minimal risk

In UML Use-Case diagrams, what does an «include» relation mean?

The base use case always calls the included use case as a mandatory sub-step

Which ethical theory focuses on the consequences of actions?

Consequentialism (utilitarianism)

Which ethical theory stresses duties and rules?

Deontological ethics

Discours-ethics is most closely aligned with which modelling rationality?

Value-rationality involving stakeholder agreement

What is a self-fulfilling prophecy risk in data-driven policing?

Monitoring only expected hotspots increases recorded incidents, reinforcing initial bias