iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Trial And Error

''This article is about the trial and error method. For the book see Trial and error (book) and for the film see Trial and Error (film).


Trial and error, or trial by error, is a general method of problem solving for obtaining knowledge, both propositional knowledge and know-how. In the field of computer science, the method is called generate and test. In elementary algebra, when solving equations, it is "guess and check".

This approach can be seen as one of the two basic approaches to problem solving and is contrasted with an approach using insight and theory.

Process

In trial and error, one selects a possible answer, applies it to the problem and, if it is not successful, selects (or generates) another possibility that is subsequently tried. The process ends when a possibility yields a solution.

In some versions of trial and error, the option that is a priori viewed as the most likely one should be tried first, followed by the next most likely, and so on until a solution is found, or all the options are exhausted. In other versions, options are simply tried at random.

Methodology

This approach is most successful with simple problems and in games, and is often resorted to when no apparent rule applies. This does not mean that the approach need be careless, for an individual can be methodical in manipulating the variables in an effort to sort through possibilities that may result in success. Nevertheless, this method is often used by people who have little knowledge in the problem area.

Features

Trial and error has a number of features:
  • solution-oriented: trial and error makes no attempt to discover why a solution works, merely that it is a solution.
  • problem-specific: trial and error makes no attempt to generalise a solution to other problems.
  • non-optimal: trial and error is an attempt to find a solution, not all solutions, and not the best solution.
  • needs little knowledge: trial and error can proceed where there is little or no knowledge of the subject.

Examples

Trial and error has traditionally been the main method of finding new drugs, such as antibiotics. Chemists simply try chemicals at random until they find one with the desired effect.

The scientific method can be regarded as containing an element of trial and error in its formulation and testing of hypotheses. Also compare genetic algorithms, simulated annealing and reinforcement learning - all varieties for search which apply the basic idea of trial and error.

Biological Evolution is also a form of trial and error. Random mutations and sexual genetic variations can be viewed as trials and poor reproductive fitness as the error. Thus after a long time 'knowledge' of well-adapted genomes accumulates simply by virtue of them being able to reproduce.

Bogosort can be viewed as a trial and error approach to sorting a list.

In mathematics the method of trial and error can be used to solve formulae - it is a slower, less precise method than algebra, but is easier to understand.

See also

Notes

Trial and Error is Jack Woodford's book on writing and the publishing industry. The book focuses on writing and editing and describes the behind-the-scenes machinations that result in the final publication of writing.
..... Click the link for more information.
IMDb profile

Trial and Error is a film released in 1997 by New Line Cinema starring Michael Richards, Jeff Daniels, and Charlize Theron.

An attorney's actor friend takes his place in court, defending the boss's hopelessly guilty relative.
..... Click the link for more information.
Problem solving forms part of thinking. Considered the most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of more routine or fundamental skills (Goldstein & Levin, 1987).
..... Click the link for more information.
Knowledge is defined (Oxford English Dictionary) variously as (i) expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject, (ii) what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information or
..... Click the link for more information.
Descriptive knowledge, also declarative knowledge or propositional knowledge, is the species of knowledge that is, by its very nature, expressed in declarative sentences or indicative propositions.
..... Click the link for more information.
IP)', know-how (or knowhow as it is sometimes written) is an important component in the transfer of technology in national and international environments, co-existing with or separate from other IP rights such as patents, trademarks and copyright and is an economic
..... Click the link for more information.
Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems.
..... Click the link for more information.
The term insight can be used with several related meanings:
  • a piece of information;
  • the act or result of apprehending the inner nature of things or of seeing intuitively;
  • the power of acute observation and deduction; penetration; discernment; perception;

..... Click the link for more information.
The word theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion.

In common usage, people often use the word theory to signify a conjecture, an opinion, or a speculation.
..... Click the link for more information.
a priori" and "a posteriori" are used in philosophy to distinguish between deductive and inductive reasoning, respectively. Attempts to define clearly or explain a priori and a posteriori
..... Click the link for more information.
antibiotic is a chemotherapeutic agent that inhibits or abolishes the growth of micro-organisms, such as bacteria, fungi, or protozoans. The term originally referred to any agent with biological activity against living organisms; however, "antibiotic" now is used to refer to
..... Click the link for more information.
chemist is a scientist trained in the science of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its small-scale properties such as density and acidity instead of large-scale properties like size and shape.
..... Click the link for more information.
Scientific method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. It is based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning,[1]
..... Click the link for more information.
A genetic algorithm (GA) is a search used in computing to find exact or approximate solutions to optimization and search problems. Genetic algorithms are categorized as global search heuristics.
..... Click the link for more information.
Simulated annealing (SA) is a generic probabilistic meta-algorithm for the global optimization problem, namely locating a good approximation to the global optimum of a given function in a large search space. It was independently presented by S. Kirkpatrick, C. D. Gelatt and M. P.
..... Click the link for more information.
reinforcement learning is a sub-area of machine learning concerned with how an agent ought to take actions in an environment so as to maximize some notion of long-term reward.
..... Click the link for more information.
Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
In computer science, Bogosort is a particularly ineffective sorting algorithm. Its only use is for educational purposes, to contrast it with other more realistic algorithms.
..... Click the link for more information.
Mathematics (colloquially, maths or math) is the body of knowledge centered on such concepts as quantity, structure, space, and change, and also the academic discipline that studies them. Benjamin Peirce called it "the science that draws necessary conclusions".
..... Click the link for more information.
formula (plural: formulae, formulæ or formulas) is a concise way of expressing information symbolically (as in a mathematical or chemical formula), or a general relationship between quantities.
..... Click the link for more information.
brute force attack is a method of defeating a cryptographic scheme by trying a large number of possibilities; for example, exhaustively working through all possible keys in order to decrypt a message.
..... Click the link for more information.
In computer science, brute-force search or exhaustive search is a trivial but very general problem-solving technique, that consists of systematically enumerating all possible candidates for the solution and checking whether each candidate satisfies the problem's statement.
..... Click the link for more information.
In philosophy generally, empiricism is a theory of knowledge emphasizing the role of experience, especially sensory perception, in the formation of ideas, while discounting the notion of innate ideas.
..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter