# Feedforward > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Feedforward > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Feedforward.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feedforward > Source revision: 1356636892 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Process where information about desired future status is used to influence future status}} {{other uses}} '''Feedforward''' is a term coined by the literary critic [I. A. Richards](/source/I._A._Richards) in 1951 at the 8th [Macy conference](/source/Macy_conferences) on [cybernetics](/source/cybernetics). Feedforward relates to [feedback](/source/feedback), another cybernetic concept, but while feedback is a reaction to the output of a process, feedforward is the {{cite magazine | last = Hapgood | first = Fred | title = IPhone | url = https://www.wired.com/1995/10/iphone/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160401044409/https://www.wired.com/1995/10/iphone/ | archive-date = 1 April 2016 | magazine = Wired | publisher = Wired Magazine | date = 1 October 1995 }} anticipation of what the output might be. Richards discussed this in terms of human communication, arguing that to be understood, a speaker has to feedforward the context of what they want to talk about, anticipating what the audience might not understand and adjusting what one plans to say to accommodate that.{{Cite journal |last=Lake |first=Robert L. |last2=Logan |first2=Robert K. |date=2022-04-04 |title=The Connection of Metaphor and Feedforward and the Work of I.A. Richards |url=https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/nexj/article/view/38335 |journal=New Explorations: Studies in Culture and Communication |language=en |volume=2 |issue=2 |issn=2563-3198}}{{rp|pages=179-180}} The term was taken up by cyberneticians, who had previously only used negative and positive feedback.{{rp|180}} It was also used by media theorist [Marshall McLuhan](/source/Marshall_McLuhan), and has been taken up in [management theory](/source/Feedforward_(management)), [control theory](/source/Feed_forward_(control)), [neural networks](/source/Feedforward_neural_network) and [behavioral and cognitive science](/source/Feedforward_(management)). ==Etymology== The term was developed by I. A. Richards when he participated in the 8th Macy conference.{{cite journal |last1=Logan |first1=Robert K. |title=Feedforward, I. A. Richards, cybernetics and Marshall McLuhan. |journal=Systema: Connecting Matter, Life, Culture and Technology |date=2015 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=177–185 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/54849829.pdf}} I. A. Richards was a [literary critic](/source/literary_critic) with a particular interest in [rhetoric](/source/rhetoric). [Pragmatics](/source/Pragmatics) is a subfield within [linguistics](/source/linguistics) which focuses on the use of context to assist [meaning](/source/Meaning_(linguistics)). In the context of the Macy Conference, Richards remarked "Feedforward, as I see it, is the reciprocal, the necessary condition of what the [cybernetics](/source/cybernetics) and automation people call '[feedback](/source/feedback)'."Richards, I. A. (1952). Communication Between Men: The Meaning of Language. In [Heinz von Foerster](/source/Heinz_von_Foerster) (ed), Transactions of 8th Macy Conference - Cybernetics: Circular Causal and Feedback Mechanisms in Biological and Social System. New York: Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation. Richards subsequently continued: "The point is that feedforward is a needed prescription or plan for a feedback, to which the actual feedback may or may not confirm."{{cite journal |last1=Richards |first1=I. A. |title=The Secret of "Feedforward" |journal=Saturday Review |date=1968 |issue=3 February 1968 |pages=14–17}} The term was picked up and developed by the cybernetics community. This enabled the word to then be introduced to more specific fields such as [control systems](/source/control_systems), [management](/source/management), [neural networks](/source/neural_networks), [cognitive studies](/source/cognitive_studies) and [behavioural science](/source/behavioural_science). ==Different applications of feedforward== ===Control=== {{main|Feed forward (control)}} Feed forward is a type of element or pathway within a control system. Feedforward control uses measurement of a ''disturbance input'' to control a ''manipulated input''. This differs from feedback, which uses measurement of any output to control a manipulated input. ===Management=== {{main|Feedforward (management)}} Feedforward has been applied to the context of management. It often involves giving a pre-feedback to a person or an organization from which you are expecting a feedback. ===Neural network=== {{main|Feedforward neural network}} A [feedforward neural network](/source/feedforward_neural_network) is a type of artificial neural network. ===Behavioral and cognitive science=== {{main|Feedforward (behavioral and cognitive science)}} Feedforward is the concept of learning from the future concerning the desired behavior which the subject is encouraged to adopt. ==References== {{reflist}} {{cybernetics}} Category:Cybernetics --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Feedforward](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feedforward) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feedforward?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.