1. Major: System Dynamics
Slide show brought to you by:
WPI Social Science & Policy Studies
And
WPI System Dynamics Club
Author: David Liu

2. Basic System Behaviors
Exponential Growth
Goal Seeking
Oscillation
S-shaped Growth
S-shaped Growth with Overshoot
Overshoot and Collapse

3. Exponential Growth
Positive feedback loops generate growth, amplify deviations, and reinforce change.

4. Negative feedback loops seek balance, equilibrium, and stasis.
Goal Seeking
Negative feedback loops seek balance, equilibrium, and stasis.

5. Oscillation
Time delays cause the state of system to constantly overshoots its goal or equilibrium state, reverses, then undershoots, and so on.

6. S-shaped Growth
No real quantity can grow (or decline) forever, eventually one or more constraints halt the growth.

7. S-Shaped Growth with Overshoot
Time delays in lead to the possibility that the state of the system will overshoot and oscillate around the carrying capacity.

8. Overshoot and Collapse
The ability of the environment to support a growing population is eroded or consumed by the population itself.

9. Applications of System Dynamics
Constructing better mental models
Simulating & experimenting with computer models
Use the same engineering tools to experiment with and to solve many messy problems of:
Management
Government
Economy
Environment
Other dynamic systems