Basic Assumptions Concepts From Systems Theory
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The original assumption in applying systems theory to human functioning was that man is an open system that can change and develop through interaction with the environment (Kielhofner, 1978). The human open system was described as a cyclical process involving output, feedback, input, and throughput (Kielhofner & Burke, 1985). The human being gives output to the environment, receives feedback in the form of input from the environment, and experiences throughput, a process of change and adaptation of the person resulting from the feedback given (Figure 10-1). As systems theory in the sciences and many other disciplines has moved toward greater complexity, so has MOHO. Kielhofner’s latest interpretation includes two basic concepts from systems theory: heterarchy and emergence. Heterarchy is the opposite of hierarchy, referring to the seemingly random ways that all parts of the system form a dynamic whole. Emergence is the “principle that complex actions, thoughts, and feelings spontaneously arise out of the interactions of several components” (Kielhofner, 2008, p. 25). Human occupation “encompasses a wide range of doing that occurs in the context of time, space, society, and culture” (p. 5). Although inseparable from the whole, the human system is divided into parts for the purpose of examining (evaluation) and influencing (intervention) its processes.