There are two major types of feedback loop. Positive feedback reinforces a behaviour, typically by providing some form of reward, or satisfaction. This results in a repetition of the behaviour that earned the reward.

Negative feedback results in an aversion to a behaviour. The experience is unpleasant, or unsatisfying, and an attempt is made to reduce, or inhibit, the behaviour leading to the negative outcome.

Today I had to assemble a document package in order to obtain reimbursement of health care expenses. This involved completing a form, locating and printing copies of cancelled cheques, collating those cheques in chronological order, and cross referencing them with a doctor’s receipt. This activity is only performed once every two or three months. I find it problematic, taxing, troublesome, and frustrating. I want to avoid it.

To put this in the most straightforward way  –  I undertake a simple project, and I goof it up.

Once I experience task failure, everything becomes more difficult. The frustration, and an awareness of my inability to master a simple operational task, compounds the problem. Any further mistake increases the stress. By the time I arrived at the copy shop, I was fighting to keep everything under control. There was a huge sense of relief when I returned safely home. Once home, I immediately engaged in activities found to be calming. This included text entry (this draft) and cooking (making potato salad).

Today’s activity revealed the existence of a previously unknown feedback loop. It begins with me in a normal state, embedded in my daily routine. I move outside of this routine when I engage in an activity performed once every two months.

I then exit the normal state and initiate an activity which invokes a TBI deficit. As I do, I begin to experience increased discomfort. The task, while simple, is taxing. I make minor errors, become frustrated, and am upset by my own incompetence. All subsequent activity becomes increasingly stressful. I trigger further frustration with each minor misstep, or error. I do not reduce stress until I arrive home where I calm myself by resuming a routine activity which I am able to perform successfully.

This implies each excursion from routine behaviour will invoke a negative reinforcement for any behaviour associated with a TBI deficit. This negative reinforcement will cause me to avoid the behaviour and seek a return to routine. This feedback reinforces routinization and inhibits venturing outside of that routine.

I have previously established that text creation provokes a sense of calm and mastery. I feel good about myself when I am writing. Written documentation helps me manage my immediate world. Text assists in ordering events, and explaining events. Text also functions as an external memory store. When I engage in text creation, I obtain positive feedback. Each completed post rewards me with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. Because of this positive feedback, I am more inclined to engage in text creation and reduce my exposure to activities delivering negative feedback. I find it indicative that, once I returned home, the first thing I wanted to do was to fire up the computer, and begin to keyboard.

One other insight:  task sequencing is a key attribute of most occupations. While waiting at the postal counter, I observed a new clerk being trained. She was having to learn the unique sequence associated with every transaction. Each process step had to be performed in the correct order. The implication of this insight is that I will encounter problems with any occupation that involves a large number of task sequences.