Lecture B1 (2022-08-30): Introduction to Causal Loop Diagrams

In this lecture, we motivate the use of "causal loop diagrams" as a bridge for building system dynamics models as well as analyzing models already built. We then introduce the fundamental structures within CLDs – the links (positive and negative, with and without delays) and the feedback loops (positive/reinforcing and negative/balancing/counteracting/regulating, and annotations denoting polarity as well as application-specific context). We do a few examples of drawing and analyzing simple CLD's and discuss rules and conventions for choosing variables to include in CLD's.