Devolving and Regression

noun

• An abnormal state in which development has stopped prematurely.
  • synonyms: arrested development, fixation, infantile fixation
• Psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which you flee from reality by assuming a more infantile state. (
• The relation between selected values of x and observed values of y (from which the most probable value of y can be predicted for any value of x.
  • synonyms: simple regression, regression toward the mean, statistical regression
• Returning to a former state.
  • synonyms: regress, reversion, retrogression, retroversion

Regression is a mathematical technique used to explain and/or predict. The general form is Y = a + bX + u, where Y is the variable that we are trying to predict; X is the variable that we are using to predict Y, a is the intercept; b is the slope, and u is the regression residual. The a and b are chosen in a way to minimize the squared sum of the residuals. The ability to fit or explain is measured by the R-square.