Oregon Educator Licensure Assessments (ORELA) Practice Exam

What does the term recursive indicate?

1. A single occurrence of an event

2. Characterized by recurrence or repetition

3. A sequential process without repetition

4. An isolated communication method

The correct answer is: Characterized by recurrence or repetition

The term recursive indicates that a process, function, or procedure is characterized by recurrence or repetition. In various contexts, such as mathematics, computer science, and linguistics, recursion refers to the method where the solution to a problem depends on solutions to smaller instances of the same problem. For example, in programming, a recursive function calls itself with modified arguments until it reaches a base case. This approach allows for elegant solutions to problems like calculating factorials or navigating data structures such as trees. Understanding this concept is essential because recursion is a fundamental principle that underlies many algorithms and data manipulation techniques. Recognizing the significance of repeated self-references is crucial for grasping more complex topics in these fields. The alternative options suggest different ideas: a single occurrence denotes uniqueness, sequential processes imply order without recurrence, and isolated communication highlights disconnection from repetition, none of which align with the idea of recursion.