Where does trigger collide?

In electronics a trigger is a circuit that holds one steady state until an input crosses a set level, then flips sharply to another state. Eccles and Jordan's 1919 A trigger relay utilising three-electrode thermionic vacuum tubes coined the term for such a switching circuit, the bistable pair now known as the flip-flop. Schmitt's 1938 A thermionic trigger refined it into a comparator whose switching level differs on the way up and the way down, giving the clean, noise-resistant snap that carries his name. The referent is a physical circuit defined by how it switches, not procedural code run inside a database or a cue aimed at human action.[1][2]

Unit

One switching circuit, described by its two states and its switching threshold

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Characterized by its threshold voltages, hysteresis width, and switching speed on an oscilloscope

In a database a trigger is a piece of procedural code that the system runs automatically when a defined event, such as an insert, update, or delete on a table, occurs. Eswaran's 1976 IBM report Specifications, implementations and interactions of a trigger subsystem in an integrated data base system set out an early trigger subsystem for the System R project, and Widom and Ceri's 1996 Active database systems: Triggers and rules for advanced database processing collected the mature form later standardized in SQL. The referent is a stored rule that reacts to changes in data, not an electronic switching circuit or a cue designed to move a person to act.[3][4]

Unit

One stored rule bound to a table event and the action it runs

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Defined in the schema by its triggering event, condition, and action, and audited by the rows it fires on

In persuasive technology a trigger is the cue that sets off a behavior at the moment a person is both motivated and able to act. Fogg's 2009 A behavior model for persuasive design named the trigger as one of three factors, alongside motivation and ability, that must converge for a target behavior to occur, and sorted triggers into those that spark, facilitate, or signal. The referent is a prompt directed at a human being, such as a notification or a reminder, and it shares nothing with a switching circuit or database code beyond the word itself.[5]

Unit

One cue aimed at prompting a specific behavior at a chosen moment

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Assessed by whether the cue produces the target behavior when motivation and ability are present, in behavioral trials