Mathematical studies of the information in the stimulus-response matrix

This paper considers the information transmitted in absolute judgments as e ncoded in a stimulus response matrix (e.g., sec Garner and Hake, 1951). Whe n transmitted information is plotted against the number of stimulus categor ies in the matrix, one obtains a curve that increases monotonically toward a plateau, which is the maximum information transmittable per stimulus for the particular range of stimuli employed. We demonstrate that although the maximum information transmitted is an attribute of the stimulus continuum i tself the shape of the curve is an empirical property of the stimulus respo nse matrix, which is determined, in part, by maintaining a constant stimulu s category width. Therefore, in principle, each curve of information transm itted vs number of stimulus categories can be determined by a single point: the rightmost point on the graph. (C) 2001 Academic Press.