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The article focuses on various effects of sequential aggregation in accounting on decision-making. There is a focus on how altering the aggregation level can induce predictable preference patterns between actions. Researchers speculate that it may be possible to affect decision-making by how accountants partition sequential stages of an action and their associated probabilities. The importance to decision-making of aggregating probabilities is highlighted by the need to incorporate probabilistic information in accounting reports. It is assumed that an information system should include an accurate reporting of the probabilities of events. Such information can reduce the range of possible decision errors.

The article presents a response to Baruch Lev's paper "The Informational Approach to Aggregation in Financial Statements: Extensions." The authors argue that Lev's explanation of information theory is incomplete because he has failed to explore some of the conflicts that are associated with aggregation. There are three problems with aggregation that the author's take into consideration, including how symbols are transmitted, how they communicate meaning and how effective this meaning is. The authors state that Lev's argument is weak because it does not take into consideration a decision model of financial statement users.

Levis sample clearly gives evidence of the TSF method's viability. But his research method tends to ignore the accounting issues involved. Accumulation of evidence is not sufficient from this standpoint. Rather, accumulation and synthesis in light of use should be the objective. I have focused mainly on the decision of which prediction model to employ, given the problem of allocating marginal predictions. Viewed in this light and experimental biases aside, we see three fundamental limitations. First, the comparisons are made in a highly specific manner with no attention given to either alternative error measures or statistical analyses. Second, no structural analyses were presented that would give any indication whatever of the types of situations in which certain variants of the method are likely to be useful. Third, the entire experiment relates to predicting individual items given marginal totals; and we must recognize that other basic methods of predicting individual items could be employed. Thus, by focusing on predictive ability per se rather than on the decision issue of selecting a prediction model, Lev has failed to develop the accounting (that is informational) issues in his experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports an empirical test of the usefulness of a prediction method for multivariate budgets suggested by Theil. The method, based on information theory concepts, is described in the first three sections, and results of the test are presented in the remaining sections. These results show that the suggested prediction method outperforms both the actual forecasts made by the firms who provided the data and two naive forecasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following changes to the relevance standard described in the Statement of Basic Accounting Theory (1966) have been suggested to avoid ambiguity and make the standard more verifiable: 1. Three alternative relevance standards (result relevance, decision relevance, and semantic relevance) should be recognized. In a particular application of the relevance standard, the alternative selected should be explicitly specified. 2. Results of relevance tests should be explicitly stated as dependent upon the prior information available to the user. 3. Semantic and decision relevance are binary standards. Result relevance is a continuous standard. Such changes are slight modifications rather than abrupt departures from the excellent theoretical framework developed in the 1966 monograph. The inherent limitations of an empirical relevance standard were also considered: 1. Because it is difficult to obtain experimental measurements of result relevance, we must often rely upon lower level standards such as decision relevance or semantic relevance. These standards are binary and cannot be used to rank alternatives or test for negative (result) relevance. 2. Comprehensiveness is an empirically testable continuous standard which can be substituted for the binary standard of decision relevance. Some ranking of alternatives can be achieved with this standard if the possibility of negative (result) relevance can be ignored. 3. Negative (result) relevance is an obstacle to the development of a useful relevance standard. The validity heuristic is a weak, but perhaps acceptable, temporary solution to this problem. Despite these discouraging limitations, we must keep in mind the potentially useful results of the experimental method. To the extent that meaningful empirical tests can be performed, needless controversy can be avoided. We can test the decision relevance and comprehensiveness of accounting alternatives, but we cannot test validity since it is normative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an overview of communication theory and its application to accounting management. A definition of communication theory is offered, focusing on its sub-set of semantic analysis. The philosophical analysis of language in communication is described, particularly in relation to issues of veracity and factual description. The significance of accurate monetary communication in accounting is related to this area. It is logically shown that the use of funds statements within accounting practices matches the criteria for including within the grounds of semantic analysis.

Deals with the characterization and properties of information improvement functions. Applications of information theoretic concepts; Definition of Theil's function; Solutions for a functional equation under suitable conditions.

The problem of providing linguistic assistance to scientists in a large institution is reviewed on the basis of the author's personal experience. The various aspects of the problems caused by the foreign-language literature and language-induced difficulties in communication are listed, recommending specific solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay is addressed to the members of the American Society for Public Administration and to all others who might well be members. It is now possible for any organization man or woman who participates in meetings to determine their success by applying the principles of a new science, chair administration. This possibility was first observed when sitting in university seminars and later in governmental and church meetings. If uncomfortable chairs weary the seat, then minds and persons wander from the meeting. Unscientific arrangement of chairs prevents effective communication and obscures decisions. To initiate master's programs in chair administration, funding is needed by some innovating foundation. Learning by trial and error or home study is no substitute for full-time enrollment in a graduate professional program. A curriculum should be selected which is fully interdisciplinary, spanning such fields as policy analysis, communication theory, program planning, social relations, interior design, engineering, group dynamics, carpentry, applied administrative management, proctology, and introductory anatomy. Meanwhile, chair arranging will continue to be a profession of the committed, practiced by those who "show up early" and prevail over unskilled chairmovers.

Four experiments were conducted to investigate the role of symmetry of stimuli upon responses of relatively unsophisticated subjects performing a Kohs-type task. The results suggest that the subjects had a tendency to build symmetrical responses to both symmetrical and asymmetrical stimuli, but that this tendency could be changed by altering the stimuli in such a way that their nature, as described in terms of information theory, remained constant. Furthermore, the responses were affected by the way in which subjects were requested to respond, responses performed with the preferred hand only differing from those performed with both hands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article evaluates financial reports in terms of accuracy in predicting tbe final annual outcome. Efficient methods of data processing enable the firm to prepare one or two pro-forma financial reports during the year. One of the most important objectives in preparing these reports is the forecasting value which they contain. In order to measure the predictive content of various financial reports concepts taken from information theory were used. Empirical comparisons are made of data drawn from a sample of kibbutz settlements in Israel. Information theory for the evaluation of two accounting reports applied in this paper are the budget and an interim financial report. The forecasting accuracy of the report measures the performance of these teams.

In less than a quarter of a century we have witnessed the emergence of many new branches of scientific knowledge: cybernetics, information theory, bionics, sociometrics, mathematical linguistics, econometry, etc., not to mention such fields as biophysics, biochemistry, geophysics and others, which have already become traditional. One can easily discern this trend within a single discipline like sociology or biology. This chain reaction of differentiation of knowledge has now reached the point where it is hardly possible to refer to a certain science as having a delimited subject-matter of research. It seems to be impossible today to identify the precise specialization in what have become multidimensional and very broad descriptive labels as, for example, biologist, sociologist, economist, historian, etc., they being all members of a common scientific culture. Because of the extraordinary fragmentation of specialized research and thus the diversity of specialists, each needs to be more precisely identified.

The purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis that rate of habituation of the orienting response (OR) to multiple stimulus sequences is a negative function of the uncertainty (H) in the stimulus series. Seven groups of 30 Ss received 10 presentations of a l0 sec light stimulus (S[sub1]) followed immediately by a 1 sec 70 db auditory stimulus (S[sub2]) on 0, 10, 20, 50, 80, 90 or 100 percent of trials. The response measure was change of skin conductance to S[sub1]. Mean conductance change scores of the various groups were closely related to the degree of uncertainty (H) in the stimulus series. The results were interpreted as offering support for Sokolov's OR theory, and the view that, in human information processing, information concerning stimulus probabilities is integrated continuously to form the basis of predictive extrapolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the author's insights concerning personnel management abroad. The author explores the concept of cross-cultural approach of anthropologists and theory of communication developed by Bell Telephone Co. He states that cross-cultural approach has been applied in various fields including sociology, education, and literature. He says that the original papers and books on communication theory are strictly for the people having mathematical bent. Furthermore, the author associates the cross-cultural approach and communication theory in explaining personnel management in terms of their use in the interpretation and communication of beliefs on personnel problems.

Following a brief bit of personal history about the origins of the author's interest in the measurement of meaning (M), three models of M—spatial analogue, factor analytic measurement, and underlying behavior theoretic—are described and integrated. Extension of the semantic differential technique (SD), which was developed during the 1950s and applied to many samples of American English speakers and to some 25 language-culture communities around the world during the 1960s, is reported. Evidence for the universality of Evaluation, Potency, and Activity as affective features of M is given, along with a discussion of the powers and limitations of this technique. Application of comparable SDs in the development of a 620-concept Atlas of Affective Meanings for 23 cultures is described, along with the problems of interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the relevance of information theory on evaluating the predictive quality of input-output forecasts. Recognition on the forecast as an input structure; Description of decomposition forecast; Concepts of information theory.

In efficient coding, Information-Communication-Coding Theory based on probabilities of occurrence assigns short codes to events with little information content and long codes to events with high information content. This provides a direct relationship of code size to amount of information content. Entropies of surrogates such as citations, abstracts, first paragraphs, last paragraphs, and first and last paragraphs are measures of how well each class of surrogates predicts the relevancy of documents. They are measures of meaningful information in the text of surrogates. Such measures of information are important to information system designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the probabilistic criteria for the objective design of descriptor languages. There is some hope to solve the actual information crisis, caused by the huge mass of information generated and available for transfer and dissemination. This feeling is largely accounted for by the unprecedented growth rate of computer performance, which doubles every year. But comparatively to the hardware, software development is definitely lagging behind in all applied fields, including documentary informatics. Therefore every contribution aimed at improving the methods and means for information processing is welcome.

The article focuses on information theory. The role of the metascience is dictated by several factors, namely, the need for a common basis upon which all information-oriented specialized sciences and technologies can be understood and studied, a common framework and language for all scientists and technologists concerned in some form or other with information, and the need to integrate various theories that concern themselves with the phenomena of information on one side and man's relationship to the phenomena on the other side.

The article provides information on article on documentation. "The Information Theory," published in the December 1953 issue of "Fortune," is an interesting article for the layman about information theory and Its application to various systems of communication and also in other fields such as psychology, neurophysiology, sociology and so forth. "New Trends in the Sociology of Invention: Know-How V. Patent," published in the Autumn 1953 issue of "Impact of Science on Society," reports that the patent is depreciating in value and prestige In favor of the concept of know-how. One reason is that patents have become progressively more difficult to defend before the law courts from the strictly scientific and technical standpoint. "Microfilm and the Historian," published in the December 1953 issue of "Mississippi Valley Historical Review," presents a general survey of the resources of microphotography for the use of historians who may be unfamiliar with the medium and the extent to which it can make important primary sources available to the isolated scholar.

This article presents information about a marginal punched card system for a specialized information collection. It seems to be a common fault with many of the numeric and alphabetic indexes that, while they provide great facility in classifying literature, they are too awkward and rigid to be of value in a searching program. Our interest in this problem was not so much the classifying and indexing phase, as it was to find some means of improving our searching methods.

This article focuses on application of standard business machine punched-card equipment to metallurgical literature references. For a number of years it has been apparent that conventional methods of indexing and classifying technical literature can no longer cope with the ever-increasing flood. It is frequently more economical to repeat work of the past than to search the technical literature for the desired data.

The mechanical organization of knowledge for retrieval of stored information can no longer neglect the developments of point-to-point communication theory, since both deal with information and handle it by machines. The most versatile retrieval systems are those which delegate a separate tally to each information item, and which impress marks on the tally for the machine to read and to use for selective purposes. Coding is the relationship between these marks and the intellectual content of the information items. Coding determines the complexity of the selective machine and the utility of the whole process. A set of invariant coding principles is stated which define maximum coding efficiency for any tally selecting machines, and parallels are drawn between these principles and the conclusions of modern point-to-point communication theory. Zatocoding is defined--the system which superimposes random subject code patterns on the tally--and it is found to obey each of the invariant principles of coding efficiency while still allowing the simplest possible selector machine structure. I Introduction II Information retrieval by machine III Retrieval systems and communication theory IV Principles and practice of Zatocoding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on another article "Multiple Coding and the Rapid Selector" by Carl S. Wise and James W. Perry, published in the April 1950 issue of the journal American Documentation. According to the author, the article opens the discussion of a large and important field of documentation. Pertinent recorded information cannot be used unless its very existence, and then its location, is discovered in a large collection. Thus "information retrieval," the discovery process, must be distinguished from the warehousing and reproduction aspects of documentation.

The article presents a number of selected entries from the bibliography to the Committee on Organization of Information. One of them is titled "The Use of Punched Card Techniques in the Coding of Inorganic Compounds." It describes a system for coding on punched cards all chemical compounds, their serial numbers, structures, physical and biological properties, which was developed by the National Research Council's Subcommittee on Chemical Codification working under the auspices of the Council's Chemical Biological Coordination Center.

The article presents a discussion related to multiple coding. Documentary information, the record of human experience, is essentially polydimensional in character. An historical event, for example, has such dimensions as time, place, persons and organizations involved, and nature of action occurring. The record of a surgical operation is concerned with such different types of variables as the patient's symptoms, the pathological conditions thereby deduced, treatment, and the result of treatment. A chemist describes his experiments in terms of the interacting materials, the reaction conditions, the substances produced and accompanying effects, such as the evolution of heat.

The complexity of interdependent structural systems greatly complicates the analysis of any single structure. This is particularly the case when a structure represents some behavioral process. For this reason it is necessary to devise measures which can differentiate qualitatively and quantitatively between structures as well as between subsets (or points) of a particular structure. For example, consider the authority structures of two different organizations. They exhibit similarities and differences which a behavioral analyst tries to identify and explain. Typically, both similarities and differences are compared by structural indices which, on the basis of past data and prior information, tend to reflect certain organizational traits. The purpose of this paper is to investigate one particularly important index centrality. Centrality conveys the notion that points in a structure are not all 'equal'. This 'inequality' vis-a-vis the structure creates a situation in which certain points will be more 'central' than others. In this paper we first identify the characteristics of centrality and observe how they may relate to behavioral research. We then develop a procedure for measuring centrality which is based on information theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the search aspect of decision making. An experiment was conducted to assess the amount of information utilized by subjects prior to committing themselves to a choice. By construing the information environment in the form of a maze and measuring "transpired" information according to the Shannon-Weaver logarithmic metric, the power of subjects' search heuristics was assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the interpretation and measurement of problem solving ability. Problem solving ability can be considered in the context of information theory. A theory of problem solving behavior based on an interpretation of the role of stored information and acquired information in selection of courses or behaviors has implications for the construction of a test to measure problem solving ability. The problem solving process may be explored through the use of a variety of tests which measure problem solving ability.

This article focuses on the planning programming budgeting system (PPBS) issued in the United States. According to the author, PBBS would provide a rational basis for allocation resources among competing programs. In this article, the author assess the impact and effectiveness of PPBS to date, to suggest factors which have hindered more fruitful implementation, and to describe recent actions to correct some of the deficiencies cited. In mid-1968 the Bureau of the Budget undertook to determine if policy analysis is performed differently than it was before the advent of PPBS. An assessment of the impact to date of PPBS must also include consideration of its effectiveness as an instrument of the Bureau of the Budget in discharging its responsibilities to the President in the formulation of the federal budget. While some worthwhile results have been achieved with PPBS to date, the system has failed to fulfill the expectations of its more ardent proponents. With the benefit of hindsight, it appears that PPBS was introduced in civilian agencies abruptly, on too large a scale, and without adequate advance preparation and study. In issuing his sweeping across the board order to implement PPBS, the U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson acted against the wishes of some Budget Bureau officials who favored slow and careful development of PPBS conceptual tools.

Seymour has shown recently that people take less time to judge that the word above correctly describes the spatial position of a small circle drawn ABOVE a large reference square than they do for the word below and the circle BELOW the square. Seymour has attributed this asymmetry to the tendency for people to invariably scan a picture from top to bottom. In the present study, the first experiment confirms Seymour's results, but the next three demonstrate that the asymmetry Seymour found cannot be accounted for by an attentional-scanning process. Instead, it is proposed that people interpret the words above and below as abstract symbols at a first stage of processing, interpret the pictures ABOVE and BELOW as abstract symbols at an independent second stage, and compare these two sets of symbols at an independent third stage. In support of this model, the results show, for example, that above is interpreted about 80 msec. faster than below at the first stage quite independently of what happens at the second and third stages. The asymmetry Seymour found is therefore attributable to the difference in the interpretation times of above and below at the first stage of processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A chronological sketch of Herman Hollerith's (1860- 1929) personal life, inventions and business activities has been abstracted from a Drexel Institute Master's thesis which covers these subjects comprehensively. Two of the more important contentions supported by the thesis and mentioned here are that Dr. John Show Billings hod little to do with the invention of the Hollerith system, and that, contrary to rumor, Hollerith was a successful business man who pioneered in the marketing of punched card systems in the United States and abroad before he sold his business to Computer- Tabulating-Recording Company, which later became International Business Machines Company (IBM). Hollerith is a pioneer in information science because he invented the first machine for automated selective sorting; he developed a means of translating English words and census-takers' checkmarks into machin-readable language; he used the two now-classic means of organizing machine-readable files, for random (direct) access and serial access; and he developed some still- used methods for checking errors within card decks. His machine techniques were easily understood, highly effective, efficient, and enduring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Procedures for measuring the consistency of document classification are described. Three subject specialists classified 997 abstracts of psychological reports into one of eleven categories. These abstracts were also mechanically classified by a computer program using a factor-score computational procedure. Each abstract was scored for all categories and assigned to the one with the highest score. The three manual classifications were compared with each other and with the mechanical classifications, and a series of contingency coefficients was computed. The average reliability of manual classification procedures was equal to .870. The correlation between automatic and manual classification was .766. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A procedure is presented for applying random super-imposed coding to Peek-A-Boo cards with the help of chain spelling and a randomizing square. Some general aspects of the method are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Available equipment and procedures exhibit little prospect of coping successfully with the dynamic problems of information generation, transmission, and use created by the current scientific and technological "explosion." Present attempts at devising new equipment and procedures are bogged in the basic problem-information is not satisfactorily disseminated to those who need it. The discrepancy is the more obvious because the techniques and devices being discovered and developed-those of automatic information processing-are based on principles derived from and applied in a broad range of scientific disciplines. Merging the efforts of many disciplines and universally using the results depend upon effective intercommunication. ADI is urged to accept the broadest possible responsibility for cross-disciplinary intercommunication in all aspects of the Information System. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to devise a calculus adequate as a foundation for information retrieval have taken a number of forms. Semantic and signal information theory have in common the mathematical model consisting of an n-dimensional Euclid eon space. In semantic information theory, however, probability plays no part. What is of interest ore those codes in which the transformed space is isomorphic to the original space under transformation and which preserve a "match" relation. Code transformations are applied separately to each document and query vector in the system, and those documents which match a given query vector before the transformation must do so afterwards. Query vectors are distinguished from document vectors by the inclusion of one or more "joker" symbols which match all codes in the given vector position. A major distinction between the communication and information retrieval context is shown in that, contrary to the former, shortened codes are only achieved at the cost of information in the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information on studies in information storage and retrieval and the use of indices in coding. The central problem in the design of a storage and retrieval system is the construction of an appropriate coding system for the classification of documents. Among other things, it should reflect to some degree the inherent taxonomy of the subject being classified. The other section of the article shall discuss another method of recording a concept cluster describing the contents of a document, and correspondingly, an alternate procedure for recovering the document in answer to an inquiry, called Göel indices. Another section of the article will be concerned with the specific problem of devising a numerical code function which will serve both to describe and to compare individual concept clusters.

This article presents information on codes used in several business systems. The procedures and policies, collectively, by which one of the more important vital functions of a business organization is carried out is called a "system." This article presents a novel way of combining or intersecting classes that maintains impartiality among the classes. It is called prime-number coding (PNC) and involves the use of prime numbers to give prime-number codes. The selection of frameworks for classifying information on business systems is difficult because systems apply to complex functions of many types of organizations. In what might be called the "pure" PNC system, a prime number is assigned to each element. The code for each composite class is the product of the codes of its constituent classes.

The article discusses about various essays and articles that were published in the January 1961 issue of the journal "American Documentation." Data-providing information services are distinguished from reference-providing systems. References can be provided in (at least) four stages which are accession numbers, citations, abstracts, and copies of the documents recommended as pertinent to a request. The problem of false drops loses much of its force for reference providing in stages. The fashionable appeal to lattice theory, symbolic logic, semantics, and thesauri is shown to be unsubstantiated. It is proposed to investigate literature search systems in which the role of the computer would be merely that of performing utterly routine and for humans time-consuming operations, under constant control of the user.

The article presents observations on the theories of Bibliographic organization. Considerable intellectual effort is being put forth in an attempt to fit theories of information to bibliographic problems. Bibliographers are not the only specialists concerned with the possible applications of information theory to other disciplines. The communication engineers have demonstrated quite conclusively that any logically communicable information may be coded into a two-symbol code. This fundamental principle has made it economically and practically possible for machines to be made by man for transmission, storage, and manipulation of information. Bibliographical organization cannot use an absolute coding method because of the changes through time in the meaning of the code.

This article discusses the use of the "reading log," coden system which the author proposes here, by the individual research scientist. In its simplest form, the reading log would merely list the coden of articles read, with a brief note as to their content and significance. One of the major problems solved by the reading log was the problem of controlling miscellaneous information. With illustrating the actual bibliographic procedure for recording by the use of the reading log, it is argued that the reading log allows the individual research scientist to keep, with a minimum of effort, a record of the articles he reads. He records only the essentials on the assumption that in a year or two he will be able to locate the papers through abstracts or periodic review articles. According to the author the reading log is of greatest value to the individual scientist and is not advocated for bibliographic centers where greater versatility and continuity are required.

This article focuses on a technique for making marginal-punched cards which consists in lacing a blank IBM card with a marginal pattern in a keypunch. Cards produced in this manner cost less than two mills apiece, and may be written upon, coded, notched, and sorted conventionally. The use of marginal-punched cards is commonplace in business, science, and industry where, for many information tasks, they offer unique advantages over other available tools. This is a slow inaccurate process, and may make later sorting difficult by raising burrs around the holes.

Presents information on the patterns of document retrieval. Comparison between library classification and information theory; Views on retrieval systems; Discussion of the information theory; Functions of retrieval marks.

The article focuses on the concept of the theory and practice of the semantic discipline for science and mathematics teachers. It is said that thinking cannot proceed without language. If our language is not polished then it is bound to have distorting effect on people's methods of reasoning, conclusions, beliefs and values. Semantic discipline has a positive, constructive aspect by which it asks for a complete reversal of linguistic habits acquired from childhood. There are objections raised against semantics which may be summed up as follows: in separating spurious abstractions and generalizations, it forms a new guard of abstractions which are challenging but impracticable. A theory is validated by exemplification in practice to dismissed these objections applied to areas of learning such as in mathematics and science.

Analyzes the cost structures in hospitals in British Columbia using information theory. Complexity and specialization measures for British Columbian hospitals in 1967; Hospital and bed distribution; Measure of in-patient expense and the proper adjustment for case complexity.

Children aged 4, 5, and 6 years were pre-exposed for 1 minute to either 2-or 3-dimensional irregular pentagons. Half the Ss manipulated the stimuli during, pre-exposure, half did not. Then a discrimination learning task was instituted in which half of each subgroup discriminated among 3-dimensional and half among 2-dimensional stimuli. Results indicating interaction of pre-exposure manipulation condition, pre-exposure stimulus dimensionality, and age suggested a developmental change in the role of "appropriate operations" with different dimensions of stimuli. Results indicating easier discriminability among 2-dimensional criterion task stimuli than among 3-dimensuibak stimuli were discussed in terms of information theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the use of methods of information theory to determine the separate contributions of the stimulus dimensions of shape, size and angle to transfer of information in children of middle-and lower-class backgrounds. Progression of the development of various stimulus attributes at different rates; Effect of social class on all dimensions; Development of the transfer of the dimension of shape by age 6.

Linguistic communications frequently do not contain "explicit" references to the communicator's affective, evaluative, and/or preferential attitude(s) toward the objects, events, or people about which he communicates. Furthermore, even when such attitudes are explicitly communicated in the linguistic portion of a communication, inconsistent cues from other portions (e.g., tone or gestures) may render the overall communication of the attitude ambiguous. The article deals with the problems of inferring a communicator's attitudes from his linguistic communications in a way which independently supplements the inference of attitudes from the explicit linguistic message. The approach here is similar to G.F. Mahl's in that linguistic data are the only source of inferences. Unlike Mahl's approach, the attitudes being inferred here are the communicator's positive (or negative) affective, evaluative, and/or preferential attitude(s). The inference of such communicator attitudes is based on the analysis of the following kinds of phenomena. A communicator, in talking or writing about an object, may express his relationship to the object in a variety of ways which are ostensibly equivalent in as far as affective, evaluative, and/or preferential communicator attitude(s) are concerned.

The purpose of this study is to use concepts from information theory to analyze the influence of two possible sources of variation in the clinician's ability to discriminate behavioral stimuli: the varying dimensionality of the stimulus, and differences among judges in cognitive complexity. Information theory provides indexes which can be used to describe the formal relations between stimuli and responses Thus, information transmission is an index of the extent to which stimuli can be reliably discriminated by judges. Information transmission is to be distinguished from channel capacity, which is the asymptotic value of information transmission that describes a judge's optimal capacity to discriminate reliably among behavioral stimuli. Information transmission can be computed from a matrix in which the columns represent alternative stimuli, the rows represent alternative responses, and in which the frequencies of each response to each stimulus are tabulated. One potential source of variation in a clinician's discrimination of behavioral stimuli is that of stimulus dimensionality, i.e., the number of types of information in the stimulus. It is believed that the specification of the quantity and type of stimulus information is necessary in order to study the effects of increasing stimulus dimensionality on information transmission. This has been done most systematically in psychophysics, where the addition of new types of stimulus information has been referred to as an increase in stimulus dimensionality.

The article focuses on research on semantic habits. Researchers interest is in the ways in which people form semantic relations. By semantic relations researchers mean the assignment of meaning to objects through the use of words. Semantic relations serve to define, describe, categorize, or depict personal reactions to objects in the human and material environment. The research began with the hunch that there are individual differences in the ways in which people typically establish semantic relations. If so, those sources of individual differences might correlate interestingly with other forms of behavior. Over the last several years researchers have defined some modes of semantic response, developed techniques for measuring individual differences in the tendencies to use those modes of response; and performed research to explore some hypotheses relating semantic habits to other forms of behavior. The purpose of the article is to report some empirical correlates of semantic habits. Researchers working assumption is that semantic habits concern differential frequency of usage. For example, it is assumed that there are individual differences in the tendency to use pleasant words like good, sweet, and so on.