Use of State and Transitional Information

Abstract

The problem concerned relative human ability to digest information describing the state of the environment (σ) or state transitions (τ). The task required the summing or differencing of symbolically presented σ or τ information items. In the first study, subjects were presented σ or τ information in mixed order and σ or τ queries at variable intervals. A second study entailed uniform translation from σ to τ or τ to σ modes. The chief results were: (a) acquisition across modes—τ—σ or σ-τ—is more difficult than within mode acquisition; (b) τ—σ acquisition is superior to σ-τ acquisition; (c) both number of elements and number of phases or levels within elements add to task difficulty; and (d) the relative advantage of σ over τ acquisition decreases with an increasing number of presented items. It is suggested that the results may be explained in part by the comparative economy of state information storage for normal decision making tasks.