Information theory ‐ a psychological study in old and new concepts

Abstract

The ideas of information theory which underlie cybernetics and its information‐processing aspects still has a solid reputation to be both extremely abstract and highly mathematical. Furthermore, the tract has been accused of a slow development and not accentuating the difference between information and communication theories. In this paper an attempt is made to demonstrate that principles and concepts used in information theory can be both understood and used from a psychological basis ‐ without the use of complicated mathematics. The difference between information and communication theory is considered as well as some new and revolutionary concepts. The study shows that the influences of the investigated area have grown considerably with the contributions from information physics.

Citation

Skyttner, L. (1998), "Information theory ‐ a psychological study in old and new concepts", Kybernetes, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 284-311. https://doi.org/10.1108/03684929810209496