Univariate and Bivariate Information Storage

Abstract

The channel capacity for multidimensional absolute judgment is known to be higher than the channel capacity for unidimensional judgment, though it falls short of the sum of the respective channel capacities for individual dimensions (Miller, 1956; Slak, 1969). The question arises whether a similar relationship holds for short-term information storage capacity. To answer this question, it is necessary to devise items that can be varied in one or more than one dimension. At least two sets of univariate items are needed, each set variable in one of the two dimensions; and one set of bivariate items, independently variable in both dimensions. The purpose of this study was to compare the univariate and bivariate information storage, as measured by memory span for figural stimuli expressed in bits of information.