Abstract
An information theory approach to the analysis of data from visual-motor experiments is suggested here. A solution to the arbitrariness of the information of continuous distributions is proposed so that the amount of information transmitted by movements of the limbs, final position, or even electromyographic activities can be calculated as absolute measures. A new index, visual-motor efficiency, is introduced, which is an absolute measure of performance. Since it is an absolute quantitative index, it can be used to compare different subjects at the same visual-motor task, to compare the same subject’s performance at different tasks, to chart the progress of a subject during training, or to make virtually any absolute comparisons of efficiency.
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This research was supported by Grants NS 16300 and EY 02621 from the National Institutes of Health.
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Sakitt, B. Visual-motor efficiency (VME) and the information transmitted in visual-motor tasks. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 16, 329–332 (1980). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329557
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329557