Research Reports from the Department of Operations
Document Type
Report
Publication Date
3-28-1957
Abstract
This Research Memorandum develops a formal framework for understanding information as it relates to decision-making. It introduces the concept of an individual's "purposeful state," defined by objectives, valuation of those objectives, possible courses of action, their efficiencies, and the probabilities of their selection. The study defines the amount of information in a purposeful state using the probabilities of choosing among available actions and evaluates information conveyed in a message as the change in information before and after the message. Additionally, the amount of instruction and motivation in a purposeful state is quantified, based on the efficiencies and values of actions and objectives. The value of a purposeful state is expressed as a function of information, instruction, and motivation, which can be generalized to assess its value to others.
Keywords
Operations research, Decision making, Motivation (Psychology), Information theory
Publication Title
Technical Memorandums from the Department of Operations, School of Management, Case Western Reserve University
Issue
Technical memorandum no. 2
Rights
This work is in the public domain and may be freely downloaded for personal or academic use
Recommended Citation
Ackoff, Russell L., "Towards a Behavioral Theory of Communication" (1957). Research Reports from the Department of Operations. 607.
https://commons.case.edu/wsom-ops-reports/607