Title

Human Probability Matching Behavior In Response To Alarms Of Varying Reliability

Authors

Authors

J. P. Bliss; R. D. Gilson;J. E. Deaton

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

Ergonomics

Keywords

ATTENTION; ALARM; PSYCHOMOTOR PERFORMANCE; HABITUATION; MOTOR SKILLS; WARNING MESSAGES; PERFORMANCE; SYSTEMS; Engineering, Industrial; Ergonomics; Psychology, Applied; Psychology

Abstract

The goals of this research were to substantiate the existence of the cry-wolf effect for alarm responses, quantifying its effect on operator performance. A total of 138 undergraduate students performed two blocks of a cognitively demanding psychomotor primary task; at the same time, they were presented with alarms of varying reliabilities (25, 50 and 75% true alarms) and urgencies (green, yellow and red visual alarms presented concurrently with low-, medium- and high-urgency auditory civilian aircraft cockpit alarms). Alarm response frequencies were observed and analysed, and t-tests and repeated-measures MANOVAs were used to assess the effects of increasing alarm reliability on alarm response frequencies, speed and accuracy. The results indicate that most subjects (about 90%) do not respond to all alarms but match their response rates to the expected probability of true alarms (probability matching). About 10% of the subjects responded in the extreme, utilizing an all-or-none strategy. Implications of these results for alarm design instruction and further research are discussed.

Journal Title

Ergonomics

Volume

38

Issue/Number

11

Publication Date

1-1-1995

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

2300

Last Page

2312

WOS Identifier

WOS:A1995TE25700012

ISSN

0014-0139

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