Signal Detection Theory

Podcast: Human Factors Minute · Human Factors Cast

Opublikowano: 2026-09-30

...and now for another Human Factors Minute! Signal Detection Theory is a model for understanding decision accuracy in ambiguous circumstances developed in the 1950s as a response to WWII radar research and is used in domains ranging from psychology, medical diagnostics, and statistical decisions. Detection theory explains an observer's ability to determine the presence or absence of a stimulus, based on how well they can differentiate the target from random input, referred to as noise. What qualifies as a signal and noise is context dependent. Noise is anything that interferes with detection. For humans, noise is everywhere. Personal experience, expectations...