Signal Detection

Theory, Vigilance, and

Judgment in Cognitive
Ergonomics
Asst. Professor Sarah Castillo Vanguardia
 Intended Learning
Outcomes
At the end of the discussion, the learners
should be able to:
✓understand the fundamental principles of Signal
Detection Theory and its relevance in Cognitive
Ergonomics;
✓discover the concept of vigilance and its impact on
human performance in various domains; and
✓learn how judgment and decision-making
processes influence human performance and
decision support systems.
 Discussion Outline

• Signal Detection Theory

• Vigilance

• Judgment
 Signal Detection Theory
• Signal Detection Theory:
• A model for explaining
recognition memory
• Based on auditory perception
experiments:

Volume
• Typical Task:
Background Noise
• Ask participants to detect a
faint tone (signal) presented Hard-to-Detect Easy-to-Detect
against a background of Signal Signal

noise
• The tone’s loudness against
the background noise is
manipulated
 Signal Detection Theory
• Brief History
• In World War II radar waves were used to detect enemy aircraft.
• The soldiers had to determine if the little spots of light are enemies,
or simple noise (I.e. birds).
• There was no clearly defined criteria for making these kinds of decisions.
SIGNAL: Are the spots
on the screen enemies?
• Consequences: yes no

• If an enemy went undetected, False

DECISION:
people could be killed. Should you
yes Hit
alarm
• If noise was interpreted as an scramble the
enemy, time and money would jets? Correct
be lost and people would be put no Miss
reject
in harm’s way
 Signal Detection Theory
• Response bias is based on a participant’s preference for a
particular outcome.
• Preferences are based on costs & rewards

• For example,
• People will die because I SIGNAL: Are the spots
on the screen enemies?
failed to detect enemy, yes no
that is a very high cost.
False
• If congress yells at me DECISION:
yes Hit
Should you alarm
for spending money, that scramble the
is not a very high cost. jets? Correct
no Miss
reject
 Signal Detection Theory
• Criterion level (C or β) is set based on outcome preferences.

• Criterion level: The intensity at which a signal will be

reported as being present (Not the intensity at which it is
perceived).
SIGNAL: Are the spots
• High Criterion: less hits on the screen enemies?
yes no
but also less false alarms
DECISION: False
• Low criterion: more hits Should you
yes Hit
alarm
but also more false scramble the
jets? Correct
alarms no Miss
reject
 Signal Detection Theory
• Criterion level (C or β) is set based on outcome preferences.

• Criterion level: The intensity at which a signal will be

reported as being present (Not the intensity at which it is
perceived).
No - Criterion +
Call for
alert
• High Criterion: less hits jets

but also less false alarms probability

• Low criterion: more hits Signal
but also more false Noise (enemy)
alarms
stimulus intensity
 Signal Detection Theory
• d’ (“Dee-prime”) = Discriminability Low d’
• The difference between the means
• If d’ is low, then this means there is

probability
low discriminability.
• The noise and stimulus are highly Signal
overlapping. Noise (enemy)

• d’ = 0: pure chance
stimulus intensity
high d’
• If d’ is high, then this means there is
high discriminability.

probability
• d’ = 1: moderate performance
• d’ = 4.65: “optimal” (corresponds Signal
Noise
to hit rate=0.99, false alarm (enemy)

rate=0.01)
stimulus intensity
 Signal Detection Theory
• Recognition accuracy depends on:
• Whether a signal (noise/target memory) was actually
presented
• The participant’s response

• Thus, there are four possible outcomes:

• Hits
CORRECT

• Correctly reporting the presence of the signal

• Correct Rejections
• Correctly reporting the absence of the signal

• False Alarms
INCORRECT

• Incorrectly reporting presence of the signal when it

did not occur
• Misses
• Failing to report the presence of the signal when it
occurred
 Signal Detection Theory
• Assumptions:
• Memory traces have strength • Familiarity values for “old”
values (i.e. activation levels) and “new” items are each
normally distributed
• Activation levels dictate how
“familiar” a stimulus feels • On average, “new” items are
less familiar than “old” items
• Traces vary in terms of their
familiarity, based on: • However, some distractors are
quite familiar because they
• Attention paid to the appear often in other contexts
stimulus during encoding or are similar to “old” items
• The number of repetitions • Thus, there can be overlap
between the distributions
• Items that surpass a threshold (i.e.
response criterion) of familiarity
are judged “old”
11
 Signal Detection Theory

• Everything more familiar than (to the • Above, the same distribution with the focus on
right of) the response criterion (beta or the lure distribution to highlight:
β) will be judged “old” • Correct rejections (in green)
• A centrally placed β is unbiased • False alarms (in red)

• Everything less familiar (i.e. to the left • D prime (d’) represents:

of β) will be judged “new.”
• The distance between the distributions
• Hits (in green)
• The participant’s ability to discriminate the
• Misses (in red) 12 two distributions
Signal Detection Theory
• A more liberal guesser will:
• Have a response criterion shifted to the
left
• Accept more targets as “old” (i.e. hits)
• Accept more lures as “old” (i.e. false
alarms)

• A more conservative guesser will:

• Shift β to the right
• Have fewer hits
• Have fewer false alarms

• Thus, the overlap in the

distribution leads to:
• Trade offs between hits and false alarms
• Depends on the placement of the response
criterion

13
 Signal Detection Theory
• Calculating d’ and C (or β)
• Discriminability (d’):
• Step 1) Look up the z-score for the average Hit and False Alarm
rates.
• Step 2) Apply the formula d’ = zHIT – zFA, where zFA is the z-score
for FAs and zHIT is the z-score for Hits.
• Criteria C (or β):
• Take the negative of the average of zHIT and zFA. This is the criterion
value C.
• Remember that positive C values indicate a conservative response
bias, while negative C values indicate a liberal response bias.

14
 Signal Detection Theory in
Cognitive Ergonomics
Signal Detection Theory (SDT) is a
psychological framework that helps
us understand how people make
decisions in the presence of
uncertainty.
 What is HCI?

❑ focuses on optimizing
how users and
computers interact by
designing interactive
computer interfaces that
satisfy users’ needs

❑ a multidisciplinary
subject covering
computer science,
behavioral sciences,
1980
cognitive science,
ergonomics, psychology,
and design principles
Source: https://www.spiceworks.com/tech/artificial-intelligence/articles/what-is-hci/
 Key Components of HCI
need

goals interaction
patterns

THE USER
It analyzes various parameters such as users’ cognitive
capabilities, emotions, and experiences to provide
them with a seamless experience while interacting with
computing systems.
 Key Components of HCI

GOAL-ORIENTED ✓ complexity of the task

TASK that the user intends to
accomplish
✓ knowledge and skills
necessary to interact
with the digital object
✓ time required to carry
out the task
 Key Components of HCI
INTERFACE

display
touch, click, size
gesture, voice

screen color
resolution contrast

design optimization boosts

user experience
Examples of HCI
 Key
Components
of HCI

CONTEXT

HCI is a result of continuous testing and refinement of

interface designs that can affect the context of use for the
user
Applications of SDT in
Cognitive Ergonomics
User Interface Design
Understanding how users
perceive and respond to
signals in software or
hardware interfaces helps in
designing more user-friendly
and efficient systems.
 Applications of SDT in
Cognitive Ergonomics
Error Reduction
SDT can help identify and
reduce false alarms
(incorrectly identifying
noise as a signal) and
misses (failing to detect a
signal) in various human-
machine interactions.
Applications of SDT in
Cognitive Ergonomics
Optimizing Feedback
Designers can use SDT
principles to provide
feedback that improves
user decision-making and
performance.
Vigilance

Source: https://leb.fbi.gov/image-repository/working-model-of-sustained-vigilance.png/view

❑ sustained attention or watchfulness required for prolonged

periods to detect infrequent or rare events
❑ critical aspect of various tasks, including monitoring systems,
air traffic control, security, and healthcare
 Vigilance: Key
Concepts
Source: https://leb.fbi.gov/image-
repository/working-model-of-sustained-
Vigilance Decrement
vigilance.png/view

The decline in attention

and performance that
occurs over time during a
vigilance task.
Vigilance Enhancement
Techniques and strategies to maintain vigilance and
reduce errors.
 Vigilance: Impact on
Cognitive Ergonomics

Source: https://leb.fbi.gov/image-
repository/working-model-of-sustained-
System Monitoring
vigilance.png/view

Understanding the limitations of

human vigilance helps design
systems that reduce the risk of
missing critical events.

Fatigue Management
Cognitive Ergonomics research focuses on designing work
schedules and breaks to mitigate vigilance decrement and
reduce errors.
 The Role of Judgment
Judgment
and Decision
Making

❑Judgment is the cognitive process of evaluating

information and making decisions.
❑In Cognitive Ergonomics, understanding how people
make judgments is essential for creating decision
support systems that assist users in complex tasks.
Judgment: Key Concepts

Biases: Systematic errors in Heuristics: Mental shortcuts

judgment that can affect that people use to simplify
decision quality. decision-making
Enhancing Judgment in Cognitive
Ergonomics

Designing user-friendly interfaces that provide relevant

information and assist users in making better decisions
Enhancing Judgment in Cognitive
Ergonomics

Developing training programs that enhance

judgment and decision-making skills,
especially in high-stakes environments.
 References

• Wickens, C. D., Hollands, J. G., Banbury, S., & Parasuraman, R. (2015).

Engineering Psychology and Human Performance. Psychology Press.

• Damos, D. L., & Wilkins, L. K. (2018). Handbook of Human Factors and

Ergonomics in Health Care and Patient Safety. CRC Press.

• Wickens, C. D., & McCarley, J. S. (2019). Applied Attention Theory. CRC

Press.

• Rensink, R. A., & Hoffman, R. R. (2020). Visual Attention. In Oxford

Research Encyclopedia of Psychology.

• Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
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