Signal detection theory originated in WWII radar plane detection

Evidence

This bias can be avoided if the subject is presented with an interval where the signal is or is not present. The interval is thus a period of time which can be indicated, for example, with a visual indicator on a computer screen. The length of the period is typically shorter than 10 seconds. The subject is asked whether the interval contains the signal, with the possibility of answering only ‘yes’ or ‘no’. This gives information about the tendency of the subject to favour either ‘signal present’ or ‘signal not present’ cases. The analysis of the results from such testing is formalized in signal detection theory, which is a theory of perceptual mechanisms when measuring thresholds (Gescheider, 1997). It was developed during World War II to correctly detect planes in noisy radar measurements. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 887

This bias can be avoided if the subject is presented with an interval where the signal is or is not present. The interval is thus a period of time which can be indicated, for example, with a visual indicator on a computer screen. The length of the period is typically shorter than 10 seconds. The subject is asked whether the interval contains the signal, with the possibility of answering only ‘yes’ or ‘no’. This gives information about the tendency of the subject to favour either ‘signal present’ or ‘signal not present’ cases. The analysis of the results from such testing is formalized in signal detection theory, which is a theory of perceptual mechanisms when measuring thresholds (Gescheider, 1997). It was developed during World War II to correctly detect planes in noisy radar measurements. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 887

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s work on acoustic sensing applications — SDT’s military radar origin mirrors how acoustics often finds application in surveillance and detection contexts. — connects to: Standard signal-detection measures fail for time-evolving detection tasks — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3327
• CANDY: The WWII radar origin of signal detection theory is a fun, tweetable tidbit.
• SEED: Angle: how WWII radar detection problems became the backbone of modern psychological measurement of perception — methodological diffusion from engineering to experimental psychology.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 887

Broader Connections

• Standard signal-detection measures fail for time-evolving detection tasks #complicates (0.75) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3327