Recently, the British Air Force studied the ability of pilots to detect warning signals in a jet fighter cockpit under emergency situations. Two test were conducted: one with normal conditions and the other under simulated emergency conditions. During each test, the pilots were presented with 120 warning signals out of 250 total trials; if they believed that they had detected the signal, they were to press a button. On average with normal conditions, the pilots pressed the button 140 times, but failed to press the button in 12 trials during which the signal was actually presented. Under the simulated emergency conditions, the pilots refrained from pressing the button 115 times, but pressed the button 55 times when no signal had been presented.
a. for each test, draw a signal detection matrix and fill in the appropriate probabilities for the four possible outcomes.
b. Assuming the resulting noise and signal distributions are of equal size and shape. In each test what type of response strategy (conservative or risky) do the pilots appear to be using? And Why?
c. Assume equal costs and benefits for the outcomes of this signal detection experiment. What is the optimal beta? What type of strategy does this value suggest that the pilots use?
d. Determine d’ for each test.
e. Explain the difference between the response criterion of the pilots and the sensitivity of the pilots to the signal.