Operating Characteristics, Signal Detectability, and the Method of Free Response

Abstract

The method of free response refers to the following listening situation. Against a background of noise, a weak signal is presented several times in a long (2-min) observation interval. The temporal intervals between the presentations of the tones are randomly distributed; consequently, the listener does not know when a tone will occur, and he does not know how many tones will be presented. From one series of observation intervals to the next, the listener is instructed to adopt various criteria and to press the single response-key each time he “hears a tone.” The problem consists in the determination of a procedure that allows the total number of yes responses to be partitioned meaningfully between “hits” and “false alarms.” A model is developed in which the measurable quantity, rate of response, is related to the “hit rate” and to the “false-alarm rate.” Although the criterion adopted by the listener cannot be directly evaluated, the use of a wide range of criteria makes it possible to estimate the detectability ds of the signal. Two experiments are described, and the results support the model.