You are riding in a car with a friend who is driving a few miles an hour over the speed limit and he is watching intently for police cars.Your friend got a ticket last week,so every time he sees a car that looks remotely like a police car,he slows down.Because of his over-vigilance,he has slowed down several times for what turned out not to be police cars.Your friend's attempts to notice police cars would have the most relevance to which of the following?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Your friend's behavior can be understood through signal detection theory, which involves detecting a signal (in this case, the presence of a police car) in the presence of noise (other cars that may resemble a police car). Your friend's previous experience with getting a ticket has caused him to be more sensitive to the signal and thus, he slows down even when there is only a small likelihood of it being a police car. This behavior is consistent with the principles of signal detection theory.

You Are Riding in a Car with a Friend Who