A forest ranger may notice the faintest scent of a forest fire, whereas much stronger but less important odors fail to catch her attention. This fact would be of greatest relevance to

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Signal detection theory is concerned with how we detect the presence or absence of a stimulus, given background noise or competing stimuli. The example of the forest ranger highlights the idea that our detection of a signal depends not only on the physical characteristics of the stimulus, but also on our own personal sensitivity to that stimulus. In this case, the ranger is more sensitive to the scent of a forest fire, and therefore better able to detect it even when it is very faint.

A Forest Ranger May Notice the Faintest Scent of a Forest