Signal detection theory and psychoacoustics

Abstract

This talk will trace the early history of signal detection theory (SDT) with a particular emphasis on its applications in psychoacoustics. SDT, as developed at the University of Michigan (U-M) in the mid-1950s, revolutionized psychophysics by introducing a core assumption: all sensory judgements are limited by “noise” of one sort or another and, as such, are reflective of underlying decision processes. To test and flesh-out this new theory, early empirical work in vision quickly turned to audition and a remarkably fruitful 12-year period followed, from roughly 1954 to 1966. This talk will focus on that 12-year period, bracketed, on the one end, by the establishment of an auditory research laboratory at U-M by Wilson P. “Spike” Tanner and, on the other, by the publication of Green and Swets’ (1966) seminal text. The principle documents and publications of that period—particularly those that appeared in this society’s Journal—will be reviewed, with a discussion of their intellectual and historical context. Emphasis will be given to the investigations of the Electronic Defense Group at U-M and those of other legendary psychoacousticians. In particular, the work of Tanner, the key instigator in the transition from “statistical decision theory” to SDT in psychoacoustics, will be discussed.