The effect of artifact of human observational performance

The human observer functions as the signal detector in many systems and is frequently subjected to distractions, including artifacts, that can affect identification of important events. In this study subjects were shown moving strip charts containing a background signal and target patterns for identification. On one strip there was randomly located artifact. The results show a statistically significant difference between average performance in the two cases as well as between individual observers. These results have implications with respect to the design and use of monitoring equipment.<>