Signal detection in conditions of everyday life traffic dilemmas

This paper shows how the paradigm of signal detection could serve as a viable means for the analysis of drivers' choices in conditions of everyday life traffic dilemmas. The participants were 28 drivers, most of them professional, who spend at least 6 h a day on the road. All agreed to have a note-taking silent passenger for the entire journey, every day during a period of 3–4 weeks. All completed the sensation-seeking questionnaire. Their ‘to do or not to do’ choices in conditions of four (out of a total of six) traffic dilemmas (amber light, distance keeping, stopping in road-crossing and merging in routes) were analyzable in terms of a modification of the paradigm of signal detection. In accord with the basics of the paradigm of signal detection, the rate of success of the drivers to detect signals of danger on the road (perceptual sensitivity) fell into the range of partial uncertainty (more than 50% and not too much above this level)! The choices made by thrill-and-adventure-seeking drivers were more lenient than the choice of the drivers who scored lower on this dimension.