An investigation of training strategies to improve alarm reactions

•Training alarm responders to analyze data can supplement alarm design improvements.•Alarm responders benefited most from single sensor or spatial pattern training.•Alarm responders did not benefit from temporal interval training.•Alarm responders decided how to react before experiencing individual signals.

Researchers have suggested that operator training may improve operator reactions; however, researchers have not documented this for alarm reactions. The goal of this research was to train participants to react to alarms using sensor activity patterns. In Experiment 1, 80 undergraduates monitored a simulated security screen while completing a primary word search task. They received spatial, temporal, single sensor, or no training to respond to alarms of differing reliability levels. Analyses revealed more appropriate and quicker reactions when participants were trained and when the alarms were reliable. In Experiment 2, 56 participants practiced time estimation by simple repetition, performance feedback, or performance feedback and temporal subdivision. They then reacted to alarms based on elapsed time between sensor activity and alarm onset. Surprisingly, results indicated that participants did not benefit differentially from temporal interval training, focusing instead on advertised system reliability. Researchers should replicate these findings with realistic tasks and real-world complex task operators.