Would you flag this signal?
Detection separates the quality of evidence from the cost of acting on it.
Inside this model
Noise scores are uniform 0–100. Signal scores are uniform between max(0, signal strength − 25) and min(100, signal strength + 25). A score at or above the threshold is flagged. The chart shows exact hit and false-alarm probabilities.
Out in the world
A practical use
Moderating content where a strict rule misses some harmful items and a loose rule flags harmless ones.
A useful lens. Not a universal law.
- Uniform toy score distributions and equal cases are pedagogical, not a calibrated real detector.
Further reading
Explore the original research or the teaching reference behind this experiment.
Green and Swets — Signal Detection Theory and Psychophysics ↗