Term ID: T1720

False Alarm

/false-alarm/
In signal detection theory, incorrectly identifying a signal as present when it is actually absent, representing one type of error in perceptual or decision-making tasks.
Example: A radiologist mistakenly identifying a normal tissue pattern as a tumor on an X-ray, or a person thinking they heard their name called when no one actually said it.

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Reference: Green & Swets (1966)