Alarm signals, can a change of siren speed capture human attention?

Abstract: An effective alarm system is a critical part of many different types of jobs. It is also important that the alarm signal can capture human attention and convey appropriate urgency. In the current study the effect of siren sounds with or without unexpected, deviant sounds represented by a change of speed (a temporal deviant) were tested to evaluate if such change could successfully capture attention. The results showed that distraction was more pronounced when the deviant within the sound was a change from fast to slow as compared with slow to fast. Therefore, an alarm signal using a temporal deviant – changing from fast to slow—can be effective in capturing human attention and might be factored into the design of alarm systems.