The Role of Trust as a Mediator between Signaling System Reliability and Response Behaviors

Alarm researchers have frequently operationally defined operator trust as response rate and reaction time to agree with the signaling system. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the role of subjective estimates of trust in the relationship between signaling system reliability and response behaviors. Method: Using a sample of 56 college students, we tested the effects of reliability (20 % and 40%) on response frequency, alarm reaction time, and subjective trust, using an alarm-based task. Results: Supporting expectations, we found that the more reliable system led to higher response frequency and higher ratings of trust. We did not find, however, that trust mediated the relationship between reliability and response rate. Considering these findings, the minimally trained participants we tested may not have relied on trust. Alternatively, our trust assessments may have lacked specificity for the experimental task. Replication efforts should focus on task experts and refined trust assessment techniques