Cognitive psychology and the design of alarm sounds

One of the less desirable features about technological advances in medicine is that individuals working with sophisticated monitoring equipment are often bombarded by warning sounds and signals. However, there are some basic cognitive psychological principles which suggest that the over-use of auditory warnings in such circumstances may be counter-productive. This review highlights some of these principles, arguing that future systems should place more emphasis upon cognitive capabilities and predispositions in their design. Upcoming alarms standards where issues such as the number of alarms, their recognizability, and the principle of 'urgency mapping' are discussed with relation to the cognitive psychology of sound.