ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book presents the problems concerned with pinpointing the initial source of a warning, and provides the theoretical background needed to minimise this problem. It shows that increasing the acoustic urgency of a warning by increasing its level, pitch and speed can affect both subjective assessments of perceived urgency and the speed of response. The book suggests that the acoustic urgency of a set of warnings can be reliably increased and decreased without changing the nature of those alarms. It examines how levels of priority can be developed in a set of warnings through acoustic manipulation. The book argues that urgency is a useful concept in auditory warnings and can influence the behaviour of the person, in terms of their level of arousal and ability to identify the warning, and their speed of response to the warning.
