Using fMRI to Measure Stimulus Generalization of Software Notification to Security Warnings

This paper examines how habituation to frequent software notifications may carry over to infrequent security warnings. This general process—known as stimulus generalization or simply generalization—is a well-established phenomenon in neurobiology that has clear implications for information security. Because software user interface guidelines call for visual consistency, software notifications and security warnings have a similar look and feel. Consequently, through frequent exposure to notifications, people may become habituated to security warnings they have never seen before. The objective of this paper to propose an fMRI experimental design to measure the extent to which this occurs. We also propose testing security warning designs that are resistant to generalization of habituation effects.