An Investigation of Shapes for Warning Labels

An examination was made of nineteen different geometric shapes of warning labels, using the method of paired comparisons. Sixty-six college students viewed slides of all pairs of the shapes and each time selected the shape that was the better indicator of warning. The binomial test was used to statistically test the difference between the shapes. Results showed that of the shapes tested, the triangle on its vertex (yield sign shape, ∇) was the best warning indicator.