A flat spring of a vehicular seat is elastically supported by means of
supporting springs that extend in accordance with the load of an
occupant. The seat has displacement sensors, first-stage determination
step, second-stage determination step, and third-stage determination
step. The displacement sensors output electrical signals corresponding to
the respective elongations of the springs. The first-stage determination
step determines the occupant in the seat in accordance with voltage
values delivered from the displacement sensors. The second-stage
determination step determines whether or not the result of determination
by the first-stage determination step is maintained for a given period of
time. The third-stage determination step compares the result of
determination by the second-stage determination step with the preceding
result of determination and specifies the occupant in accordance with the
result of the comparison.