Test your basic knowledge |

Design Principles

Subject : engineering
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. When participants realise the aim of the study and may change their behaviour to help or disrupt the study.






2. The distressing state of thought caused by recognizing an inconsistency between behavior/thought and value/belief.






3. The visual clarity of text - generally based on the size - typeface - contrast - text block - and spacing of the characters used.






4. A technique of composition in which a medium is divided into thirds - creating aesthetic positions for the primary elements of a design.






5. The relative ease with which a destination - idea - or concept may be reached.






6. A tendency to see objects and patterns as 3D when certain visual cues are present.






7. Teh act of copying properties of familiar objects - organisms - or environments in order to realize specifice benefits afforded by those properties.






8. Teachers treat students differently based on their expectations of how students will perform.






9. A phenomenon of memory in which noticeably different things are more likely to be recalled that common things. (AKA Isolation/Novelty Effect)






10. A sequence of numbers in which each number is the sum of the preceding two.






11. The use of pictorial images to improve the recognition and recall of signs and controls.






12. An original model on which something is patterned






13. Memory for recognizing things is better than memory for recalling things.






14. An action or ommission of action yielding an unintended result.






15. A property in which a form is made up of parts similar to the whole or to one another.






16. A phenomenon of memory in which information that is analyzed deeply is better recalled than information that is analyzed superficially.






17. A relationship between controls and their movements or effects. When th effect corresponds to the expectation - the mapping is considered to be good or natural.






18. A phenomenon in which perception and behavior changes as a result of personal expectations or the expectations of others. (Halo effect - Hawthorne effect - Pygmalion effect - Placebo effect - Rosenthal effect - Demand characteristics.)






19. A preference for a particular ratio of waist size to hip size in men and women. Men prefer 0.7 in women. Women prefer 0.9 in men.






20. A point of physical or attentional entry into a design. (Minimal Barriers - Points of Prospect - Progressive Lures)






21. A process of repeating a set of operation until a specific result is achieved.






22. The use of simplified and incomplete models of a design to explore ideas - elaborate requirements - refine specifications - and test functionality.






23. 1) Functionality 2) Reliability 3) Usability 4) Proficiency 5) Creativity. In order for design to be successful - it must meet ppl's basic need before it can attempt to satisfy higher- level needs.






24. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






25. A Gestalt law of organization; elements arrange in a straight line or a smooth curve are perceived as a group - and are interpreted as being more related than elements not on the line or curve.






26. A diagram that describes the general pattern followed by the eyes when looking at evenly distributed - homogeneous information.






27. The ratio of relevant to irrelevant information in a display. The highest possible signal- to- noise ratio is desirable in design.






28. A technique used to teach a desired behavior by reinforcing increasingly accurate approximations of the behavior.






29. Using more elements than is necessary to offset the effects of unknown variables which may cause a system failure.






30. A technique for preventing unintended actions by requiring verification of the actions before they are performed.






31. An ability to detect threatening stimuli more efficiently than nonthreatening stimuli.






32. People understand and interact with systems and environments based on mental representations developed from experience.






33. A tendency to interpret shaded or dark areas of an object as shadows resulting from a light source above the object.






34. A method of reorganizing information to make the information simpler - more meaningful and easier to remember. (ie. First Letter - Keyword - Rhyme - Feature Name)






35. Given a choice between functionally equivalent designs - the simplest design should be selected.


36. A method of illustrating relationships and patterns in system behaviors by representing two or more system variables in a controlled way.






37. A phenomenon of memory in which items presented at the beginning and end of a list are more likely to be recalled than items in the middle of a list.






38. The quality of system output is dependent on the quality of system input.






39. A tendency to see people and things iwth baby- faced features as more naive - helpless - and honest than those with mature features.






40. A technique that influences decision making and judgement by manipulating the way information is presented.






41. The usability of a system is improved when similar parts are expressed in similar ways.






42. There are three ways to organize materials to support a load or to contain and protect something: Mass structures - frame structures - and shell structures.






43. A phenomenon of visual processing in which certain line orientations are more quickly and easily processed and discriminated than other line orientations.






44. Elements that are connected by uniform visual properties - such as color - are perceived to be more related than elements that are not connected.






45. People tend to prefer savanna- like environments to other types of environments. Open areas - scattered trees - water - and uniform grassiness rather than other natural environments such as desert - jungle - and complex mtns.






46. The process of organizing information into related groupings in order to manage complexity and reinforce relationships in the information.






47. Tendency to form an overall positive impression of a person on the basis of one positive characteristic






48. The tendency for people to perform better or worse based on the expectations of another.






49. The greater the effort to accomplish a task - the less likely the task will be accomplished successfully.






50. A tendency to prefer faces in which the eyes - nose - lips and other features are close to the average of a population.