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






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






3. Hierarchical organization is the simplest structure for visualizing and understanding complexity.






4. The ratio of face to body in an image that influences the way the person in the image is perceived. (High = intelligent / Low = physical)






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






6. A technique used to modify behavior by reinforcing desired behaviors - and ignoring or punishing undesired behaviors.






7. A relationship between variables in a system where the consequences of an event are fed back in order to modify the event in the future.






8. Elements that are close together are percieved to be more related than elements that are farther apart.






9. A space that has territorial markers - opportunities for surveillance - and clear indications of activity and ownership.






10. A method of creating imagery - emotions - and understanding of events through an interaction between a storyteller and an audience.






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






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






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






14. A tendency to prefer environments with unobstructed views (prospects) and areas of concealment and retreat (refuges).






15. The tendency for people to behave differently when they know they are being studied






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






17. 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.






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






19. When participants realise the aim of the study and may change their behaviour to help or disrupt the study.






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






21. A term used to describe a set of data - that when plotted - forms a symmetrical - bell- shaped curve.






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






23. It is often preferable to settle for a satisfactory solution - rather than pursue an optimal solution.






24. 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.






25. A property of visual equivalence among elements in a form.






26. A process in which similar characteristics evolve independently in multiple systems.






27. A Gestalt principle of organization holding that aspects of perceptual field that move or function in a similar manner will be perceived as a unit






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






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






30. Patients experience treatment effects based on their belief that a treatment will work.






31. The act of measuring certain sensitive variable in a system can alter them - and confound the accuracy of the measurement.






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






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






34. A state of mental focus so intense that awareness of the 'real' world is lost - generally resulting in a feeling of joy and satisfaction.






35. Repeated exposure to stimuli for which people have neutral feelings will increase the likeability of the stimuli.






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






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






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






39. A tendency to assume that a system that works at one scale will also work at a smaller or larger scale. (2 kinds: Load assumptions and Interaction assumptions)






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






41. An activity will be pursued only if its benefits are equal to or greater than the costs. (ie. How much reading is too much to get the point of a message?)






42. Tendency to perceive a set of individual elements as a single - recogniable pattern - rather than multiple - individual elements.






43. A method of managing system complexity that involves dividing large systems into multiple - smaller self- contained systems.






44. The tendency to perceive objects as unchanging - despite changes in sensory input. (such as perspective - lighting - color or size)






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






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






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






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






49. A technique used to asociate a stimulus with an unconscious physical or emotional response.






50. 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.