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. 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.)






2. A method of presentation in which information is presented in descending order of importance. (Critical information presented first).






3. 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.






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






5. A technique for bringing attention to an area of text or image.






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






7. 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






8. A technique of combining many units of information into a limited number of units or chunks - so that the information is easier to process and remember.






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






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






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






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






13. There are five ways to organize information: Category - time - location - alphabet - and continuum.






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






15. 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)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






23. The time it takes to make a decision increases as the number of alternatives increases.


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






33. The tendency to see attractive people as more intelligent - competent - moral and sociable than unattractive people.






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






35. Designs should help people avoid errors and minimize the negative consequences of errors when they do occur.






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






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






38. As the flexiblity of a system increases - its usability decreases.






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






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






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






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






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






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






45. 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.






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






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






48. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






49. Successful products typically follow four stages of creation: requirements - design - development - and testing.






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