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






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






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






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






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






6. The usability of a system is improved when its status and methods of use are clearly visible.






7. 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?)






8. Beauty in design results from purity of function. Interpreted in 2 ways: A description of beauty or a prescription for beauty.






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






10. A tendency to interpret ambiguous images as simple and a complete unit - versus complex and incomplete. (Gestalt principle of perception).






11. An attribute of an object that allows people to intuitively know how to use it






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






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






14. An original model on which something is patterned






15. The use of more elements than necessary to maintain the performance of a system in the event of failure of one or more of the elements.






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






17. A method of limiting the actions that can be performed on a system.






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






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






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






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






22. 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.






23. The process of using spatial and environmental information to navigate to a destination.






24. 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.)






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






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






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






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






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






30. A ratio within the elements of a form - such as height to width - approximating 0.618.






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






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






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






34. Adjusting parts of a device in relation to each other to create a sense of unity and cohesion.






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






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






37. The time required to move to a target is a function of the target size and distance to the target.


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






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


40. The debgree to which prose can be understood - based on the complexity of words and sentences.






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






42. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






48. A strategy for managing information complexity in which only necessary or requested information is displayed at any given time.






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






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