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






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






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






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






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






6. An original model on which something is patterned






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






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






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






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






11. 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.






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






13. Elements perceived as either figures (objects of focus) or ground (the rest of the perceptual field)






14. 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.






15. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






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






18. 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)






19. The deliberate use of a weak element that will fail in order to protect other elements in the system from damage.






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






21. 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.)






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






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






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






25. 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.






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






27. 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.






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






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






30. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






44. 1) Physiological 2) Safety 3) Love 4) Self-Esteem 5) Self-Actualization


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






46. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






48. The designs that help people perform optimally are often not the same as the designs that people find most desirable.






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






50. All products progress sequentially through four stages of existence: introduction - growth - maturity - and decline.