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


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






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






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






5. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






17. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






25. 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.






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






27. Elements that are similar are perceived to be more related than elements that are dissimilar.






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






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






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






31. 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.






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






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






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






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






36. 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.






37. 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?)






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






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






40. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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