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


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






11. 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.






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






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






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






15. 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.






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






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






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






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


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






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






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






23. 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.






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






25. 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.






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






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






28. An original model on which something is patterned






29. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






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






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






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






34. 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?)






35. Given a choice between functionally equivalent designs - the simplest design should be selected.


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






37. 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.






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






39. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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