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






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






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






4. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






10. 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.






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






23. 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.






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






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






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






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






28. An original model on which something is patterned






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






30. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






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






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


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






35. A phenomenon in which mental processing is made slower and less accurate by competing mental processes.






36. 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.)






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






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






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






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






41. 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






42. The level of control provided by a system should be related to the proficiency and experience levels of the people using the system.






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






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






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






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






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






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






49. 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.






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