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 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.






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






3. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






11. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






13. 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.






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






15. An original model on which something is patterned






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






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






18. Teh act of copying properties of familiar objects - organisms - or environments in order to realize specifice benefits afforded by those properties.






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






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






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






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






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






24. 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)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






32. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






40. Designs should help people avoid errors and minimize the negative consequences of errors when they do occur.






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






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






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






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






45. A point of physical or attentional entry into a design. (Minimal Barriers - Points of Prospect - Progressive Lures)






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






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






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






50. A process of repeating a set of operation until a specific result is achieved.