Capabilities of Human Beings

Question 0

What is Cognition?

Answer 0

the act or process of knowing

Question 1

What is Cognitive psychology?

Answer 1

the study of how people perceive, learn, and remember

Question 2

What are the 5 senses and what do they provide for us as a whole?

Answer 2

*sight
*smell
*taste
*touch
*hearing
They provide data about what is happening around us

Question 3

Describe Constructivism

Answer 3

• idea that our brains do not create pixel-by-pixel images

* instead-our minds create, or construct, models that summarize what comes from our senses(what we perceive)

Question 4

What are examples of familiar objects that we see, but don’t store in detail?

Answer 4

• the colors on your favorite cereal box
• how many lines are there in the famous IBM logo
• how many links there are at the top of a website

Question 5

What major role does Context play?

Answer 5

what people see in an image

Question 6

What is a Mind set?

Answer 6

factors that we know and bring to a situation

Question 7

Why is mindset important for a website?

Answer 7

can have a profound effect on the usability of a website

Question 8

What do users typically think when a graphic is flashing on a web site?

Answer 8

that it is a form of advertisement

Question 9

What are images are partitioned into:

Answer 9

• Figure (foreground)

* Ground (background)

Question 10

In Gestalt psychology (seeing parts as a whole) what does Gestalt mean?

Answer 10

German for “shape”, but in psychology it implies the idea of “perception in context”

Question 11

Name the 5 principles of Gestalt psychology

Answer 11

• Proximity - distance or location
• Similarity - by type
• Symmetry - by meaning
• Continuity - flow of lines (alignment)
• Closure - shapes that are not (completely) there

Question 12

What is an example of Proximity?

Answer 12

*grouping related links on a web page

Question 13

What is an example of Similarity?

Answer 13

*making buttons the same size on a web page

Question 14

What is an example of Symmetry?

Answer 14

3 brackets are seen as three groups of paired square brackets

Question 15

What is an example of Continuity?

Answer 15

*the indentation of alignment text to show hierarchy on a web page

Question 16

What is an example of Closure?

Answer 16

*a dashed circle that really is not a circle but we perceive it as one

Question 17

What 4 elements can help memory on a website?

Answer 17

• hierarchy model of memory
• chunking
• relying of recognition
• memory aids

Question 18

What is included in the Hierarchy Memory Model

Answer 18

• Sensory
• Short term
• Long term

Question 19

What is an example of chunking?

Answer 19

*www.google.com URL

Question 20

Recognition and Recall: Why is it easier to take a multiple - choice test?

Answer 20

*you can recognize the answer

Question 21

What are examples of Memory Aids?

Answer 21

• Post - It notes
• keyboard shortcuts
• favorite lists / bookmarks
• hyperlinks

Question 22

What are examples for coping with Interruptions online?

Answer 22

• Back button
• Followed Links change color
• Placing items in an online shopping cart

Question 23

How do people use knowledge to understand or make predictions about new situations?

Answer 23

People build mental models

Question 24

What is the purpose of metaphors used in interfaces?

Answer 24

*to help people become familiar with a new system by comparing it to a familiar one they already know

Question 25

What is Affordance?

Answer 25

• the functions or services that an interface provides

* ie: a door affords an exit from aroom

Question 26

What’s an example of Perceived affordance to the user?

Answer 26

*the up and down lights on an elevator that have arrows or are placed vertically so that the top means “Up”

Question 27

What are the design guidelines for the web?

Answer 27

• Use recognition
• Use chunking
• Less short-term memory use
• Consider mental models
• Visual clues/memory aids
• Give user feedback