Capabilities of Human Beings Flashcards
What is Cognition?
the act or process of knowing
What is Cognitive psychology?
the study of how people perceive, learn, and remember
What are the 5 senses and what do they provide for us as a whole?
*sight
*smell
*taste
*touch
*hearing
They provide data about what is happening around us
Describe Constructivism
- 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)
What are examples of familiar objects that we see, but don’t store in detail?
- 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
What major role does Context play?
what people see in an image
What is a Mind set?
factors that we know and bring to a situation
Why is mindset important for a website?
can have a profound effect on the usability of a website
What do users typically think when a graphic is flashing on a web site?
that it is a form of advertisement
What are images are partitioned into:
- Figure (foreground)
* Ground (background)
In Gestalt psychology (seeing parts as a whole) what does Gestalt mean?
German for “shape”, but in psychology it implies the idea of “perception in context”
Name the 5 principles of Gestalt psychology
- Proximity - distance or location
- Similarity - by type
- Symmetry - by meaning
- Continuity - flow of lines (alignment)
- Closure - shapes that are not (completely) there
What is an example of Proximity?
*grouping related links on a web page
What is an example of Similarity?
*making buttons the same size on a web page
What is an example of Symmetry?
3 brackets are seen as three groups of paired square brackets
What is an example of Continuity?
*the indentation of alignment text to show hierarchy on a web page
What is an example of Closure?
*a dashed circle that really is not a circle but we perceive it as one
What 4 elements can help memory on a website?
- hierarchy model of memory
- chunking
- relying of recognition
- memory aids
What is included in the Hierarchy Memory Model
- Sensory
- Short term
- Long term
What is an example of chunking?
*www.google.com URL
Recognition and Recall: Why is it easier to take a multiple - choice test?
*you can recognize the answer
What are examples of Memory Aids?
- Post - It notes
- keyboard shortcuts
- favorite lists / bookmarks
- hyperlinks
What are examples for coping with Interruptions online?
- Back button
- Followed Links change color
- Placing items in an online shopping cart
How do people use knowledge to understand or make predictions about new situations?
People build mental models
What is the purpose of metaphors used in interfaces?
*to help people become familiar with a new system by comparing it to a familiar one they already know
What is Affordance?
- the functions or services that an interface provides
* ie: a door affords an exit from aroom
What’s an example of Perceived affordance to the user?
*the up and down lights on an elevator that have arrows or are placed vertically so that the top means “Up”
What are the design guidelines for the web?
- Use recognition
- Use chunking
- Less short-term memory use
- Consider mental models
- Visual clues/memory aids
- Give user feedback
