Norman Chapter 2 Vocabulary

Question 1

Gulf of Execution

Answer 1

Where a user figures out how something operates; bridged via signifiers, constraints, mappings, and conceptual models.

Question 2

Gulf of Evaluation

Answer 2

Where the user tries to figure out what happened; bridged via use of feedback and conceptual models.

Question 3

Stages of Execution

Answer 3

The actions taken after you’ve decided on your goal; three stages follow from the goal: plan, specify, and perform.

Question 4

Seven Stages of Action

Answer 4

One for goals, three for execution, and three for evaluation.

1. Goal (form the goal)
2. Plan (the action)
3. Specify (an action sequence)
4. Perform (an action sequence)
5. Perceive (the state of the world)
6. Interpret (the perception)
7. Compare (the outcome with the goal)

Question 5

Opportunistic Actions

Answer 5

Behavior that takes advantage of circumstances.

Question 6

Root Cause Analysis

Answer 6

Always asking what the REAL goal is. An example: the drill. When people go to the store to buy a drill or drill bit, that is not their goal. Their goal is to hang their bookshelf.

Question 7

Reflective Operations

Answer 7

Consciousness

Question 8

Overlearning

Answer 8

Once skills are learned, you have little or no awareness of them, as they are done automatically.

Question 9

Declarative Memory

Answer 9

The segment of memory for factual information.

Question 10

Procedural Memory

Answer 10

Memories you recall by thinking about the action required.

Question 11

Cognition

Answer 11

Cognitive thoughts lead to emotions; emotions drive cognitive thoughts. Cognition attempts to make sense of the world.

Question 12

Subconscious System of Cognition

Answer 12

Is fast, automatic, involves multiple resources in the brain and controls skilled behavior. Good at generalizing and spotting trends. Biased towards regularity and structure.

Question 13

Conscious System of Cognition

Answer 13

Is slow, controlled, involves limited resources and invoked for novel situations– when learning, when in danger, when things go wrong. It compares, rationalizes, and explains.

Question 14

Visceral Processing Level

Answer 14

Most basic level of processing; the “lizard brain.” Tightly intertwined with our muscular system (fight, flight, freeze). Takes place primarily through sensitization and desensitization through adaptation and classical conditioning. Fast and automatic. Stages Perform and Perceive of the Seven Stages of Action live here.

Question 15

Behavioral Processing Level

Answer 15

Home of learned skills. Behavioral states are learned. An example is when playing a sport: we know what action to take when a ball is flying at us. This is behavioral processing; for well learned actions, all we have to do is think about doing something and the behavioral level handles the details. The Specify and Interpret of the Seven Stages of Action belong here.

Question 16

Reflective Processing Level

Answer 16

Home of conscious cognition. Where deep understanding develops, where reasoning and conscious decision-making take place. Deep and slow. Plan and Compare stages of the Seven Stages of Action are here.

Question 17

Flow

Answer 17

What social scientist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls the state where you lose track of time and outside environment while performing a task that is just the proper amount of difficult to require constant attention but not so difficult to cause frustration and anxiety.

Question 18

Conceptual Models

Answer 18

A highly simplified model explanation of how something works that a user creates in whatever knowledge they have (be it real, imaginary, naïve, or sophisticated.

Question 19

Learned Helplessness

Answer 19

When people repeatedly fail at a task, they decide that the task cannot be done by them and stop trying. (like you and math!)

Question 20

Discoverability

Answer 20

Is it possible to figure out what actions are possible and the current state of the device?