CUA CUA Cognitive Psychology & Mental Models 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following best describes an 'affordance' in UX and interaction design?
- A hidden feature revealed through onboarding
- A design element that signals how it should be used (Correct answer)
- A metric for measuring user satisfaction scores
- A type of usability heuristic evaluation
Correct answer: A design element that signals how it should be used
An affordance is a perceived property of an object that signals its possible use, such as a raised button that looks clickable.
Question 2: Fitts' Law predicts that the time to acquire a target with a pointing device is determined by:
- The user's age and prior experience
- The target's size and its distance from the cursor (Correct answer)
- The color contrast ratio of the target element
- The number of competing elements on the page
Correct answer: The target's size and its distance from the cursor
Fitts' Law states that movement time to a target increases with distance and decreases with target size, directly influencing button and click target sizing.
Question 3: The 'peak-end rule' in cognitive psychology suggests that users primarily judge an experience based on:
- The first interaction and the total duration
- The most emotionally intense moment and the final moment (Correct answer)
- Only the negative interactions throughout the experience
- An average rating across all touchpoints
Correct answer: The most emotionally intense moment and the final moment
The peak-end rule states that people judge experiences by the emotional peak and the ending, not a running average of every moment.
Question 4: Which cognitive bias leads users to seek and interpret interface information in ways that confirm their pre-existing beliefs?
- Anchoring bias
- Framing effect
- Confirmation bias (Correct answer)
- Availability heuristic
Correct answer: Confirmation bias
Confirmation bias causes users to notice and trust information that aligns with what they already believe, which can skew how they navigate and interpret content.
Question 5: 'Banner blindness' is a form of which broader cognitive phenomenon?
- Selective attention and attentional blindness (Correct answer)
- Change blindness
- Perceptual narrowing
- Inattentional deafness
Correct answer: Selective attention and attentional blindness
Banner blindness is a form of attentional blindness where users automatically ignore areas that resemble advertisements, even when those areas contain relevant content.
Question 6: Hick's Law states that as the number of choices presented to a user increases, decision-making time:
- Decreases because users feel more in control
- Remains constant if options are well labeled
- Increases logarithmically (Correct answer)
- Doubles with every additional option
Correct answer: Increases logarithmically
Hick's Law predicts that decision time grows logarithmically with the number of choices, supporting the UX principle of limiting options to reduce friction.
CUA CUA Cognitive Psychology & Mental Models 2
Which of the following best describes an 'affordance' in UX and interaction design?