Unique Exam Preparation Strategies for Preliminary Questions
School
Cornell University**We aren't endorsed by this school
Course
DEA 1500
Subject
Communications
Date
Dec 10, 2024
Pages
10
Uploaded by SargentSeaLion4791
2024 Preliminary Examination 3 Study Questions Gary EvansQuestions in bold need to be answered uniquely. The same example from two persons for the BOLD component of question will be considered a violation of Academic Integrity. It’s fine to discuss your example with someone else and give each other feedback. But on the exam, your answer needs to be unique for any bolded parts. Professor/TA assistance. Please remember that your discussion section TAs have been instructed not to spend time on the exam questions. That is not the purpose of the discussion sections. It is fine to ask me or one of the graduate TAs about the exam questions. You do not need an appointment to see Professor Evans. In addition to office hours, I tend to be in my officein late afternoons/early evenings and you are welcome to drop by. My office is 3415 East MVR. Note: Quickqueries via e mail or questions right before or after class are ok but not ones that aregoing to require a lengthy response. Please note if you wait until the last minute and then bombard me with e-mails, I will not be able to help you because of time constraints. Same goes for graduate student TAs. Exam writing. It is fine to use drawings, bullet points, lists. Where helpful, feel free to draw as part of an answer to any question.We are not evaluating your writing skills: what is critical is you demonstrating knowledge of the course materials. Poor handwriting: please use a pen and if you have poor handwriting, please print. Throughout you will see questions asking you to generate or respond to hypothetical experiments and/or data to support or contradict certain theories or to illustrate certain patterns of results. Precise values are not the critical issue: it is the pattern of values and your explanations that are important. For some questions, you are asked to generate a design guideline. The criteria for a good designguideline are described in the first project assignment in the Discussion Section 3 on the course website. There are also examples of design guidelines in this same section. Plus we have put a marvelous example of design guidelines, Cooper, C. Housing as if people mattered on Mann Library Reserve. Finally, we discuss Design guidelines in class. At a minimum the design guideline for the exam needs to include: a.Succinct and clear behavioral or performance guideline b.Define the primary HER process your guideline reflectsc.Describe in terms of that HER process, the rationale for the guidelined.Comment about a social identity (e.g., gender, age, culture/ethnicity, disability, etc.) that might be important to consider in terms of your guideline. (note: this is an example of person X environment interaction) or explain why you think the guidelineis likely to apply similarly to most people. Another way to think about this, is are your guidelines universal (“one size fits all”)?e.Draw how to implement the guideline (drawing needs to make sense, it does not need to be beautiful).Note: the requirements for Design Guidelines for the exams are a subset of what is required for Assignment 1 on the Dormitory Guidelines.
1. Draw or take a photo of one of your favorite buildings or settings. This place can be one you grew up in, reside in currently, or somewhere familiar to you. It cannot be from the web or some other sources, it needs to be one you have personal familiarity with. Bring a hard copy of this photo/drawing with you to the examination in case this question is on the exam. It is ok if you need more than one image to communicate the information needed. The picture does not have to show all three HER processes but each needs to be explained as indicated below.a.Where is this space and what is its relation to you?b.Define and identify three HER processes that help make this space work well.c. For each one of these HER processes, describe specifically the physical element(s) that are linked to the HER process.d. For each one of these HER processes, describe some research evidence from class that is similar to the physical element(s) you are describing. Explain the linkages.e. For oneof the HER processes listed in part b., describe an aspect of your social identity that you believe makes a difference in how this place might affect someone who does not possess that same social identity that you do. Explain how/why this might operate in this manner. (Reminder: bold means must be your own). 2.Refer to the pictures below.a.Define anthropometrics and biomechanics. Explain how the two interrelate. Nameand explain how two physical disorders are a result of poor design in light of this HER Process.b.Pick two of these three pictures and evaluate the anthropometrics and biomechanics of the settings. Explain each of your evaluations. c.Using the two pictures you have chosen from part b, draw a picture and describe for each that illustrates an improvement in the ergonomic design of the space. Explain how/why each of your twodiagrams is an example of better design.d.Using one of the twopictures you have chosen from part b, describe one other HER processes that might influence the anthropometrics and biomechanics of the space. Explain your answer. e.How might a different social identity either positively or negatively affect anthropometrics/biomechanics in the third picture you did not choose above.
3. a. What degree of agreement would you expect in judgments by different users of this space about the meaning/symbolism of the color in this setting? Why?b. Keeping the lighting as it is, what would be one potential advantage and one potential disadvantage of the lighting? Describe one or more user groups who would be especially affected by these advantages and disadvantages? The user group can be the same or different forthe advantage and disadvantage. Please explain your answer. c. How would you change the color to enhance creative problem solving? How would you change the color to enhance performance on a task requiring precision and detail? Base your answer on research from readings and lecture.d. Imagine this was a café. Describe four changes you would recommend for the overalldesign and specific elements of the environment. Explain your answers in terms of HER processes and relevant research or theory from this class. You cannot use color or lighting as part of these changes.
4.a. Describe three design flaws in this setting. Discuss each of these design flaws in terms of a differentHER process. b. Using a drawing/diagram, make three improvements in the design of the setting for users addressing each of the HER process in a. Explain your underlying reasoning. c. For one of these improvements, generate some data in a table/graph to show where you would expect no person by environment interaction. What is the rationale for this prediction. d. Describe two positive physical elements in this setting. For each element explain what you are assuming about the desired behavioral outcome (s). What are the HER processes underlying each of these positive outcomes? Note: you can use any HER process including those you refer to in your answers in a and b.
5.Imagine you are hired as a consultant to re-design a space in the Theory Center of Cornell University. The purpose of this new space is to support teams generating innovative solutions to problems. Although the focus is on teamwork and innovative problem solving, these workers also have to work on their own to do background research as well as more routine tasks (e.g., check and respond to messages; develop budgets).a. Describe and/or draw your ideas for this new space. Explain with evidence from classhow one or more of your design ideas is related to environmental stress, lighting, color,layout, enclosure. b. Describe two potential unintended limitation/problems that might result from your ideas. Cite evidence for these possible unintended problems. c. For what you think is your best design idea, describe whether you think the benefits of this design idea illustrate primarily environmental determinism or cognitive appraisal. Please explain your answer.
6.Each of the above slides depicts two areas in the same public housing project in Chicago.a. What two things did the researchers find out about children’s play behaviors when comparing these two sites? How do these findings relate to restoration as an HER process?
b. What characteristic of the families’ living situation in this residential setting is most important in order to argue that the results in part a. were unlikely caused by a confounding? Explain your answer. c.Describe some other factor other than the one you addressed that might be a confounding and explain your reasoning. How plausible do you judge this additional threat to causality? Explain your reasoning. d.Given what we know about restoration, describe two other differences in health or behavior (bespecific) you might expect to see between children living close vs. far from nature. You cannot use play behavior. For each one of these differences, describe a research finding that is similar towhat you predict. e. If you posited that the reason for what researchers found in part a. was biophilia, would you expect a person by environment interaction to be common? Why?7.a. What is your prediction for the mean of scenic quality ratings you would find for this photograph where 1 = Low Scenic Quality and 10 = High Scenic Quality. What does your prediction imply for the adage “beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Provide one theoretical and one practical reason, respectively, why this issue is important.b. List four different physical characteristics of this setting that would affect its scenic qualityrating, based on readings/lectures. Indicate whether this physical characteristic is contributing positively or negatively to scenic quality of this scene.c. Name and describe three different theories of aesthetics and then apply them to this scene. Make sure you are thorough in discussing the link between the theory and this scene.d. Reproduce the figure below and draw what you would expect the relation to look like between aesthetic preference and the degree of deviation (greater than or less than) from a prototypical stimulus (i.e., matches schemata) stimulus. Explain your prediction in terms of the
information processing theory (Kaplan) of aesthetics. Hint: use a line graph instead of a bar graph to draw your answer in the figure below.8. a. Describe the two general dimensions (DSP [traditional], NEP) of contemporary American environmental attitudes and values. For each of these primary attitudes describe three beliefs associated with the attitude. b. Name and describe four origins (e.g., religion is one origin) of the two dimensions of American environmental attitudes. c. Describe evidence for four characteristics of someone who supports the following:“Climate change is a hoax”. d. Incorporating Ignorance, from the Dragons of Inaction and lecture, describe three strategies you would try to change this person’s mind about Climate Change?
9.a..Explain what this graph says. Indicate where the point of diminishing returns is shown andwhere carrying capacity is shown on the graph. Describe what each of these constructs mean.b.What is the implication of this graph, if accurate, for changes in human population size over time? Explain your answer. c. What is the relation between this graph and the aphorisms: “necessity is the mother of invention”; “technological fix”? Make sure you explain what each of these aphorisms mean and what they say with respect to Malthus’ original theory of carrying capacity.d. Utilizing this graph, describe the two major environmental behaviors that underlie current ecological problems. e. For each of these behaviors, describe in what way one aspect of each of the two major American environmental attitudes would relate to this behavior. For instance, one aspect of the NEP is the fragility of nature.10. a. Explain the commons dilemma in terms of social traps theory and describe its role in environmental problems. Your answer needs to demonstrate understanding of the underlying dynamics of social traps theory. b. The Dragons of Inaction argues that two key aspects of human behavior: Bounded Rationality and Emotion and Rationality, lie at the core of human inability to deal with climate change. Myopic perception, social traps, ignorance, and uncertainty/risk are major categories of
Bounded Rationality. Define each category and explain why/how it interferes with ecological behavior? c. Anthropocentrism, norms, environmental numbness, and helplessness/ecological paralysis constitute Emotion and Rationality. Define each category and explain how/why it interferes withecological behavior?d. Slay two of the features of each Dragon component (Bounded Rationality; Emotion and Rationality). Explain each of your behavior change strategies in relation to lecture or readings from class. Thus you will have four different behavior change strategies.