The power law of practice states that the logarithm of the time it takes to complete a task decreases in a straight line with the logarithm of the number of practice trials already taken, an example of the general learning curve effect on performance. The law was first proposed by Snoddy in 1928, used by Crossman in 1959 in a study of a Cuban cigar roller, and played an important part in the later development of cognitive engineering by Card, Moran and Newell in 1983. Later research by Heathcote, Brown and Mewhort has questioned the law, suggesting that the power function seen in learning curves averaged across many participants is an artifact of that averaging, and that an exponential function fits individual-level practice data better.
Facts
Core ClaimThe power law of practice states that the logarithm of reaction time for a task decreases linearly with the logarithm of the number of practice trials, describing how performance speeds up as practice accumulates. 1 Sources
1. Power law of practice (Wikipedia)
WikipediaOpening paragraph, first sentence
The power law of practice states that the logarithm of the reaction time for a particular task decreases linearly with the logarithm of the number of practice trials taken.
Opening paragraph, second sentence
It was first proposed as a psychological law by Snoddy (1928), used by Crossman (1959) in his study of a cigar roller in Cuba, and played an important part in the development of Cognitive Engineering by Card, Moran, & Newell (1983).
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