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. 2 Classification
Education Level FAQs
What explains why practice makes people faster at a task?
Logan's instance theory says practice stores answers in memory so they can be recalled instead of worked out.
The source reports research by Logan suggesting that the instance theory of automaticity can explain why the power law is regarded as an accurate portrayal of reaction time learning curves. In many problem solving tasks, reaction time depends on how long it takes to discover an answer. As time goes on, certain answers are stored in the individual's memory and the person only has to recall them, which reduces reaction time. A skill counts as automatic when there is one step from stimulus to retrieval. The source describes this as the first theory that addresses the why of the power law of practice.
Sources
1. Power Law of Practice (Wikipedia)
the logarithm of the reaction time for a particular task decreases linearly with the logarithm of the number of practice trials takenView the Source 2. 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).
In Group: Information Processing and Cognitive Architecture Theories, Lead
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.
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