Learning curves: Facts or artifacts?

"It is our purpose in this paper to show that the arbitrary choice of a cutoff point in the dichotomizing of continuous response distributions can impose significant constraints upon the shape of resulting learning curves, and that this can form the basis of misleading theoretical interpretatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological bulletin 1957-05, Vol.54 (3), p.256-268
Main Authors: Bahrick, Harry P, Fitts, Paul M, Briggs, George E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cognitive Processes
Human
Learning
Theoretical Interpretation
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Summary:"It is our purpose in this paper to show that the arbitrary choice of a cutoff point in the dichotomizing of continuous response distributions can impose significant constraints upon the shape of resulting learning curves, and that this can form the basis of misleading theoretical interpretations. We have chosen for illustration of this point the use of time-on-target scores as indicants of the level of skill attained in tracking tasks. However, we believe that the principles developed are quite general and apply to many learning situations." 18 references.
ISSN:0033-2909
1939-1455
DOI:10.1037/h0040313