Learning curve and S-Curve

 

The learning curve illustrates the relationship between learning and experience and is often presented as an S-curve. At first, progress is slow—the curve of learning rises a little. Then, with experience, learning rises rapidly up to a point when it seems to level off at a person’s level of proficiency. This curve has many names such as progress curve, startup curve, and experience curve.

We should keep in mind that rates of learning vary. Not everyone learns at the same pace. And many factors affect learning. We should also remember that although S-curves have been applied to many relationships in business and the social and political sciences, there are other patterns to consider like linear relationships, J-curves, and U-curves (U-curves may also be inverted).

Below is an idealised S-curve I created in Excel. As experience increases so does performance but the relationship is not a straight line (i.e., linear). At some point, the learner peaks and more experience stays about the same (i.e., learning plateaus).

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Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is  www.suttong.com

 

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