Editing Learning curve (section)

{{Short description|Relationship between proficiency and experience}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Learning_curve_example_from_WWII_production_in_the_US_airframe_industry.jpg|thumb|Learning curve of the production of [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29]] airframes at the [[Spirit AeroSystems|Boeing Wichita division]] during [[World War II|WWII]].]]
{{Image frame 
| width=250
| content = {{Graph:Chart
| width=190
| height=110
| type=line
| xAxisMin = 0
| xAxisTitle = Experience (hours spent)
| yAxisTitle = Proficiency (test score)
| yAxisMin = 0
| x=0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17|y=0,3,4,4.5,5.2,5.1,5.7,6,6.3,6.5,6.6,7.0,7.1,7.2,7.2,7.3
}} 
| caption=An example of a subject becoming more proficient at a task as they spend more time doing it. In this example, proficiency increases rapidly at first but at later stages there are [[diminishing returns]].
}}
{{Image frame 
| width=250
| content = {{Graph:Chart
| width=190
| height=110
| type=line
| yAxisMin = 0
| xAxisMin = 0
| xAxisTitle = Experience (hours spent)
| yAxisTitle = Proficiency (test score)
| x=0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21|y=0,0.12,0.16,0.22,0.24,0.24,0.28,0.3,0.49,0.9,1.5,2,3.3,3.9,4.5,4.9
}} 
| caption=An example of what the common (yet confusing) expression "steep learning curve" is referring to. The subject spends a great amount of time but does not see an increase in proficiency at first.
}}
A '''learning curve''' is a graphical representation of the relationship between how [[Skill|proficient]] people are at a task and the amount of [[experience]] they have. Proficiency (measured on the vertical axis) usually increases with increased experience (the horizontal axis), that is to say, the more someone, groups, companies or industries perform a task, the better their performance at the task.<ref name="businessdictionary. com">Compare: {{cite web |title=Learning Curve |url=http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/learning-curve.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814143436/http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/learning-curve.html |archive-date=14 August 2020 |access-date=8 December 2018 |website=Business Dictionary |quote=Graphical representation of the common sense principle that more one does something the better one gets at it. Learning curve shows the rate of improvement in performing a task as a function of time, or the rate of change in average cost (in hours or money) as a function of cumulative output.}}</ref>

The common expression "a steep learning curve" is a [[misnomer]] suggesting that an activity is difficult to learn and that expending much effort does not increase proficiency by much, although a [[learning]] curve with a steep start actually represents rapid progress.<ref name="surg">{{cite journal |pmc=1570580 |doi=10.1097/01.sla.0000220039.26524.fa |title=Laparoscopic Colon Resection Early in the Learning Curve |year=2006 |last1=Reichenbach |first1=Daniel J. |last2=Tackett |first2=A Darrel |last3=Harris |first3=James |last4=Camacho |first4=Diego |last5=Graviss |first5=Edward A. |last6=Dewan |first6=Brendan |last7=Vavra |first7=Ashley |last8=Stiles |first8=Anquonette |last9=Fisher |first9=William E. |last10=Brunicardi |first10=F Charles |last11=Sweeney |first11=John F. |journal=Annals of Surgery |volume=243 |issue=6 |pages=730–737 |pmid=16772776}}, see the "Discussions" section, Dr. Smith's remark about the usage of the term "steep learning curve": "First, semantics. A steep learning curve is one where you gain proficiency over a short number of trials. That means the curve is steep. I think semantically we are really talking about a prolonged or long learning curve. I know it is a subtle distinction, but I can't miss the opportunity to make that point."
</ref><ref name="zimmer" /> In fact, the gradient of the curve has nothing to do with the overall difficulty of an activity, but expresses the expected rate of change of learning speed over time. An activity that it is easy to learn the basics of, but difficult to gain proficiency in, may be described as having "a steep learning curve".{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

The learning curve may refer to a specific task or a [[body of knowledge]]. [[Hermann Ebbinghaus]] first described the learning curve in 1885 in the field of the psychology of learning, although the name did not come into use until 1903.<ref name="ebbing_book">{{cite journal |last=Ebbinghaus|first=Hermann|title=Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology|journal=Annals of Neurosciences|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oRSMDF6y3l8C|year=1913|volume=20|issue=4|pages=155–6|publisher=Teachers College, Columbia University|doi=10.5214/ans.0972.7531.200408|isbn=978-0-7222-2928-6|pmid=25206041|pmc=4117135}}</ref><ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book|last1=Hall|first1=Granville Stanley|last2=Titchener|first2=Edward Bradford|last3=Dallenbach|first3=Karl M.|title=The American Journal of Psychology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ikEMAAAAIAAJ|year=1903|publisher=University of Illinois Press|volume =14 }}</ref> In 1936 [[Theodore Paul Wright]] described the effect of learning on [[production costs]] in the [[aircraft industry]].<ref name="Wright, T.P. 1936">{{cite journal|doi=10.2514/8.155|url=http://www.uvm.edu/pdodds/research/papers/others/1936/wright1936a.pdf|title=Factors Affecting the Cost of Airplanes|year=1936|last1=Wright|first1=T. P.|journal=Journal of the Aeronautical Sciences|volume=3|issue=4|pages=122–128}}</ref> This form, in which ''unit cost'' is plotted against ''total production'', is sometimes called an [[experience curve]], or [[Wright's Law|Wright's law]].