learning curve
<jargon> A graph showing some measure of the cost of performing some
action against the number of times it has been performed. The term probably
entered engineering via the aircraft industry in the 1930s, where it was used to
describe plots showing the cost of making some particular design of aeroplane
against the number of units made.
The term is also used in psychology to mean a graph showing some measure of
something learned against the number of trials. The psychology graphs normally
slope upward whereas the manufacturing ones normally slope downward but they are
both usually steep to start with and then level out.
Marketroids often misuse the term to mean the amount of time it takes to learn
to use something ("reduce the learning curve") or the ease of learning it ("easy
learning curve"). The phrase "steep learning curve" is sometimes used
incorrectly to mean "hard to learn" whereas of course it implies rapid learning.
Engineering.
Psychology.
(2002-01-22)
Nearby terms:
LEAP « leapfrog attack « leap second « learning
curve
» leased line » least fixed point » least recently
used
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