Transfer Functions and Learning Curves

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Abstract
In the behavioural sciences, the experimenter has only limited opportunities for the development of theoretical models to describe particular phenomena and processes, unlike the engineer, who uses the laws of physics to predict system performance. Learning curves describing performance improvement in repetitive tasks have been modelled in numerous ways by many experimenters. The form of model chosen has varied widely, and has, with one exception, been on empirical basis. This exception is the time constant model, and the purpose of this paper is to show how the time constant model fits into a logical hierarchy of transfer function models, so that the experimenter may be guided into the choice of a suitable model of minimum complexity for his purpose. The use of transfer functions to describe performance improvement is of recent origin, and is not to be confused with another use of the same technique to model the behaviour of the human operator as o man-machine element.

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