<p>In humans, why do <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_law_of_practice" rel="nofollow">powers laws describe skill acquisition</a>? In particular, $$RT = aP^{-b}+c$$ where $RT$ is reaction time and $P$ is amount of practice. </p>

<ul>
<li>Does the power law generalise to learning in other mammals?</li>
<li>Does the power law apply to learning whilst under the influence of drugs or alcohol?</li>
<li>Does the power laws apply to creative ideas or just to tangible skills?</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-06T04:10:50.437Z
Each of these questions are probably enough for a stand alone question. Is there a particular question that you want to focus on?
Jeromy Anglim
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-18T17:38:17.303Z
From the wikipedia article you cite: "subsequent research by Heathcote, Brown, and Mewhort suggests that the power function observed in learning curves that are averaged across participants is an artifact of aggregation.[3] Heathcote et al. suggest that individual-level data is better fit by an exponential function and the authors demonstrate that the multiple exponential curves will average to produce a curve that is misleadingly well fit by a power function." Do power laws model individual learning well? Or are they an artifact of averaging?
Artem Kaznatcheev
<cognitive-psychology><learning>
Why do power laws describe learning and skill acquisition so well?
goog
# Why do power laws describe learning and skill acquisition so well?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-08-06)

In humans, why do [powers laws describe skill acquisition](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_law_of_practice)? In particular, $$RT = aP^{-b}+c$$ where $RT$ is reaction time and $P$ is amount of practice.

* Does the power law generalise to learning in other mammals?
* Does the power law apply to learning whilst under the influence of drugs or alcohol?
* Does the power laws apply to creative ideas or just to tangible skills?

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, learning

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Each of these questions are probably enough for a stand alone question. Is there a particular question that you want to focus on?  
> **username_2**: From the wikipedia article you cite: "subsequent research by Heathcote, Brown, and Mewhort suggests that the power function observed in learning curves that are averaged across participants is an artifact of aggregation.[3] Heathcote et al. suggest that individual-level data is better fit by an exponential function and the authors demonstrate that the multiple exponential curves will average to produce a curve that is misleadingly well fit by a power function." Do power laws model individual learning well? Or are they an artifact of averaging?  

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## 0 answers

