EXPERIMENT-03

NATURE OF LEARNING CURVES

ABSTRACT
The purpose of the experiment is to study the nature of score distribution and progress in
efficiency from trials to trials and the nature of learning curves through the cancellation test.
The learning curve demonstrates that if a task is repeated, less time is required with each
iteration. For this purpose, letters from A to Z were randomly written on a cancellation sheet,
and participants of age group 12-18 and 19-25 had to cancel every vowel that came in the
sequence throughout the course of 11 trials. Each subject's average correct cancellation,
errors and z scores of both the age group were computed. Here, our first hypothesis, which
was, ‘There will be a significant difference in the number of errors made by the subjects per
trial while doing cancellation’, gets rejected as no errors were committed by both the subjects
and both had 0 errors in the experiment and hence, there was no significant difference found
in their errors in the cancellation test. Our second hypothesis, which was, ‘There will be a
significant difference in the number of correct vowels cancelled per trial by the subjects’, gets
retained because there was a significant difference found in the correct vowels cancelled by
the subjects. Our third hypothesis, which was, ‘There will be a significant difference in the
learning curves and efficiency of both the subjects’, gets retained because there is significant
difference found in the learning curves and efficiency of both the subjects. It was concluded
that, by seeing the scores or the performance of both the subjects, it is obvious that subject
one who is an adolescent person and is 15-years-old, has cancelled more correct vowels than
the person who is a young adult and is 25-years-old. So, the learning capacity and ability of
the adolescent person was more than that of a young adult.

Keywords: Learning, Learning Curve, Progress and Learning process.

Problem Statement: To study the nature of score distribution and progress in efficiency from
trials to trials and the nature of learning curves through the cancellation test.

INTRODUCTION

“Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviours

skills, values, attitudes, and preferences.”
When you were a little kid, did you learn how to ride a bike? Did you learn how to do long
division, or learn the capital cities of different countries? How about learning how to drive a
car when you were a little older, or learning how to do laundry? How did we learn all of that?
Let us understand.
Human learning starts at birth (it might even start before in terms of an embryo's need for
both interaction with, and freedom within its environment within the womb.) and continues
until death as a consequence of ongoing interactions between people and their environment.
Learning is a key process in human behaviour. All living is learning. If we compare the
simple, crude ways in which a child feels and behaves, with the complex modes of adult
behaviour, his skills, habits, thought, sentiments and the like- we will know what difference
learning has made to the individual. The individual is constantly interacting with and
influenced by the environment. This experience makes him change or modify his behaviour
in order to deal effectively with it. Therefore, learning is a change in behaviour, influenced by
previous behaviour. As stated above the skills, knowledge, habits, attitudes, interests and
other personality characteristics are all the result of learning. It is a relatively lasting change
in behaviour that is the result of experience. The nature and processes involved in learning
are studied in many established fields (including educational
psychology, neuropsychology, experimental psychology, cognitive sciences, and pedagogy),
as well as emerging fields of knowledge (e.g. with a shared interest in the topic of learning
from safety events such as incidents/accidents, or in collaborative learning health systems).
Research in such fields has led to the identification of various sorts of learning.

Almost every action we take is the result of past learning yet, for some people, learning still
remains an activity undertaken in, or associated with, an educational context. As babies we
learn to eat, to gain attention, to crawl, to walk, etc. and as we develop into children, and our
bodies become more functional, we learn an inordinate range of skills.

Learning needs to meet some personal need and recognizing and identifying such needs
enables us to evaluate whether the learning has been worthwhile and successful.
For a learning to occur, two things are important:

1. The presence of a stimulus in the environment and

2. The innate dispositions like emotional and instinctual dispositions.
A person keeps on learning across all the stages of life, by constructing or reconstructing
experiences under the influence of emotional and instinctual dispositions.

Psychologists in general define Learning as relatively permanent behavioural modifications

which take place as a result of experience. This definition of learning stresses on three
important elements of learning:

● Learning involves a behavioural change which can be better or worse.

● This behavioural change should take place as a result of practice and experience.
Changes resulting from maturity or growth cannot be considered as learning
● This behavioural change must be relatively permanent and last for a relatively long
time.

The key characteristics of the learning process are:

1. When described in the simplest possible manner, learning is described as an

experience acquisition process.
2. In the complex form, learning can be described as a process of acquisition, retention
and modification of experience.
3. It re-establishes the relationship between a stimulus and response.
4. It is a method of problem solving and is concerned about making adjustments with the
environment.
5. It involves all those gamut of activities which may have a relatively permanent effect
on the individual.
6. The process of learning is concerned about experience acquisition, retention of
experiences, and experience development in a step-by-step manner, synthesis of both
old and new experiences for creating a new pattern.
7. Learning is concerned about cognitive, cognitive and affective aspects. Knowledge
acquisition process is cognitive, any change in the emotions is affective and conative
is acquisition of new habits or skills.

All learning involves activities. These activities involve either physical or mental activities.
They may be simple mental activities or complex, involving various muscles, bones, etc. So,
also the mental activities may be very simple involving one or two activities of mind or
complex which involve higher mental activities.

There are many types of learning. Let us discuss and understand them.

1. Learning by Conditioning:

In literal sense, conditioning means ‘getting used’ to, or ‘adjusted ‘to a new situation, or a
stimulus. It is a process of substituting the original stimulus by a new one and connecting the
response with it. There are two types of conditioning theories:

A. Classical conditioning:

In case of Classical Conditioning, the process of learning is described as a Stimulus-Response

connection or association. Classical Conditioning theory has been explained with the help of
Pavlov’s Classic Experiment, in which the food was used as the natural stimulus which was
paired with the previously neutral stimuli that’s a bell in this case. By establishing an
association between the natural stimulus (food) and the neutral stimuli (sound of the bell), the
desired response can be elicited.

B. Operant Conditioning:

Propounded by scholars like Edward Thorndike firstly and later by B.F. Skinner, this theory
stresses on the fact that the consequences of actions shape the behaviour. The theory explains
that the intensity of a response is either increased or decreased as a result of punishment or
reinforcement. Skinner explained how with the help of reinforcement one can strengthen
behaviour and with punishment reduce or curb behaviour. It was also analysed that the
behavioural change strongly depends on the schedules of reinforcement with focus on timing
and rate of reinforcement.

2. Cognitive Learning:

Cognitive learning is an educational approach that gives major importance to effective usage
of the brain. To understand and implement that, one must know the meaning of cognition.
Cognition is defined as the process of gaining knowledge and understanding concepts with
the help of our senses, thoughts, and experiences. Cognitive learning theory makes use of
metacognition. It loosely translates to ‘thinking about thinking’. It means the process of
understanding how an individual’s thoughts influence learning. Usually, it is contrasted
against or complemented by the behavioural learning theory which gives complete emphasis
on the influence of a student’s environment on learning. The word cognitive comes from
‘’cognition’’, which describes the ability to think, perceive, remember and solve problems.
Cognitive learning theory, on the other hand, is a theory that highlights how the human mind
works during the learning process. It focuses on how the brain processes information and
explores the ways through which learning occurs. Education Psychologist Jean Piaget came
up with the theory as per which he believed that external and internal factors influence mental
processes to produce learning in an individual. He posited the theory to highlight that
knowledge is actively constructed by learners depending on their existing cognitive
structures.

3. Place Learning:

It is the learning of physical positions or locations of objectives. It is with regard

to conditioning, learning a correlation between a place and an unconditioned stimulant. Here,
we try to learn different physical entities, their structure, shape, size and locations.
Everything around us which is present as a physical entity is being understood and learned by
us using different learning strategies.

4. Learning by Insight:

Insight learning theory is proposed by Wolfgang Kohler. Insight learning is the sudden
understanding of the relation between a problem and a solution. By learning through insight,
the correct solution not only appears seemingly out of nowhere but also repeated readily in
subsequent presentations of that problem. Once solved, the problem, no matter how many
times repeated, will no longer be a problem. In insight learning, the perceptual stimuli are
restructured in different ways and rely on cognitive processes. It is the “aha” or “I’ve got it”
experience when we suddenly solve a problem. Occasionally insight comes dramatically and
makes the problem solution suddenly clear.

5. Learning by Imitation or Observational Learning:

The Observational Learning process was propounded by Albert Bandura in his Social
Learning Theory, which focused on learning by imitation or observing people’s behaviour.
For observational learning to take place effectively, four important elements will be essential:
Motivation, Attention, Memory and Motor Skills.

Learning involves far more than thinking: it involves the whole personality - senses,
feelings, intuition, beliefs, values and will. If we do not have the will to learn, we will not
learn and if we have learned, we are actually changed in some way. If the learning makes no
difference, it can have very little significance beyond being random ideas that float through
our consciousness.
Learning needs to meet some personal need and recognizing and identifying such needs
enables us to evaluate whether the learning has been worthwhile and successful.
For a learning to occur, two things are important:

3. The presence of a stimulus in the environment and

4. The innate dispositions like emotional and instinctual dispositions.
A person keeps on learning across all the stages of life, by constructing or reconstructing
experiences under the influence of emotional and instinctual dispositions.

Psychologists in general define Learning as relatively permanent behavioural modifications

which take place as a result of experience. This definition of learning stresses on three
important elements of learning:

● Learning involves a behavioural change which can be better or worse.

● This behavioural change should take place as a result of practice and experience.
Changes resulting from maturity or growth cannot be considered as learning.
● This behavioural change must be relatively permanent and last for a relatively long
time.

Factors affecting Learning:

1. Intelligence: Research studies revealed that intelligence is positively related to the learning ability
of children. You must have seen wide variations across individuals and cultures as to what actually
constitutes intelligence. The intelligence on which one is high in terms of manifestation will thus
determine Factors Affecting Learning what one learns, how well one learns, and also influence the
various ways in which one seeks engagement in the learning task. Thus, irrespective of how we define
intelligence, in relating it to learning, there is no doubt that it affects what, when and how we learn.
Further, in operational terms, it definitely is a capacity or ability for problem solving, thinking,
reasoning, relating to others, dealing with emotions, developing interests, sense of right and wrong
and living in consonance with our environment. To sum up, it may be said that intelligence is
positively interrelated with the learning capacity of the students and students high on intelligence are
supposed to learn better and more as compared to their counterparts with low on intelligence.

2. Motivation: Motivation may be regarded as something which prompts, compels and energizes an
individual to act or behave in a particular manner, at a particular time for attaining some specific goals
or purposes. Motivation may also be formally defined as an internal state that arouses, directs and
maintains behavior. Motivation plays a pivotal role in learning and it is an academic reality. In fact, it
serves to activate, guide and maintain learning. In a sense, motivation is an index of the eagerness of
an individual to learn. Adequate motivation not only sets the activities in motion which results in
learning, but also sustains and directs these activities. It is, thus, an indispensable factor in promoting
learning, as it energizes and accelerates the process and evokes a very positive response from the
learner. You would have observed that some students learn the same task or subject matter more
efficiently than others, because they find it more rewarding and interesting. There can, thus, be a great
deal of variations in ‘what motivates’, ‘how much it motivates’ and ‘what impact it has on the
learner’. These variations may be attributed to differences in levels and types of motivation.

3. Maturation for Readiness to Learn: A learner’s readiness and will power to learn is a great
deciding factor of his/her results in learning. It is presumed that if an individual has the will to learn,
then automatically he/she will find ways for effective learning. In other words, the learner should be
mature enough to learn a particular skill or task. This means that there is an optimal or most
appropriate time for each individual to learn a specific skill or a concept with ease and efficiency. This
appropriate time comes when one’s physical, neural and intellectual aspects of development have
advanced enough to enable one to perceive the problem and solve it with relative ease and comfort. It
is also important for you to understand that there are large individual differences in maturation. It
must have become clear to you that any attempt to teach things before an adequate level of readiness
is acquired by the child is futile.

4. Emotions: It is a well-accepted fact that our emotions play quite a significant role in guiding and
directing our behavior. Many times, they seem to dominate us in such a way that we have no solution
other than behaving as they want us to. Emotions are the feelings that color our lives and allow us to
experience all of the joys and sorrows of life. If a person has no emotions in him, then he becomes
crippled in terms of living his/her life in a normal manner. Thus, emotions play a pivotal role in
providing our behavior in a particular direction and thereby helps in shaping our personality.
Emotions can thus be understood as an agitated or excited state of our mind and body. The
development of emotions in human beings is largely influenced by the process of maturation and
learning. Primarily, it has been shown that emotions originate in the brain, specifically in the limbic
system. The limbic system is a small structure located in the middle of the brain between the lower
center or brainstem and the higher center or cortex. The brainstem controls alertness and arousal and
sends sensory messages to the cortex via the limbic system. Much of our thinking and learning takes
place in the cortex and our limbic system interprets and directs emotions and behavior. Thus, it can be
said that both emotions and learning occur in the brain. Learning means acquiring knowledge or skills
and it requires thinking. Our thinking influences our feelings, and further influences how we think. In
conclusion, we can infer that the connections between emotions and learning are bi-directional and
complex.

5. Interests: Interests are actually deep-rooted constructs and are determined by the need structure of
an individual. In theoretical terms, an interest may be defined as a learnt or acquired motive stemming
from some inherent needs of the individual which drive him/her to act in a way that will sustain or
satisfy his/her inner need structure. Interest is one of the most important factors which mediates
learning and which motivates learners to act. An interest is not the same as preference for some
object, event or behavior over others and which provides engagement and joy and is undertaken
voluntarily.

6. Attitudes: We have many likes and dislikes and beliefs and opinions which predispose us to
behave in certain ways. Attitudes are born out of the process of socialization and usually have a
knowledge and feelings component. We have attitudes towards objects, events and persons. Our
attitudes may be positive, negative or neutral. Why the direction of our attitude is important is,
because it influences what we learn willingly and with enthusiasm and what we will be unwilling to
learn and do, or simply avoid.
Very closely related to the concept of attitude are the constructs of prejudice and stereotype. Both of
these usually influence the learning process. Prejudice may be understood as a negative attitude
towards an object or event, while stereotypes represent a mindset, or expectancy, or a readiness to
react in a certain way to a stimulus situation. Both prejudice and stereotypes are learnt attitudes,
resulting from cultural conditioning. They assume special significance in learning since they greatly
influence the direction, intensity, seriousness and commitment with which one learns or engages in an
activity. It is very difficult to unlearn prejudices and stereotypes.
7. Learning Styles: Individuals show preference for different learning conditions. These are called
learning styles, or learning preferences. The learning style theories recognize that individuals learn in
different ways and that each individual has a unique style of learning.

Learning curve:

What Is a Learning Curve?

A learning curve is a correlation between a learner’s performance on a task and the number
of attempts or time required to complete the task; this can be represented as a direct
proportion on a graph.
The learning curve theory proposes that a learner’s efficiency in a task improves over time
the more the learner performs the task.

A learning curve is a mathematical concept that graphically depicts how a process is

improved over time due to learning and increased proficiency. The learning curve theory is
that tasks will require less time and resources the more they are performed because of
proficiencies gained as the process is learned. The learning curve was first described by
psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885 and is used as a way to measure production
efficiency and to forecast costs.

Terms used to describe the learning curve include:

● experience curve,
● cost curves,
● efficiency curves,
● productivity curves.

These above given terms when depicted on graphs show how the cost per unit of output
lowers over time as labour experience increases. Organizations heavily rely on learning
curves and experience curves for production planning, cost forecasting, and determining
delivery timetables.

Types of Learning Curve:

There are four common types of a learning curve. They are:

1. Diminishing-Returns Learning Curve: The rate of progression accelerates at first and

subsequently slows down. This defines a situation in which the work is simple to learn and
the process of learning is initially quick and rapid. Once the student achieves full skill,
progression slows. This may be regarded as a plateau when the individual is no longer
progressing. It might indicate that the learner has reached their limit of capacity or that a
transition is taking place. It might also indicate that the individual has lost motivation or is
tired.

2. Increasing-Returns Learning Curve: The rate of progression is slow at first, then

accelerates with time until full proficiency is achieved. This model illustrates a situation in
which a complicated task is being learnt at a slow pace at first.

3. Increasing-Decreasing Return Learning Curve (the S-curve): This model, known as the
"S-curve" model, is the most widely referenced learning curve. It assesses a person who is
new to a task. The bottom of the curve suggests sluggish progress since the student works
harder and takes longer to master the abilities necessary. The later portion of the curve
suggests that the learner now requires less time to accomplish the activity since they have
mastered the necessary abilities. Typically, the curve's tail begins to flatten, signifying a
plateau or new obstacles.

4. Complex Learning Curve: This model depicts a more complicated learning pattern and
more thorough tracking. The slope of the curve implies that learning is slow at first. The
learner's proficiency in the skill is shown by a rise in the second stage of the curve. The third
stage of the curve implies that the learner's ability has plateaued after he believes he has
mastered the skill. The fourth stage of the curve indicates that the learner is still working on
improving the ability. The last level of the curve symbolises the moment at which the
learner's ability becomes automatic, muscle memory, and is commonly referred to as "over
learning."

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

(By, Charles D. Bailey in 1989) The industrial learning curve is widely used to predict costs
and labor requirements wherever learning is taking place. Little is known, however, about the
reverse of this process: the forgetting that occurs during production interruptions. The ability
to estimate cost increases due to forgetting would be useful for economic lot size
determinations, bidding on repeat orders, estimating the cost of strikes, and so on. Empirical
studies apparently have not been published. Field data are difficult to obtain and easily
confounded by extraneous variables. Thus, a laboratory experiment was undertaken to test
selected variables that should (or should not) affect forgetting. A review of relevant
psychological literature reveals two key findings: (1) Forgetting may be negligible for
"continuous control" tasks but considerable for "procedural" tasks. Bicycle riding is
representative of continuous control, while operating a computer is clearly procedural. (2)
Forgetting is a function of the amount learned and the passage of time, not of the learning rate
or other variables. The experiment employed paid subjects who worked between four and
eight hours to learn both a procedural task and a continuous control task (assembling and
disassembling a mechanical apparatus). Each subject returned at an assigned time, up to 114
days later, and repeated the task for about four hours. Thirty-one of 35 subjects produced
usable data. For purposes of the study, "forgetting" was defined as the excess of actual time
over learning-curve-predicted time, summed over the first four trials after the interruption.
"Amount learned" was defined as the achieved reduction in time-per-unit before interruption.
As hypothesized, forgetting was a function of amount learned and elapsed time, with 71
percent of the variance being thereby explained in a regression equation. Forgetting rate does
not appear to be related to learning rate, contrary to conventional wisdom in the learning
curve literature. Additional findings are (1) that the relearning rate is not correlated with the
learning rate, but may be related to skill factors and the degree of original learning; (2) that
subjects have poor insight into their memory states; and (3) that, within the specific task,
learning rate is highly correlated with the time taken to complete the first unit. Further
research is indicated to investigate whether the forgetting rate may be constant, and therefore
applicable across broad classifications of tasks. The determinants of relearning also are a
suggested area of investigation. The results of this study apply to individual learning curves,
and questions remain concerning the aggregation of individual performance into group
performance.

(By, Jonathan A. Cook, Craig R. Ramsay and Peter Fayers in 2007) The aim of this study
was to assess whether a literature review of a technology can allow a learning curve to be
quantified. The literature for fibreoptic intubation was searched for studies reporting
information relevant to the learning curve. The Cochrane Library, Medline, Embase, and
Science Citation index were searched. Studies that reported a procedure time were included.
Data were abstracted on the three features of learning: initial level, rate of learning, and
asymptote level. Random effects meta-analysis was performed. Only twenty-one studies gave
explicit information concerning the previous experience of the operator(s). There were
thirty-two different definitions of procedure time. From four studies of fiberoptic
nasotracheal intubation, the mean starting level and time for the 10th procedure was
estimated to be 133 seconds (95 percent confidence interval, 113-153) and 71 seconds (95
percent confidence interval, 62-79), respectively. The review approach allowed learning to be
quantified for our example technology. Poor and insufficient reporting constrained formal
statistical estimation. Standardized reporting of nondrug techniques with adequate learning
curve details is needed to inform trial design and cost-effectiveness analysis.

(By, Michel Jose Anzanello and Flavio Sanson Fogliatto in 2011) According to them,
learning curves (LCs) are deemed effective tools for monitoring the performance of workers
exposed to a new task. LCs provide a mathematical representation of the learning process that
takes place as task repetition occurs. These curves were originally proposed by Wright in
1936 upon observing cost reduction due to repetitive procedures in production plants. Since
then, LCs have been used to estimate the time required to complete production runs and the
reduction in production costs as learning takes place, as well as to assign workers to tasks
based on their performance profile. Further, effects of task interruption on workers’
performance have also been modeled by modifications on the LCs. This wide variety of
applications justifies the relevance of LCs in industrial applications. This paper presented the
state of the art in the literature on learning and forgetting curves, describing the existing
models, their limitations, and reported applications. Directions for future research on the
subject were eventually proposed.
(By, Michael J. Leiblein, John S. Chen and Hart E. Posen in 2021) According to him, the
existence of a learning curve, in which costs decline with cumulative experience, suggests
that early entry (and production) provides learning opportunities that create advantage by
reducing future production costs relative to later entrants. He argued that this proposition is
subject to an under-appreciated limitation — that progress down the learning curve may be
uncertain. If there is uncertainty in the learning curve, then the taken-for-granted wisdom
regarding the benefits of learning curves may over- or under-emphasize the value of early
entry. He considered two forms of uncertainty — prospective (future production costs) and
contemporaneous (current production costs) and demonstrated computationally that while
prospective uncertainty in the learning curve enhances the learning benefits of early entry and
production, contemporaneous uncertainty reduces these benefits. Further, he examined the
implication of these findings for competition and learning curve spillovers between leader
and laggard firms. He concluded with implications for future research regarding learning
curves and the pursuit of early mover advantage.

By, Carlos Pena, David Romero and Julieta Noguez in 2022) Here, the authors have
explored the recent advancements in the topics of learning curve models and their estimation
methods for manual operations and processes as well as the data collection and monitoring
technologies used for supporting these. This objective was achieved by answering the
following three research questions: (RQ1) What calculation methods for estimating the
learning curve of a worker exist in the recent scientific literature? (RQ2) What other usages
are manufacturing enterprises giving to the modern learning curve prediction models
according to the recent scientific literature? and (RQ3) What data collection and monitoring
technologies exist to automatically acquire the data needed to create and continuously update
the learning curve of an assembly operator? To do so, the PRISMA methodology for
literature reviews was used, only including journal articles and conference papers referencing
the topic of manual operations and processes, and to fulfil the criteria of a state-of-the-art
review, only the literary corpus generated in the last five years (from 2017 to 2022) was
reviewed. The scientific databases where the explorative research was carried out were
Scopus and Web of Science. Such research resulted in 11 relevant journal articles and
international conference papers, which were first reviewed, synthesized, and then compared.
Four estimating methods were found for learning curves, and one recently developed learning
curve model was found. As for the data collection and monitoring technologies, six
frameworks were found and reviewed. Lastly, in the discussion, different areas of opportunity
were found in the current state-of-the-art, mainly by combining the existing learning curve
models and their estimation methods and feeding these with modern real-time data collection
and monitoring frameworks.

METHODOLOGY

Objective:

1. To measure the nature of the learning curve and efficiency through cancellation test.
2. To compare the subject’s performance on the test material.
Hypothesis:

1. There will be a significant difference in the number of errors made by the subjects per
trial while doing cancellation.
2. There will be a significant difference in the number of correct vowels cancelled per
trial by the subjects.
3. There will be a significant difference in the learning curves and efficiency of both the
subjects.

Experimental Design:
Here, between-subjects experimental design will be used for my experiment. This
experimental design is also known as between-group or independent-group experimental
design. So, in this type of experimental design, individuals are assigned to only one treatment
or experimental condition and each person provides only one score for data analysis. This
design is a common type of experimental method that asks participants in a study to be part
of either the treatment conditions or control conditions, but not both. Here, each participant is
exposed only to a single treatment condition so that the experimenter can then compare the
differences between each participant in various conditions. Here, this kind of experimental
design has been used by me because as we know, our objective is to determine and study the
learning curve and efficiency of people of two age ranges (i.e., 12-18 & 19-35) through
cancellation test and, the data has also been collected from these two above mentioned age
ranges separately. I have also used this design to understand the individual differences
existing between the two kinds of individuals and also to know whether there is difference in
the learning curve and efficiency of people of two age ranges. It seems very important to
know, understand and investigate about the learning curve and efficiency of the subjects and
people or the readers will also get knowledge about whose learning curve is better and much
more concepts related to learning curves will be clear to me as well as to the readers, which
will provide us with a relevant and useful data.

Materials:
The following materials were used in the experiment –
● Cancellation test sheet.
● Stop watch.
● Pen and paper (for the experimenter to write about the subject's behaviour,
expressions and gestures observed during the experiment).
 ● Pencil (given to the subject to write his/her answer).
● Introspective sheet for subject to write his/her own feedback about the experiment.
● Record sheet.
● Consent Form.

Variables:
INDEPENDENT VARIABLES –

1. Cancellation test sheet.

2. Mode of cancellation.
DEPENDENT VARIABLES –

1. Number of errors per trial.

2. Number of vowels cancelled per trial.

CONTROLS-

1. Once the subject starts cancelling the vowels, he/she cannot move back to cancel the
left-out vowel or to undo a consonant cancellation.
2. Care should be taken to give equal time, prior (1 min) for each trial.
3. Environmental factors like light, temperature, and noise should be controlled.
4. The experimenter has to instruct the subject so that a proper mindset is developed.
5. No feedback should be given to the subject during the experiment.
6. No other devices like mobile, should be allowed to be used in between the
experiment.
7. The subject has to sit at one place during the whole experiment. His/her place of
sitting should not be changed in between the experiment.

Sample frame:
Inclusive Criteria for samples:
● Samples will be collected only from the age range of 12-18 & 19-35.
Exclusive Criteria for samples:
Samples will not include people who are:
● physically challenged or disabled,
● colour blind people and,
● people above or below the decided age criterion.
Samples:

SUBJECT 1 - My first sample is of age 15, is a school going student and is a male.
SUBJECT 2 - My second sample is of age 25, is working in a bank and is a male.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE:

Purposive Sampling technique was used for my experiment as the samples were collected in
regards with the characteristics of the population and the objective of the study and the
samples were chosen based on the purpose of the study. As participants were selected
according to the needs of the study, samples who did not meet the profile were rejected.

PROCEDURE AND ADMINISTRATION

Preparation:

Before the conduction of the experiment, a good rapport was formed between the
experimenter and the subject for easy and smooth conduction of the experiment. For the
purpose of the experiment a cancellation sheet was used with letters from A-Z randomly
typed on it. A stop watch was used to note down the time taken for each trial. The experiment
was carried out in 11 trials where the subject had to cancel all the vowels that came in the
series.

Precautions:

The following precautions were taken during the experiment-

1. Once the subject starts cancelling the vowels, he/she cannot move back to cancel the
left-out vowel or to undo a consonant cancellation.
2. Care should be taken to give an equal time period (1 minute) for each trial.
3. Environmental conditions should be stable enough.

Rapport Formation:

WITH SUBJECT-1 – The experiment was conducted at my subject’s home. The subject was
sitting just in front of me. First of all, I asked the subject whether he wanted to be a part of
my experiment or not and only after he replied with a “yes”, I tried to build a rapport with my
subject, tried to make him comfortable so that the experiment can be conducted easily and
smoothly without any hurdles. After a while, when I felt he was quite comfortable with me,
firstly, I gave him a gist about the experiment as to what the experiment is about and why I
have chosen him for my experiment. After he understood a short brief regarding my
experiment, I gave the instructions for the experiment as to how the experiment is going to be
conducted and what all things he needs to do and of what all things he needs to take care of.
During the experiment I kept observing his expressions and behaviour to check whether he is
comfortable or not. At the end of the experiment, I asked him some questions and also took
feedback from him about how he felt about the experiment.

WITH SUBJECT-2 – The experiment was conducted at my subject’s home. The subject was
sitting just in front of me. First of all, I asked the subject whether he wanted to be a part of
my experiment or not and only after he replied with a “yes”, I tried to build a rapport with my
subject, tried to make him comfortable so that the experiment can be conducted easily and
smoothly without any hurdles. After a while, when I felt he was quite comfortable with me,
firstly, I gave him a gist about the experiment as to what the experiment is about and why I
have chosen him for my experiment. After he understood a short brief regarding my
experiment, I gave the instructions for the experiment as to how the experiment is going to be
conducted and what all things he needs to do and of what all things he needs to take care of.
During the experiment I kept observing his expressions and behaviour to check whether he is
comfortable or not. At the end of the experiment, I asked him some questions and also took
feedback from him about how he felt about the experiment.

Instructions for the subject:

The following instructions were given to the subject,

“You have a cancellation test sheet with you. You can see that the alphabets A – Z which are
randomly typed on the sheet. Your task is to cancel the vowels wherever they come in the
series with a tally mark (/). Be cautious as skipping a vowel or cancelling the consonants will
be considered as errors. You will be given 11 trials each one of one minute. You cannot go
back to cancel the vowel that has been left out and you cannot undo the wrong cancellation of
the consonant. Work as efficiently as you can. Before the beginning of each trial a start signal
and at the end of the trial a stop signal will be given.”
Actual Procedure:

FOR SUBJECT 1- The experiment was conducted at the subject's home. My subject was a
15-year-old, school going student. To conduct the experiment, I made my subject sit in front
of me. For a good rapport between me and my subject, I just talked to him for a while about
himself to make him comfortable for the experiment. At first, he looked a bit tense but after
having some conversation with me he felt quite comfortable with me. When I felt that he was
comfortable, I started talking about the experiment and gave him the instructions of my
experiment. I instructed him by saying the following lines. “You have a cancellation test
sheet with you. You can see that the alphabets A – Z which are randomly typed on the sheet.
Your task is to cancel the vowels wherever they come in the series with a tally mark (/). Be
cautious as skipping a vowel or cancelling the consonants will be considered as errors. You
will be given 11 trials each one of one minute. You cannot go back to cancel the vowel that
has been left out and you cannot undo the wrong cancellation of the consonant. Work as
efficiently as you can. Before the beginning of each trial a start signal and at the end of the
trial a stop signal will be given.” During the experiment I kept observing his expressions and
behaviour to check whether he is comfortable or not. At the end of the experiment, I asked
him some questions. I also took feedback from him about how he felt about the experiment.

FOR SUBJECT 2- The experiment was conducted at the subject's home. My subject was a
25-year-old, working individual. To conduct the experiment, I made my subject sit in front of
me. For a good rapport between me and my subject, I just talked to him for a while about
himself to make him comfortable for the experiment. At first, he looked a bit tense but after
having some conversation with me he felt quite comfortable with me. When I felt that he was
comfortable, I started talking about the experiment and gave him the instructions of my
experiment. I instructed him by saying the following lines. “You have a sheet of cancellation
test with you. You can see that the alphabets A – Z which are randomly typed on the sheet.
Your task is to cancel the vowels wherever they come in the series with a tally mark (/). Be
cautious as skipping a vowel or cancelling the consonants will be considered as errors. You
will be given 11 trials each one of one minute. You cannot go back to cancel the vowel that
has been left out and you cannot undo the wrong cancellation of the consonant. Work as
efficiently as you can. Before the beginning of each trial a start signal and at the end of the
trial a stop signal will be given.” During the experiment I kept observing his expressions and
behaviour to check whether he is comfortable or not. At the end of the experiment, I asked
him some questions. I also took feedback from him about how he felt about the experiment.

Introspective report:

BY SUBJECT 1 –

ME: “How was the experiment according to you and how and what did you feel during the
conduction of the experiment?”
SUBJECT: It was an interesting experiment. I did this kind of experiment for the first time in
my life. It was a new experience for me. In the beginning trials, I felt that it is so boring to
repeatedly cancel the vowels but, after a few trials I gained interest in doing the cancellations.
It was a good and thrilling experience for me.

BY SUBJECT 2 –

ME: “How was the experiment according to you and how and what did you feel during the
conduction of the experiment?”
SUBJECT: First of all, I would like to thank the experimenter, Sanya, who gave me the
chance to be a part of this experiment. I always like to gain knowledge about various things
and today after the completion of the experiment I gained some knowledge about learning
and learning curves. This experiment taught me how learning takes place and I also
understood about the nature of the learning curve. I also learned how experiments can be
conducted on these topics. It was a really very good experiment for me and I liked to be a part
of this experiment.

Scoring Method:
Total Average Cancellation = Total Correct Cancellation / 11
Total Average Correct Cancellation = Total Correct Cancellation / 11
Total Average Error = Total Errors / 11

Qualitative Result:

FOR SUBJECT 1 –

With subject 1, I felt and observed that since the beginning of the experiment, he was very
focused and confident. At first, by seeing the sheet of the cancellation test, he got scared
because of the number of letters present on the sheet and the closeness of the letters. But,
when I started building a good rapport with him and gave a brief understanding and
instructions of the experiment, he found it quite easy and got ready for the experiment.
Throughout the experiment, I observed that he cancelled the vowels of only two lines in one
minute. Even if he had time to cancel more correct vowels, he did not go further and finished
only two lines.

FOR SUBJECT 2 –

With subject 2, I felt and observed that he was in his own world and thinking about
something since we met. I felt this because he was continuously looking here and there, was
tapping his feet, was rubbing his palms and had a serious face. I tried to make him
comfortable for the experiment and tried to build good rapport with him. I also asked him
regarding his mood but he said that he is serious most of the time, he said he was happy and
was not having any tension. So, after listening to this I valued his points and then I gave him
the brief understanding and instructions of the experiment. Throughout the experiment, I saw
him focused on the experiment. He liked to be a part of this experiment.

Quantitative Result:

FOR SUBJECT 1 –

TABLE 1: Performance Data of the subject on the cancellation test.

TRIALS NUMBER OF ERRORS CORRECT

CANCELLATION (A) (B) CANCELLATION (C = A-B)
1 26 0 26
2 27 0 27
3 45 0 45
4 41 0 41
5 31 0 31
6 38 0 38
7 37 0 37
8 41 0 41
9 37 0 37
10 43 0 43
11 38 0 38
TOTAL 404 0 404

Total Average Cancellation = Total Correct Cancellation / 11

 = 404 / 11
= 36.72

Total Average Correct Cancellation = Total Correct Cancellation / 11

= 404 / 11
= 36.72

Total Average Error = Total Errors / 11

= 0 / 11
=0
GRAPH 1: Graph showing the learning curve for correct cancellations and no. of errors.

FOR SUBJECT 2 –

TABLE 2: Performance Data of the subject on the cancellation test.

TRIALS NUMBER OF ERRORS CORRECT

CANCELLATION (A) (B) CANCELLATION (C = A-B)
1 32 0 32
2 19 0 19
3 27 0 27
4 37 0 37
5 32 0 32
6 25 0 25
 7 31 0 31
8 29 0 29
9 28 0 28
10 46 0 46
11 42 0 42
TOTAL 348 0 348

Total Average Cancellation = Total Correct Cancellation / 11

= 348 / 11
= 31.63

Total Average Correct Cancellation = Total Correct Cancellation / 11

= 348 / 11
= 31.63

Total Average Error = Total Errors / 11

= 0 / 11
=0
GRAPH 2: Graph showing the learning curve for correct cancellations and no. of errors.

Z SCORES:
Informed Consent:

SUBJECT 1 –

SUBJECT 2 –
 DISCUSSION

So, here we talked regarding what is learning, what are the types of learning, factors affecting
learning, learning curves and its types. So, “Learning is the process of acquiring
new understanding, knowledge, behaviours skills, values, attitudes, and preferences.” And
various factors such as Motivation, Emotions, Intelligence, Maturation for readiness to learn
and other factors affect the learning process in a great amount. We also talked about types of
learning which include Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, Observational
Learning, Insight Learning, etc. which describe more about learning. We also talked about
Learning Curves which is “a correlation between a learner’s performance on a task and the
number of attempts or time required to complete the task; this can be represented as a
direct proportion on a graph.” A learning curve is a mathematical concept that graphically
depicts how a process is improved over time due to learning and increased proficiency. The
learning curve theory is that tasks will require less time and resources the more they are
performed because of proficiencies gained as the process is learned. The learning curve was
first described by psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885 and is used as a way to
measure production efficiency and to forecast costs. The learning curve theory proposes that
a learner’s efficiency in a task improves over time the more the learner performs the task.
Terms used to describe the learning curve include:

● experience curve,
 ● cost curves,
● efficiency curves,
● productivity curves.

These above given terms when depicted on graphs show how the cost per unit of output
lowers over time as labour experience increases. Organizations heavily rely on learning
curves and experience curves for production planning, cost forecasting, and determining
delivery timetables. We also talked about types of Learning Curve which include
Diminishing-Returns Learning Curve, Increasing-Returns Learning Curve,
Increasing-Decreasing Return Learning Curve (the S-curve) and Complex Learning Curve.

Here, our objective was:

1. To measure the nature of the learning curve and efficiency of the subjects through a
cancellation test.
2. To compare the subject’s performance on the test material.

Our hypotheses were:

1. There will be a significant difference in the number of errors made by the subjects per trial
while doing cancellation.
2. There will be a significant difference in the number of correct vowels cancelled per trial by
the subjects.
3. There will be a significant difference in the learning curves and efficiency of both the
subjects.

Here, we had chosen subjects from two age ranges which were 12-18 (Adolescent) & 19-35
(Young Adult).

So, when we talk about the scores of our subjects then, according to the calculations above,
the average correct cancellation of subject 1 is 36.72, and the average errors committed is 0.
Similarly, the average correct cancellation of subject 2 is 31.63, while the average errors
committed is 0. So, here we have measured the nature of the learning curve and efficiency of
the subjects through a cancellation test and we also compared the subject’s performance on
the test material. And by seeing the scores, it can be observed that there are no errors
committed by both the subjects. Here, our first hypothesis, which is, ‘There will be a
significant difference in the number of errors made by the subjects per trial while doing
cancellation’, gets rejected as no errors were committed by both the subjects and both had 0
errors in the experiment and hence, there is no significant difference found in their errors in
the cancellation test.
Our second hypothesis, which is, ‘There will be a significant difference in the number of
correct vowels cancelled per trial by the subjects’, gets retained because there is significant
difference found in the correct vowels cancelled by the subjects. Our third hypothesis, ‘There
will be a significant difference in the learning curves and efficiency of both the subjects’, gets
retained because there is significant difference found in the learning curves and efficiency of
both the subjects.

CONCLUSION
To conclude, I would like to say that, by seeing the scores or the performance of both the
subjects, it is obvious that subject one who is an adolescent person and is 15-years-old, has
cancelled more correct vowels than the person who is a young adult and is 25-years-old. So,
the learning capacity and ability of the adolescent person was more than that of a young
adult.

LIMITATIONS:

1. The sample size was too small as the experiment was done only on two subjects.

2. The experiment that was conducted was conducted on two age ranges i.e., 12-18 &
19-35, so we cannot say that this result would apply in the adult population and across
all age groups.

3. The experimenter may not have been able to control ambient noise, which might have
had an impact on the subject's performance.

4. The experiment only included male participants; thus, the findings cannot be applied
to persons of other sexes or to the general public.
5. There were no standards for the instrument. As a result, the validity and reliability of
the results are not fully established.
USES OF THE EXPERIMENT:

● This experiment can be used and can be helpful for further researches related to
Learning and the nature of Learning curves.
● It can also be helpful and useful for school teachers and college professors to study
and understand the Learning curves of their students using this experiment.
● It can also be used in various companies, factories, offices and industries to study and
understand the Learning curves of the employees using this experiment.
● It can just be read for the sake of knowledge by different people, to know about
Learning and the nature of Learning curves and how experiments can be conducted on
this topic.
● It can be helpful and useful to parents if they want to study and understand the
Learning curves of their children.
● It can be used in many other psychological research areas such as recall, memory and
clinical assessments.
● It can be used in hospitals and other health care centres and also by psychologists to
study and understand the Learning curves of their patients or clients if their patients or
clients are having issues like memory loss, focusing or concentrating issues, etc.

REFERENCES

FOR INTRODUCTION OF LEARNING AND LEARNING CURVE –

● scholarshipsads.com
● skillsyouneed.com
● psychologydictionary.org
● egyankosh.ac.in
● managementstudyguide.com
● study.com
● techtarget.com
● investopedia.com
● valamis.com

FOR ROL-
 ● (By, Charles D. Bailey in March 1989) (Forgetting and the Learning Curve: A
Laboratory Study) jstor.org

● (By, Jonathan A. Cook, Craig R. Ramsay and Peter Fayers in 2007) (Using the
literature to quantify the learning curve: a case study) pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

● (By, Michel Jose Anzanello and Flavio Sanson Fogliatto in September 2011)
(Learning curve models and applications: Literature review and research
directions) sciencedirect.com

● (By, Michael J. Leiblein, John S. Chen and Hart E. Posen in March 2021)
(Uncertainty in Learning Curves: Implications for First Mover Advantage)
hbs.edu

● By, Carlos Pena, David Romero and Julieta Noguez in 2022) (Workforce
Learning Curves for Human-Based Assembly Operations: A State-of-the-Art
Review) mdpi.com

APPENDIX

SUBJECT 1:
RESPONSE SHEET –
SUBJECT 2:
RESPONSE SHEET –
NAME OF THE STUDENT: SANYA VAIDYA
PRN: 2020033800145066

TYBA (GIA)

2022-23

TEACHER’S NAME: MS. DHRUVIKA JHALA