Who was the first person to use the term "learning curve"?

-- E.O. Smith (eosmith@emory.edu), September 07, 2001

Answers

It is usually used in reference to H. Ebbinghaus' learning studies, published in his 1885 book _Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology_. Ebbinghaus himself, however, doesn't seem to use this exact phrase (although he refers to the graphical representations of his learning data as "curves" frequently). The earliest mention of the exact phrase "learning curve" I can find in the "Classics in the History of Psychology" collection (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/) is in the 5th paragraph of J.B. Watson's "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views it."(1913, Psychological Review, 20, 158-177). I cannot say for certain, however, that this is the first time it was ever used.

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), September 07, 2001.