a cognitive odyssey: from the power law of practice to a general learning mechanism and beyond

Abstract

This article traces a line of research that began with the establishment of a pervasive regularity in human performance – the Power Law of Practice – and proceeded through several decades' worth of investigations that this opened up into learning and cognitive architecture. The results touch on both cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence, and more specifically on the possibility of building general learning mechanisms/systems. It is a story whose final chapter is still to be written.