Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

Chapter 07S
Learning Curves

True / False Questions

1. If the elapsed time for the task is short and the activity is somewhat routine, a modest amount
of improvement occurs during the first few repetitions.
TRUE

Difficulty: Easy
TLO: 1
Taxonomy: Knowledge

2. When the task is fairly complex and has a longer duration, it will take a larger number of
repetitions before improvement is observed.
TRUE

Difficulty: Easy
TLO: 1
Taxonomy: Knowledge

3. Negotiated purchasing results in lower unit costs for smaller quantities

FALSE

Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 3
Taxonomy: Knowledge

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

4. Learning curves generally apply to situations in which there is a high degree of human
involvement and tasks are fairly repetitive.
TRUE

Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 1
Taxonomy: Knowledge

5. Learning curves are mostly relevant for complex, new activities that have not been done
often.
TRUE

Difficulty: Easy
TLO: 3
Taxonomy: Knowledge

6. According to learning curve theory, every doubling of total output will produce a constant
percentage decrease in time per unit.
TRUE

Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 1
Taxonomy: Knowledge

7. The decrease in time between the second and fourth units will be equal to the decrease in time
between the first and second units.
FALSE

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

8. According to learning curve theory, for certain kinds of tasks the cost per unit decreases as
the number of repetitions increases.
FALSE

Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 1
Taxonomy: Knowledge

9. According to learning curve theory, the time reduction per unit decreases (improves) as the
number of units increase.
TRUE

Difficulty: Easy
TLO: 1
Taxonomy: Knowledge

10. A learning percentage of 95% indicates greater learning than a percentage of 90%.
FALSE

Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 1
Taxonomy: Knowledge

11. A learning curve for an overqualified worker is higher than an average worker.
TRUE

Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 4
Taxonomy: Knowledge

12. An 80 percent learning curve means that with each doubling of repetitions there will be a 20
percent decrease in time per unit.
TRUE

Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 1
Taxonomy: Knowledge

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

13. For an 80% learning curve, if the first unit requires 10 hours, the second unit will require 8
hours and the third 6.4 hours.
FALSE

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

14. If an 80% curve is appropriate for a task and the first unit takes ten hours, the average time
for the first two units would be eight hours.
FALSE

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

15. If we have never made the first unit but only think we know how much the labor time will be,
we cannot draw a learning curve.
FALSE

Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 4
Taxonomy: Knowledge

16. The learning curve principal would apply to the number of students in a class a class twice
as large will learn 80% faster.
FALSE

Difficulty: Easy
TLO: 4
Taxonomy: Knowledge

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

17. The learning curve principle would apply to a baseball pitcher learning to throw a curve
ball.
TRUE

Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 1
Taxonomy: Knowledge

18. The learning curve is a basic tool for mass production type activities because it can deal
with large volumes of output.
FALSE

Difficulty: Easy
TLO: 3
Taxonomy: Knowledge

19. Learning curves are used primarily for mass production applications.
FALSE

Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 3
Taxonomy: Knowledge

20. A learning rate of 98% implies an exceptionally rapid rate of improvement.

FALSE

Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 1
Taxonomy: Knowledge

21. A learning rate of 77% will produce relatively minor decreases in completion times of the
first few repetitions.
FALSE

Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 1
Taxonomy: Knowledge

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

22. One use of learning curves is for negotiated purchasing anticipating lower costs at the
vendor with increasing volumes.
TRUE

Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 3
Taxonomy: Knowledge

23. A learning rate of 97% will produce minor decreases in completion times of the first few
repetitions.
TRUE

Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 1
Taxonomy: Knowledge

Multiple Choice Questions

24. The fact that human activities typically improve when they are done on a repetitive basis is
described by a/an:
A. normal distribution curve
B. learning curve
C. binomial distribution curve
D. exponential curve
E. fatigue factor allowance

Difficulty: Easy
TLO: 1
Taxonomy: Knowledge

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

25. To which worker would learning curves be most applicable?

A. bus driver
B. printing press operator
C. assembly-line worker
D. auto service mechanic
E. baker or cook

Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 3
Taxonomy: Knowledge

26. Once production is underway and the learning curve effect is occurring, successive changes
made to the production process will cause the time per unit to:
A. continue following the original learning curve without any impact
B. cause a scallop effect
C. increase the unit time and result in a higher percentage learning curve
D. decrease the unit time and result in a higher percentage learning curve
E. decrease the unit time and result in a lower percentage learning curve

Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 4
Taxonomy: Knowledge

27. On a log-log graph, learning curves appear as:

A. upward-curving lines
B. downward-curving lines
C. straight lines
D. lines which increase at a decreasing rate
E. lines which decrease at a decreasing rate

Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 1
Taxonomy: Knowledge

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

28. Increasing volumes result in ___________ the learning curve.

A. moving up
B. moving down
C. moving off
D. moving away from
E. stabilization of

Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 1
Taxonomy: Knowledge

29. It took exactly 10 hours to perform the first kidney transplant on a 100 percent learning
curve. The second kidney transplant will take how many hours to perform?
A. 8.0 hours
B. 10.0 hours
C. 12.0 hours
D. A 100 percent learning curve cannot exist.
E. 5 hours

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

30. A job is expected to have a 70 percent learning curve. The first unit has been completed in
20 hours. Accordingly, the second unit can be expected to take approximately how many
hours?
A. 6
B. 9.8
C. 14
D. 20
E. 34

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Easy
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

31. A job with a 70 percent learning curve required 20 hours for the initial unit. The fourth unit
should require approximately how many hours?
A. 6
B. 9.8
C. 14
D. 20
E. 34

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

32. How long would a job with a 70 percent learning curve and a time of 20 hours for the first
unit require (approximately, in hours) for the third unit?
A. 14.1
B. 11.5
C. 10.0
D. 7.8
E. 4.3

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

33. A job is expected to have a learning curve of 90 percent. The third unit required 16 hours.
The twelfth unit should take approximately how many hours?
A. 2.67
B. 4.83
C. 7.94
D. 10.31
E. 12.95

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

34. A job has an 80 percent learning curve. The second unit required 12 hours to complete.
Approximately how many hours will be devoted to the first five units (including those already
completed)?
A. 26
B. 36
C. 46
D. 56
E. 66

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

35. A manager is trying to estimate the appropriate learning curve for a certain job. The
manager notes that the first four units had a total time of 30 minutes. Which learning curve
would yield approximately this result if the first unit took 10 minutes?
A. .70
B. .75
C. .80
D. .85
E. .90

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 5
Taxonomy: Application

36. In which of the following managerial activities would learning curves probably be the least
useful?
A. negotiated purchasing
B. manpower planning
C. location analysis
D. budgeting
E. pricing new products

AACSB: RT
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 3
Taxonomy: Knowledge

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

37. Which of the following is not a major caution or criticism of learning curves?
A. Learning rates may differ between organizations.
B. Projections should be regarded as approximations.
C. The base time must be carefully determined.
D. The curve may eventually tip upwards.
E. Carryover effects may alter the learning rate.

Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 4
Taxonomy: Knowledge

38. A job has a 70% learning curve. If the first unit took 10 hours to complete, the third unit
should take roughly how many hours?
A. 7
B. 5.5
C. 5
D. 3.5
E. 4.9

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

39. A job has an 80% learning curve. If the first unit took 40 hours to complete, the fourth unit
should take roughly how many hours?
A. 20
B. 25
C. 31
D. 35
E. 40

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Easy
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

40. Which one of the following would learning curves probably affect the least?
A. pricing new products
B. negotiated purchasing
C. layout analysis
D. scheduling
E. capacity planning

Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 3
Taxonomy: Knowledge

41. A job has an 80% learning curve. If the first unit took 50 hours to complete, the third unit
should take roughly how many hours?
A. 40
B. 36
C. 35
D. 32
E. 10

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

42. Unit times for a job exhibit a learning effect. If the 2nd unit took 30 hours, and the 4th unit
took 20 hours, roughly how many hours would you estimate the 3rd unit took?
A. 29
B. 27
C. 25
D. 23
E. 21

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

43. A manager is trying to estimate the learning rate for a new job. The first unit took 16 hours
and the fourth unit required about 13 hours. The learning rate is:
A. 70%
B. 75%
C. 80%
D. 85%
E. 90%

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 5
Taxonomy: Application

44. A job will have a learning rate of 75 percent. If the 3rd unit requires 10 hours, the 12th unit
should require about this many hours:
A. 5.6
B. 6.5
C. 7.4
D. 8.3
E. 9.2

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

Essay Questions

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

45. Assembly of a model airplane has a learning curve of 80 percent. The estimated time to
assemble a second identical model airplane is 40 hours. Determine approximately how much
time will be required for:
(A) the eighth unit
(B) the first ten units

Determine the time for the initial unit: 40/.8 = 50 hours.

(A) Unit time for eighth unit: 50 x .512 = 25.6 hours.
(B) Total time for ten units: 50 x 6.315 = 315.75 hours.

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

46. Developing work assignments in a job shop in a certain firm has a learning curve of 80
percent. If the second set of assignments takes 12 minutes, determine the length of time
required for the following:
(A) the fifth set
(B) sets 3, 4, and 5 together

Determine the time for the initial unit: .80(x) = 12, x = 15.
(A) Unit time for 5th unit: 15(.596) = 8.94 minutes.
(B) Cumulative time for 3 through 5: 15(3.738 1.800) = 29.07 minutes.

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

47. An order we just received has a 90 percent learning curve associated with it. The second
unit of the total 25-unit order had a unit time of 36 minutes. What will the total time be for the
entire order (all 25 units)?

Determine the time for the initial unit: 90(x) = 36, x = 40.
The total time will be 40(17.713) = 708.52 minutes, or 11.81 hours, or 11 hours and 48.52
minutes.

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

48. Sally suspects strongly that there is a learning curve associated with solving problems
assigned for operations management. She notes that it took her approximately 33 minutes to
solve the first problem and 17 minutes to solve the fifth problem.
(A) Estimate Sally's learning percentage.
(B) Using your answer from part a, estimate how long it will take Sally to finish the three
remaining problems.

(A) T1 (unit factor5) = T5. Since T1 and T5 are known, solve for the unit factor: 17 min./ 33
min. = .515. This equates to a learning percentage of approximately 75%.
(B) Find the time for 6, 7, and 8 using 75 percent and T1 = 33: 33(4.802 3.459) = 44.319
minutes.

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 5
Taxonomy: Application

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

49. Ron has noted that the first accounting problem he did in a set of similar problems took him
one hour, and the ninth problem took 24 minutes.
(A) Estimate Ron's learning curve.
(B) About how long did it take Ron to do his set of 10 problems?

(A) T1 (unit factor9) = T9. Hence unit factor9 = T9/T1 = 24 min./60 min. = .4. This corresponds
to a learning curve rate of approximately 75%.
(B) The total time for 10, using 75 percent is 60(5.589) = 335.34 minutes, or 5.589 hours, or 5
hours and 35.34 minutes.

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 5
Taxonomy: Application

50. It takes a worker with a 90 percent learning curve 72.9 minutes to complete the fourth unit
of a seven-unit job. Estimate the amount of time the worker spent on the first two units.

Time for the fourth unit is 81 percent of the first. Hence, time for the first is 90 minutes, and
time for the second is 81 minutes. The total time for the first two units would thus be 171
minutes.

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

51. The 3rd unit of a ten-unit job required 7.3 hours to complete. The 4th unit has been worked
on for two hours, but it is not yet finished. Estimate the remaining amount of time that will be
needed to finish this ten-unit job if the work has an 80% learning curve.

Given that T3 = 7.3 hours, with an 80% learning curve this means that T1 = 7.3/.702 = 10.4.
Given T1 equals 10.4 and an 80% learning curve, it took 26.02 hours to finish jobs 1 through 3.
We would anticipate needing 65.68 hours to finish all 10 jobs. When we started job 4, therefore,
we had 65.68-26.02 = 39.66 hours of work remaining. As we are two hours into job 4, we will
need 37.66 hours to finish the rest of these 10 jobs.

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Hard
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

Multiple Choice Questions

A company is preparing a bid on a government contract for 40 units of a certain product. The
operations manager estimates the assembly time required for the first two units to be 10.4 hours
and 8.8 hours respectively.

52. What is the appropriate learning curve?

A. 70 percent
B. 75 percent
C. 80 percent
D. 85 percent
E. 90 percent

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 5
Taxonomy: Application

53. What is the expected time required to produce the 40th unit?
A. 3.2 hours
B. 4.4 hours
C. 5.9 hours
D. 3.7 hours
E. 2.2 hours

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

54. What is the average time per unit for the 40 units?
A. 4.7 hours
B. 6.9 hours
C. 5.6 hours
D. 4.5 hours
E. 3.6 hours

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

55. If the contract is canceled after the first 20 units, approximately how much of the expected
total direct labor will have been expended to that point?
A. 58%
B. 55%
C. 61%
D. 50%
E. It is impossible to say without additional information.

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

56. Approximately how long will it take to produce the 15th unit?
A. 4.3 hours
B. 5.5 hours
C. 4.7 hours
D. 6.9 hours
E. 3.4 hours

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

57. Which unit, if any, will require approximately one-half the time of the first unit?
A. 18th unit
B. 19th unit
C. 20th unit
D. 21st unit
E. 22nd unit

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

58. Approximately how long will it take to produce the last ten units?
A. 33 hours
B. 69 hours
C. 45 hours
D. 38 hours
E. It is impossible to say without additional information.

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

A manager wants to analyze the learning curve associated with producing one of his company's
products. Accordingly, he has gathered the following data:

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

59. What is the learning curve percentage?

A. 40%.
B. 50%.
C. 75%.
D. 80%.
E. 90%.

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 5
Taxonomy: Application

60. How long did it take to produce the first unit?

A. 5 hours
B. 6 hours
C. 6.25 hours
D. 6.33 hours
E. 6.5 hours

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

61. Approximately how long did it take to produce the first four units?
A. 15 hours
B. 16 hours
C. 18 hours
D. 20 hours
E. 21 hours

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

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Chapter 07S - Learning Curves

62. Approximately how long will it take to produce the tenth unit?
A. 1 hour
B. 2 hours
C. 3 hours
D. 4 hours
E. 5 hours

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

63. Approximately how long will it take to produce the fifth through tenth units?
A. 15 hours
B. 16 hours
C. 18 hours
D. 20 hours
E. 21 hours

AACSB: AS
Difficulty: Medium
TLO: 2
Taxonomy: Application

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