Question

You're studying how well students remember vocabulary after they stop studying a new language. The first student you study remembers 95% of the

French words she learned 3 months later, but only 70% of the words 12 months
later.
Before studying more students, you wonder: Is a decreasing linear model or an
exponential decay model likely to be a better fit for data about remembering?
Decide which model you think will be better. Explain your reasoning.

Answer 1

Exponential decay model

Explanation:

A quick graph shows the remembrance pattern is not linear because the slope is not the same. Therefore a very likely remembrance pattern will be exponentially related.

Answer 2

Exponential Decay Model

Explanation:

The data decreases at different rates, so it can't be linear. You can also graph the two points above and you can see that an exponential decay model would be a better fit.