I'm no physicist, engineer or even a traditionally schooled mechanic but the friction factor translates to heat, hence more drag= more heat . When the brakes are jerked in short bursts there would be less heat than a sweeping/dragging turn would create due to the time the brakes are actually applying friction. With both the pad and the disc slipping both pieces create and retain heat while in the sweeping turn the heat continues to create heat until the pressure is released, while in the jerky turn the heat stops generating to the entire disc and begins to cool the rest of the disc where pressure/friction is not applied.
No matter the case I prefer a smooth ride feathering and even sometimes riding the brakes through the trails, my machine has 1045hrs on original discs and second set of brakes and trans has never been apart.