Monkeys trained to play fixed video games made moves indicating that they expected certain patterns to occur. Erika Beras reports. Aug 12, 2014
| | Rolling five straight sevens at the craps table. Sinking eight consecutive three-point basketball shots. Making the light at the intersection every day all week.
Such streaks are all easily within the bounds of statistical probability. But when they’re happening, people believe that they have what is often called the hot-hand.
Scientists created computer games that could be played by rhesus monkeys. Some of the games were programmed to show clear patterns—that is, they were fixed. But one game gave random results.Hot-hand bias in rhesus monkeys]Evolution clearly favors the ability to find patterns—foraging for food and noticing where bunches of fruits occur is a great survival tool. But believing in a hot-hand, especially in casinos, can make monkeys out of all of us.
—Erika Beras
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