Despite the odds of winning the game Rock, paper, scissors They are a third (33.3%), and there are science-backed strategies that defy the expectations of chance. A team of cognitive neuroscience researchers from the University of Western Sydney (Australia) studied this well-known game to try and find the key. The best formula to win multiple rounds His conclusion is clear: the key is to be as random and unpredictable as possible and not pay attention to what happened in the previous round.
As indicated in an article they signed ConversationThe researchers conducted an experiment in which they placed several people Played 15,000 games of rock, paper, and scissors while recording brain activity. The results of this study were published in the journal Social and emotional cognitive neuroscienceand revealed that who They were impressed by the previous rounds They tended to lose frequently.
Likewise, they explain, “We’ve proven it People find it difficult to be truly random.“We can discern different biases and behaviors through their brain activity when they make decisions during competition.”
In their case, they used a method Excessive scanning To observe during the interaction of two or more people “to make a decision during competition, where Unpredictability It can give a competitive advantage, as in a game of rock, paper, scissors.
To do this, they recorded audio at the same time Brain activity of pairs of players while participating in 480 rounds Rock, paper, scissors on computer.
Out of a total of 15,000 rounds played, researchers found that players They weren’t good at unpredictability. When you select which option to play next. “in spite of The best strategy is randomnessMost people showed a clear preference, manipulating one of the options excessively. “More than half of the players chose ‘rock,’ followed by ‘paper,’ while ‘scissors’ was the least popular choice,” they explained.
Likewise, players tend to… Avoid repeating your choicesThe researchers add that more often in the next round he chose a different option than expected by chance.
“By trying to be unexpected, It is not useful to rely on previous results. Only those who lost the game have information about the previous game; Those who won did not. This means that relying too much on past results is detrimental to the strategy.”
The study shows that people try to predict the future based on past results, “even when this… It can lead to adverse resultsAccording to the researchers, “a good conclusion is that those who stop over-analyzing the past are more likely to succeed in the future.”
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