A Bridge from Monty Hall to the Hot Hand: The Principle of Restricted Choice

Joshua B. Miller and Adam Sanjurjo

Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2019, vol. 33, issue 3, 144-62

Abstract: We show how classic conditional probability puzzles, such as the Monty Hall problem, are intimately related to the recently discovered hot hand selection bias. We explain the connection by way of the principle of restricted choice, an intuitive inferential rule from the card game bridge, which we show is naturally quantified as the updating factor in the odds form of Bayes's rule. We illustrate how, just as the experimental subject fails to use available information to update correctly when choosing a door in the Monty Hall problem, researchers may neglect analogous information when designing experiments, analyzing data, and interpreting results.

JEL-codes: C90 D81 D83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
Note: DOI: 10.1257/jep.33.3.144
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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