The Secret to Winning the Classic Game
For generations, Rock, Paper, Scissors has been dismissed as a simple game of chance, but new scientific research suggests there is a definitive strategy for consistent victory. According to a study led by Dr Denise Moerel, a cognitive scientist at Western Sydney University, the key to winning lies in forgetting the past and embracing true randomness.
The Science Behind the Strategy
Dr Moerel and her team conducted a detailed experiment involving 62 participants who played 15,000 rounds of a computerised version of the game. Crucially, the researchers monitored the players' brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG), which involves placing a mesh of electrodes on the scalp.
The results were striking. The EEG data allowed scientists to predict a player's next move before they had even made it consciously. 'We could track decision-making in the brain, as it unfolds in real time,' Dr Moerel explained. The data also instantly revealed whether a player was still dwelling on the outcome of the previous round.
The findings, published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, showed a clear pattern: players who were thinking about past moves, either their own or their opponent's, tended to lose more often.
Why Overthinking Makes You Lose
The research identified several cognitive traps that prevent people from being truly random. Many participants showed a clear bias, overplaying one option. More than half of the players favoured 'rock', possibly due to an unconscious perception of its strength, followed by 'paper', while 'scissors' was the least popular choice.
Furthermore, people tended to avoid repeating their previous choice, switching to a different option more often than chance would dictate. This behaviour, influenced by the preceding round, undermines the randomness needed to win. Only the brains of the losing players contained information about the previous game; the winners' brains did not.
The optimal strategy, therefore, is counter-intuitive. 'Don't pay attention to what happened in the last round,' Dr Moerel advises. Trying to detect patterns or outthink your opponent based on past outcomes is a losing strategy. Instead, the winning approach is to keep your mind clear and make your next choice as random and unpredictable as possible.
The implications of this research extend far beyond the playground. An overreliance on past outcomes can hinder strategy in business, politics, and daily life. As Dr Moerel concludes, 'people who stop overanalysing the past may have a better chance at winning in the future.'
