Evolution and Hot Streaks in Sports

The NBA Draft happened last night, and sport geeks say it was the richest in terms of talent in years. Talent matters of course, but sometimes a player can just get hot at the right time and ride that streak all the way to victory. A coach would say the winning streak is all about confidence, but some scientists take a different tack on this - they’re looking at why we believe in the hot hand in sports or gambling. Because they say it’s all random; one outcome does NOT predict future outcomes. Andreas Wilke is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Clarkson University.