# Pigeons are better at Monty Hall than humans

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeons-are-better-at-monty-hall-than-humans/592954>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 16, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeons-are-better-at-monty-hall-than-humans/592954 "2011-08-16T21:22:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeons-are-better-at-monty-hall-than-humans/592954/1 "2011-08-16T21:22:52Z")

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I confess the classic [Monty Hall problem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem) has always befuddled me. Yes I have read the proofs of how it works and I accept them and even understand them but it remains counter-intuitive to me (at least, I feel you only have a 50/50 chance when offered to change your decision).

It appears that [pigeons are much better at this than humans](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3086893/pdf/nihms288435.pdf) (PDF). Apparently better at it even after humans have been trained on the optimal strategy.

This is MPSIMS so just posting this cuz I thought it was interesting and thought others here might be as well.