Identifying Predictable Players:∗ Relating Behavioral Types and Subjects with Deterministic Rules

Behavioral game theory models are important in organizing experimental data of strategic decision making. However, are subjects classified as behavioral types more predictable than unclassified subjects? Alternatively, how many predictable subjects await new behavioral models to describe them? In our experiments, subjects play simple guessing games against random opponents and are subsequently asked to replicate or best-respond to their past choices. We find that existing behavioral game theory types capture 2/3 of strategic subjects, i.e., individuals who can best respond. However, there is additional room for non-strategic rule-of-thumb models to describe subjects who can merely replicate their actions.