Abstract
How do groups learn differently from experience compared to individuals? We propose that because groups feature potentially greater internal heterogeneity of viewpoints, they may have an advantage over individuals in terms of greater exploration and lesser risk of overfitting. We test and find nuanced support for these arguments in data from an online platform featuring groups and individuals competing on the same learning task. Groups expend more effort than individuals when gathering experiences and also explore more diverse alternatives, but as a consequence may also struggle more than individuals at consolidating the fruits of that experience into an understanding of their task environment. We build on these findings to theorize about the conditions under which groups may accomplish better learning outcomes than individuals. Specifically, we propose a self-limiting nature to the group advantage in learning from experience.
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