Logical Abilities and Behavior in Strategic-Form Games

Bayer, Ralph C.; Renou, Ludovic

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1743515

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…8 Also see Bajo et al (2011), Ballinger et al (2011), Bayer and Renou (2011), Brañas-Garza et al (2012, Brañas-Garza et al (2011), Chen et al (2009), Chen et al (2011b, Gill and Prowse (2012), Jones (2011), Palacios-Huerta (2003, Putterman et al (2011) andRydval (2011).…”

Section: Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Cognitive load in the multi-player prisoner's dilemma game: Are there brains in games?

Duffy

Smith

2014

Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics

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We …nd that di¤erences in the ability to devote cognitive resources to a strategic interaction imply di¤erences in strategic behavior. In our experiment, we manipulate the availability of cognitive resources by applying a di¤erential cognitive load. In cognitive load experiments, subjects are directed to perform a task which occupies cognitive resources, in addition to making a choice in another domain. The greater the cognitive resources required for the task implies that fewer such resources will be available for deliberation on the choice. Although much is known about how subjects make decisions under a cognitive load, little is known about how this a¤ects behavior in strategic games. We run an experiment in which subjects play a repeated multi-player prisoner's dilemma game under two cognitive load treatments. In one treatment, subjects are placed under a high cognitive load (given a 7 digit number to recall) and subjects in the other are placed under a low cognitive load (given a 2 digit number). According to two di¤erent measures, we …nd evidence that the low load subjects behave more strategically. First, the behavior of the low load subjects converged to the Subgame Perfect Nash Equilibrium prediction at a faster rate than the high load subjects. Second, we …nd evidence that low load subjects were better able to condition their behavior on the outcomes of previous periods.

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Section: Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…2 For instance, see Wang et al (2010) and Chen et al (2010). 3 For instance, see Bayer and Renou (2011), Brañas-Garza et al (2011), Devetag and Warglien (2003), and Gill and Prowse (2012). 4 For instance, see Coricelli and Nagel (2009). to devote cognitive resources to a strategic interaction and behavior in the interaction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive load in the multi-player prisoner's dilemma game: Are there brains in games?

Duffy

Smith

2014

Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics

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“…In related dominance-solvable and guessing games, working memory (Rydval et al, 2009) and depths of reasoning in the red hat puzzle (Bayer and Renou, 2012) correlate with behavior. Cognitive ability also influences behavior in public good games (Millet and Dewitte, 2007) and in the prisoner's dilemma (Burks et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive Ability, Character Skills, and Learning to Play Equilibrium: A Level-kAnalysis

Gill

Prowse²

2016

Journal of Political Economy

215

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. www.econstor.eu The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit organization supported by Deutsche Post Foundation. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its international network, workshops and conferences, data service, project support, research visits and doctoral program. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public. Terms of use: Documents in D I S C U S S I O N P A P E R S E R I E SIZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author. In this paper we investigate how cognitive ability and character skills influence behavior, success and the evolution of play towards Nash equilibrium in repeated strategic interactions. We study behavior in a p-beauty contest experiment and find striking differences according to cognitive ability: more cognitively able subjects choose numbers closer to equilibrium, converge more frequently to equilibrium play and earn more even as behavior approaches the equilibrium prediction. To understand better how subjects with different cognitive abilities learn differently, we estimate a structural model of learning based on level-k reasoning. We find a systematic positive relationship between cognitive ability and levels; furthermore, the average level of more cognitively able subjects responds positively to the cognitive ability of their opponents, while the average level of less cognitively able subjects does not respond. Finally, we compare the influence of cognitive ability to that of character skills, and find that both cognition and personality affect behavior and learning. More agreeable and emotionally stable subjects perform better and learn faster, although the effect of cognitive ability on behavior is stronger than that of character skills.JEL Classification: C92, C73, D83

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“…4 See Agranov, Caplin, and Tergiman (2013) and Burchardi and Penczynski (2013). 5 For instance, see Bayer and Renou (2012), Brañas-Garza, Paz Espinosa, andRey-Biel (2011), Carpenter, Graham, andWolf (2013), Devetag and Warglien (2003), and Gill and Prowse (2012). 6 See Nagel (2009, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive Load in the Multi-Player Prisoner's Dilemma Game: Are There Brains in Games?

Duffy

Smith

2011

SSRN Journal

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We …nd that di¤erences in the ability to devote cognitive resources to a strategic interaction imply di¤erences in strategic behavior. In our experiment, we manipulated the availability of cognitive resources by applying a di¤erential cognitive load. In cognitive load experiments, subjects are directed to perform a task which occupies cognitive resources, in addition to making a choice in another domain. The greater the cognitive resources required for the task implies that fewer such resources are available for deliberation on the choice. In our experiment, subjects played a …nitely repeated multi-player prisoner's dilemma game under two cognitive load treatments. In one treatment, subjects were placed under a high cognitive load (given a 7 digit number to recall) and subjects in the other were placed under a low cognitive load (given a 2 digit number). According to two di¤erent measures, we …nd evidence that the low load subjects behaved more strategically. First, the low load subjects exhibited more strategic defection near the end of play than the high load subjects. Second, we …nd evidence that low load subjects were better able to condition their behavior on the outcomes of previous periods.

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Logical Abilities and Behavior in Strategic-Form Games

Cited by 13 publications

References 38 publications

Cognitive load in the multi-player prisoner's dilemma game: Are there brains in games?

Cognitive load in the multi-player prisoner's dilemma game: Are there brains in games?

Cognitive Ability, Character Skills, and Learning to Play Equilibrium: A Level-kAnalysis

Cognitive Load in the Multi-Player Prisoner's Dilemma Game: Are There Brains in Games?

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