A reinforcement learning approach to explore the role of social expectations in altruistic behavior Articles uri icon

publication date

  • January 2023

issue

  • 1717

volume

  • 13

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 2045-2322

abstract

  • While altruism has been studied from a variety of standpoints, none of them has proven sufcient to
    explain the richness of nuances detected in experimentally observed altruistic behavior. On the other
    hand, the recent success of behavioral economics in linking expectation formation to key behaviors
    in complex societies hints to social expectations having a key role in the emergence of altruism.
    This paper proposes an agent-based model based upon the Bush-Mosteller reinforcement learning
    algorithm in which agents, subject to stimuli derived from empirical and normative expectations,
    update their aspirations (and, consequently, their future cooperative behavior) after playing
    successive rounds of the Dictator Game. The results of the model are compared with experimental
    results. Such comparison suggests that a stimuli model based on empirical and normative
    expectations, such as the one presented in this work, has considerable potential for capturing the
    cognitive-behavioral processes that shape decision-making in contexts where cooperative behavior is
    relevant.

subjects

  • Mathematics
  • Psychology

keywords

  • applied mathematics; human behaviour; information theory and computation; psychology and behaviour