Instance-Based Models of Metacognition in the Prisoner's Dilemma

Christopher A. Stevens*, Niels A. Taatgen, Fokie Cnossen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)
57 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

In this article, we examine the advantages of simple metacognitive capabilities in a repeated social dilemma. Two types of metacognitive agent were developed and compared with a non-metacognitive agent and two fixed-strategy agents. The first type of metacognitive agent (opponent perspective) takes the perspective of the opponent to anticipate the opponent's future actions and respond accordingly. The other metacognitive agent (modeler) predicts the opponent's next move based on the previous moves of the agent and the opponent. The modeler agent achieves better individual outcomes than a non-metacognitive agent and is more successful at encouraging cooperation. The opponent-perspective agent, by contrast, fails to achieve these outcomes because it lacks important information about the opponent. These simple agents provide insights regarding modeling of metacognition in more complex tasks.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)322-334
Number of pages13
JournalTopics in Cognitive Science
Volume8
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan-2016

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