Decision making in the prisoner's dilemma game: The effect of exit on cooperation and social welfare

The prisoner's dilemma game is a mixed‐motive game that offers two players the simultaneous choice between a cooperative and a defective alternative. An often neglected aspect of such a binary‐choice game, however, is that in many real‐life encounters, people can choose not only to cooperate or defect, but they also have a third option: to exit the social dilemma. Although in the literature a consensus has emerged that the addition of an exit opportunity benefits cooperation, there is only scant research into its effect on social welfare. In order to allow a direct comparison of cooperation rates and welfare levels across binary‐choice and trinary‐choice games, in this study, we used a design in which the same participants played similar games with and without an exit option (i.e., a within‐subjects design), and this in a range of structural variations. The findings of our study indicated that the aggregated outcome of both players is generally lower in games with an exit option than in games without an exit option. Moreover, our results showed that the efficiency of the exit option strongly depends on the specific outcome structure of the game (in terms of its endowment size, (a)symmetry, and level of noncorrespondence). In the discussion, it is argued that the implementation of an exit option as a strategy to increase social welfare should be critically assessed.     

How two causes are different from one: The use of (un)conditional information in Simpson's paradox

In a causally complex world, two (or more) factors may simultaneously be potential causes of an effect. To evaluate the causal efficacy of a factor, the alternative factors must be controlled for (or conditionalized on). Subjects judged the causal strength of two potential causes of an effect that covaried with each other, thereby setting up a Simpson's paradox--a situation in which causal judgments should vary widely depending on whether or not they are conditionalized on the alternative potential cause. In Experiments 1 (table format) and 2 (trial-by-trial format), the subjects did conditionalize their judgments for one causal factor on a known alternative cause. The subjects also demonstrated that they knew what information was needed to properly make causal judgments when two potential causes are available. In Experiment 3 (trial-by-trial), those subjects who were not told about the causal mechanism by which the alternative cause operated were less likely to conditionalize on it. However, the more a subject recognized the covariation between the alternative cause and the effect, the more the subject conditionalized on it. Such behavior may arise from the interaction between bottom-up and top-down processing.     

Perceptions of self and other in the prisoner's dilemma: outcome bias and evidential reasoning

In the prisoner's dilemma, self-interest clashes with collective interest. The way players resolve this conflict affects how others view them. Cooperators are seen as more moral than defectors, and, when there is no information about the other player's choice, cooperators and defectors are seen as equally competent. However, players who are defected against are seen as less competent, especially if they themselves cooperated (Experiments 1 and 2). Similarly, cooperators see themselves as more moral, but not as less competent, than defectors do (Experiments 3). Independent of concerns about reputation and self-image maintenance, evidential reasoning contributes to cooperative behavior. Players who project their own attitudes onto others are more likely to cooperate (Experiments 3). Compared with classic game theory, a theory of reputational concerns and evidential reasoning is better equipped to explain empirical patterns of choice behavior in social dilemmas.     

The name of the game: predictive power of reputations versus situational labels in determining prisoner's dilemma game moves

Two experiments, one conducted with American college students and one with Israeli pilots and their instructors, explored the predictive power of reputation-based assessments versus the stated "name of the game" (Wall Street Game vs. Community Game) in determining players' responses in an N-move Prisoner's Dilemma. The results of these studies showed that the relevant labeling manipulations exerted far greater impact on the players' choice to cooperate versus defect--both in the first round and overall--than anticipated by the individuals who had predicted their behavior. Reputation-based prediction, by contrast, failed to discriminate cooperators from defectors. A supplementary questionnaire study showed the generality of the relevant short-coming in na?ve psychology. The implications of these findings, and the potential contribution of the present methodology to the classic pedagogical strategy of the demonstration experiment, are discussed.     

Undermining trust and cooperation: The paradox of sanctioning systems in social dilemmas

Sanctioning systems in social dilemmas are often meant to increase trust in others and to increase cooperation. We argue, however, that sanctioning systems may also give people the idea that others act in their own self-interest and undermine the belief that others are internally motivated to cooperate. We developed the “Removing The Sanction” paradigm and a new trust manipulation, and showed in three experiments that when there is a sanction on defection, trust in others being internally motivated to cooperate is undermined: Participants who had experienced the presence of a sanctioning system trusted fellow group members less than participants who had not. In a similar vein, the sanction undermined cooperation when trust was initially high. The implications of these paradoxical findings are discussed.     

Exchanges of group-based favours: Ingroup bias in the prisoner's dilemma game with minimal groups in Japan and New Zealand

Japanese ( N  = 48) and New Zealander ( N  = 55) participants were first assigned to one of two minimal groups, and then played a prisoner's dilemma game twice with an ingroup member and twice with an outgroup member. In one of the two games they played with an ingroup (or outgroup) member, participants and their partner knew one another's group memberships (mutual-knowledge condition). In the unilateral-knowledge condition, only the participants knew the group membership of their partner, but the partner did not know the group membership of the participant. Ingroup bias in cooperation emerged only in the mutual-knowledge condition in both countries; in the unilateral-knowledge condition no ingroup bias emerged. Mediational analyses found that, in accord with predictions, cooperation in the mutual-knowledge condition is mediated by expectation of the partner's cooperation. Ingroup bias in the mutual-knowledge condition emerged only among those who identified with the ingroup. Results provide support for a group heuristics account of ingroup favouritism in the minimal group. According to this account, participants who face minimal groups activate an ecologically adaptive heuristic of unilaterally cooperating with members of the same group, expecting indirect repayment from others in the same group.     

Effect of inequality on cooperation: Heterogeneity and hegemony in public goods dilemma

We conducted two studies to explain inconsistent findings on the effect of resource inequality based on two properties of heterogeneity: (a) level of inequality and (b) asymmetry of resource distribution. We confirmed that symmetrically heterogeneous groups cooperated less than homogeneous groups did. We also found that larger resource inequality led to less cooperation. More importantly, the effect of inequality was different among groups with different distributions of resources – cooperation declined in groups with a symmetrical distribution of resources but did not decline in groups with a hegemonic distribution. Hegemonic distribution also affected psychological states as resource inequality changed. High endowment members reported higher self-efficacy when distribution was hegemonic than symmetric. However, they also reported more fear of being a sucker in hegemonic groups.     

The implicit cognition of reciprocal exchange: automatic retrieval of positive and negative experiences with partners in a prisoner's dilemma game

Models of reciprocity imply that cheater detection is an important prerequisite for successful social exchange. Considering the fundamental role of memory in reciprocal exchange, these theories lead to the prediction that memory for cheaters should be preferentially enhanced. Here, we examine whether information of a partner's previous behaviour in an interaction is automatically retrieved when encountering the face of a partner who previously cheated or cooperated. In two studies, participants played a sequential prisoner's dilemma game with cheaters and cooperative partners. Alternating with the game blocks, participants were asked to classify the smiling or angry facial expressions of cooperators and cheaters. Both experiments revealed congruence effects, reflecting faster identification of the smiles of cooperators (Experiments 1 and 2) and faster identification of the angry facial expressions of cheaters (Experiment 2). Our study provides evidence for the automatic retrieval of the partner's behaviour in the game, regardless of whether partners cheated or cooperated, and thus provides further evidence against the cheater detection hypothesis.     

Resolving the paradox of the active user: stable suboptimal performance in interactive tasks

This paper brings the intellectual tools of cognitive science to bear on resolving the “paradox of the active user” [Interfacing Thought: Cognitive Aspects of Human-Computer Interaction, Cambridge, MIT Press, MA, USA]—the persistent use of inefficient procedures in interactive tasks by experienced or even expert users when demonstrably more efficient procedures exist. The goal of this paper is to understand the roots of this paradox by finding regularities in these inefficient procedures. We examine three very different data sets. For each data set, we first satisfy ourselves that the preferred procedures used by some subjects are indeed less efficient than the recommended procedures. We then amass evidence, for each set, and conclude that when a preferred procedure is used instead of a more efficient, recommended procedure, the preferred procedure tends to have two major characteristics: (1) the preferred procedure is a well-practiced, generic procedure that is applicable either within the same task environment in different contexts or across different task environments, and (2) the preferred procedure is composed of interactive components that bring fast, incremental feedback on the external problem states. The support amassed for these characteristics leads to a new understanding of the paradox. In interactive tasks, people are biased towards the use of general procedures that start with interactive actions. These actions require much less cognitive effort as each action results in an immediate change to the external display that, in turn, cues the next action. Unfortunately for the users, the bias to use interactive unit tasks leads to a path that requires more effort in the long run. Our data suggest that interactive behavior is composed of a series of distributed choices; that is, people seldom make a once-and-for-all decision on procedures. This series of biased selection of interactive unit tasks often leads to a stable suboptimal level of performance.     

Transition to market economy promotes individualistic values: Analysing changes in frequencies of Russian words from 1980 to 2008

Google Books Ngram was used to assess changes in frequency of usage in words corresponding to collectivistic and individualistic values in Russia during the time of economic changes. It was found that in many domains transition to market economy was associated with a rise in the use of words corresponding to individualistic values and a decrease in the use of words associated with collectivistic values. In several cases, words corresponding to collectivistic terms were used more often than words corresponding to individualistic values. The results suggest that economic changes lead to a change in values structure, but that individualistic and collectivistic values can co‐exist because of the transitional sate of the Russian society.     

The dilemma of conscience in Christian belief: A pastoral perspective

This article describes the crisis of integrity experienced by a trinitarian Christian attempting to take seriously the results of current Jesus scholarship. It explores a number of traditional methods for reconciling the Jesus of history with the Christ of faith, and proposes a different paradigm, based on the structure of kairos time and the psychological dynamics of friendship.     

System Orientation: A dilemma for the role conceptualisation of 'counsellors' in schools

A survey of the American and British literature on counselling is used to elaborate an hypothesis concerning the importance in the minds of counsellors of the organisational as well as the interpersonal relationships they make. The hypothesis is tested and confirmed by a questionnaire enquiry to counsellors, pastoral care staff, guidance staff and others in British secondary schools. It leads to an elaboration in organisational terms of the notion of 'directiveness'.     

The serial-parallel dilemma: A case study in a linkage of theory and method

The question as to whether humans perceive, remember, or cognize psychological items simultaneously (i.e., in parallel) or sequentially (i.e., serially) has been of interest to philosophers and psychologists since at least the 19th century. The advent of the information-processing approach to cognition in the 1960s reopened the inquiry, initiating a flood of experiments and models in the literature. Surprisingly for so elemental an issue, persuasive experimental tests have, until recently, proven rather elusive. Several decades of theoretical, methodological, and experimental effort, propelled and shaped by a meta-theoretical perspective, are leading to powerful strategies for assessing this and related cognitive issues. The present article reviews the theoretical and empirical history of these inquiries and details situations in which decisive experimental tests are possible.     

'The double identity' of Taiwanese Chinese: A dilemma of politics and culture rooted in history

The 'double identity' of Taiwanese as both Chinese and Taiwanese identity was measured among both general and student samples using categorical and continuous measures. As predicted, Mingnan (native province) Taiwanese were higher in Taiwanese identity whereas outside-province Taiwanese were higher in Chinese identity. Both groups shared similar representations of the history of Taiwan, but evaluations of leaders followed patterns of in-group favoritism. These representations of history were used to predict and find zero correlations between Chinese and Taiwanese identity. Taiwanese and Chinese identities were mutually compatible in cultural domains, and mediated the effect of demographic group. However, in issues concerning politicized allocation decisions (and language), Taiwanese and Chinese identity worked in opposite directions, and demographic group (and a critical evaluation of an historical leader) were significant even after controlling for identity. Implications for social identity theory, realistic group conflict theory, and the cross-straits relationship are discussed.     

Intertrial priming stemming from ambiguity: A new account of priming in visual search

Sequential effects are ubiquitous in experimental psychology. Within visual search, performance is often speeded when participants search for the same target twice in a row, as opposed to two different targets. Here, we investigate such intertrial priming. Two experiments show that factors influencing search processes affect the presence and size of intertrial priming: It is larger when there are fewer elements in the visual display, and larger when there is a salient distractor present than when the target is the only salient element in the display. A control experiment showed that these increased priming effects were not due to longer baseline RTs. These findings, it is argued, are inconsistent with theories that explain intertrial priming as resulting from either only faster visual selection, or from episodic retrieval of responses. Instead, we propose that ambiguity in the stimulus or task underlies the occurrence of intertrial priming.     

工作重塑研究的新动向——基于调节定向的视角

以往学术界更多关注工作重塑的影响结果和作用机制, 缺乏对其内在动机及相关新构念的探讨。近年来, 基于调节定向理论的工作重塑研究逐渐增加。在已有研究的基础上, 首先基于特质及情境性调节定向的视角, 分别对其与工作重塑具体维度的关系进行探讨; 然后, 揭示领导的调节定向如何影响员工的工作重塑行为; 最后, 梳理工作重塑领域涌现的新构念(促进/防御定向型工作重塑、趋近/回避型工作重塑), 及其理论融合的基础。未来研究应重点关注调节定向和工作重塑的相互作用、促进/防御定向型工作重塑的前因变量及作用机制, 以及调节定向与“角色观”工作重塑的关系等问题。