Will Reasoning Improve Learning?
Nicolaas J. Vriend, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Economics Letters, 1997, Vol. 55, No. 1, p. 9-18

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Abstract. Utilizing the well-known Ultimatum Game, this note presents the following phenomenon. If we start with simple stimulus-response agents, learning through naive reinforcement, and then attribute them some introspective capabilities, we get outcomes that are not closer but farther away from the fully introspective game-theoretic approach. The cause of this is the following: there is an asymmetry in the information that agents can deduce from their experience, and this leads to a bias in their learning process.


Nick Vriend, n.vriend@qmul.ac.uk
Last modified 2016-02-05