Computational and algorithmic models of strategies in turn-based games

Gerben Bergwerff	University of Groningen
Ben Meijering	University of Groningen
Jakub Szymanik	University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam
Rineke Verbrugge	University of Groningen
Stefan Wierda	University of Groningen

Abstract

We study two different models of a turn-based game called the Marble Drop Game, which is an experimental paradigm designed to investigate higher-order social reasoning. Our first model is a computational-level description of the game, associating cognitive difficulty of a game trial with its structural properties. Our second model is an algorithmic-level model postulating a forward reasoning plus back-tracking strategy for solving the game, rather than backward induction as prescribed by game theory. Our experiment shows that the algorithmic-level model is more predictive for the participants’ reaction times. This research illustrates how various methods of logic and computer science may be used for building computational cognitive models.

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Computational and algorithmic models of strategies in turn-based games (303 KB)