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Salience as an emergent property

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  • Alberti, Federica
  • Sugden, Robert
  • Tsutsui, Kei

Abstract

We offer an evolutionary model of the emergence of concepts of salience through similarity-based learning. When an individual faces a new decision problem, she chooses an action that she perceives as similar to actions that, when chosen in similar previous problems, led to favourable outcomes. If some similarities are more reliably perceived than others, this process will favour the emergence of conventions that are defined in terms of reliably perceived similarities. We discuss experimental evidence of learning in recurrent play of similar but not identical pure coordination games.

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  • Alberti, Federica & Sugden, Robert & Tsutsui, Kei, 2012. "Salience as an emergent property," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 379-394.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:82:y:2012:i:2:p:379-394
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2011.10.016
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Salience; Focal point; Emergent property; Similarity; Coordination game;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • C73 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Stochastic and Dynamic Games; Evolutionary Games
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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