Experimental emergence of conventions in human dyads

Conventions can be defined as arbitrary and self-sustaining practices that emerge in a population and facilitate solving coordination problems. A recent study traced the formation of simple conventions in captive baboons in a touch-screen-based color-matching ‘game’. We replicated this task with human pairs under different conditions (with/without visual access to the partner’s screen; with/without prior information on the task structure) to assess their effects on the formation and stability of conventions. We found that more information delayed the formation of conventions (arbitrary rankings of colors that determined choices in any given color pairing). Analysis of self-reported strategies did not reveal a clear effect of condition on levels of elicited strategic behavior. Interestingly, pairs maintained their conventions even when given visual access to their partner’s screen, despite the availability of an alternative, potentially simpler, cognitive strategy. In a follow-up variant of the task that paired up experienced subjects with a naïve partner, conventions emerged faster but did not replicate the color hierarchy convention of the experienced player, demonstrating the transmission of “know-how” but not “know-what” information. We discuss the implications of our results for understanding the cognitive mechanisms necessary to support the formation, maintenance, and transmission of conventions.