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Game theory can build higher mental processes from lower ones1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2007

George Ainslie
Affiliation:
116A Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Coatesville, PA 19320. [email protected]

Abstract

The question of reductionism is an obstacle to unification. Many behavioral scientists who study the more complex or higher mental functions avoid regarding them as selected by motivation. Game-theoretic models in which complex processes grow from the strategic interaction of elementary reward-seeking processes can overcome the mechanical feel of earlier reward-based models. Three examples are briefly described.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
2007 Cambridge University Press

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