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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. george.ainslie@va.govwww.picoeconomics.com

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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