Overcoming Individual Limitations Through Distributed Computation: Rational Information Accumulation in Multigenerational Populations.

ABSTRACT: Many of the computational problems people face are difficult to solve under the limited time and cognitive resources available to them. Overcoming these limitations through social interaction is one of the most distinctive features of human intelligence. In this paper, we show that information accumulation in multigenerational social networks can be produced by a form of distributed Bayesian inference that allows individuals to benefit from the experience of previous generations while expending little cognitive effort. In doing so, we provide a criterion for assessing the rationality of a population that extends traditional analyses of the rationality of individuals. We tested the predictions of this analysis in two highly controlled behavioral experiments where the social transmission str

SUBMITTER: Hardy MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9542743 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature