How cognitive skills affect strategic behavior: Cognitive ability, fluid intelligence and judgment

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gill, David; Knepper, Zachary; Prowse, Victoria; Zhou, Junya
• 署名单位: Purdue University System; Purdue University; University of Texas System; University of Texas Dallas
• 刊物名称: GAMES AND ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0899-8256
• DOI: 10.1016/j.geb.2024.09.007
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 82-95
• 关键词: Cognitive ability; JUDGMENT; Fluid intelligence; Matrix reasoning; Beauty contest; Strategic sophistication; Level-k; experiment; game theory

摘要

We explore the influence of cognitive ability and judgment on strategic behavior in the beauty contest game (where the Nash equilibrium action is zero). Using the level-k model of bounded rationality, cognitive ability and judgment both predict higher level strategic thinking. However, individuals with better judgment choose zero less frequently, and we uncover a novel dynamic mechanism that sheds light on this pattern. Taken together, our results indicate that fluid (i.e., analytical) intelligence is a primary driver of strategic level-k thinking, while facets of judgment that are distinct from fluid intelligence drive the lower inclination of high judgment individuals to choose zero.