The Utility of Hedged Assertions in the Emergence of Shared Categorical Labels

TL;DR

This paper explores how using hedged assertions like 'very' and 'quite' influences the development of shared categories in multi-agent communication, showing that hedges improve convergence and reduce overlap but slow down development.

Contribution

It extends prior work by demonstrating the specific effects of linguistic hedges on shared concept emergence in multi-agent systems.

Findings

Hedged assertions improve convergence of shared categories.

Hedges like 'very' reduce concept overlap.

Using hedges slows the overall development process.

Abstract

We investigate the emergence of shared concepts in a community of language users using a multi-agent simulation. We extend results showing that negated assertions are of use in developing shared categories, to include assertions modified by linguistic hedges. Results show that using hedged assertions positively affects the emergence of shared categories in two distinct ways. Firstly, using contraction hedges like `very' gives better convergence over time. Secondly, using expansion hedges such as `quite' reduces concept overlap. However, both these improvements come at a cost of slower speed of development.