Explaining human cooperation through a dual mechanism of individual and social learning

TL;DR

This paper models human cooperation on social networks by integrating individual and social learning mechanisms, revealing how exploration and payoff-based decision-making influence cooperation dynamics and explain previously contradictory phenomena.

Contribution

It formalizes human exploration as a trial-and-reflection learning process and demonstrates its impact on cooperation, highlighting the conditions under which individual learning surpasses social learning.

Findings

Individual learning can modify neighbor imitation tendencies.

Coupled dynamics influence cooperation based on payoff focus.

Negative correlation between exploration and payoffs promotes cooperation.

Abstract

Cooperation on social networks is crucial for understanding human survival and development. Although network structure has been found to significantly influence cooperation, human experiments have observed different cooperation phenomena under similar conditions. While evidence suggests that these differences arise from human exploration, our understanding of its impact mechanisms and characteristics remains limited. Here, we seek to formalize human exploration as an individual learning process involving trial and reflection, and integrate social learning to examine how their interdependence shapes cooperation. We find that individual learning can alter neighbor imitation tendencies, and the resulting shifts in the local cooperative environment feed back into the experiential cognition that guides individual learning. This coupled dynamic makes the ability of social networks to promote cooperation largely dependent on whether individuals focus on long-term payoffs, and exhibits a series of characteristics that can explain previously unexplained and seemingly contradictory cooperation phenomena. Surprisingly, individual learning can promote cooperation more than social learning when its probability is negatively correlated with payoffs, a mechanism rooted in the psychological tendency to avoid trial-and-error when individuals are satisfied with their current payoffs. These results explain the contradictory cooperation phenomenon by accounting for decision preferences and cognitive processes underlying exploration, bridging the gap between theoretical research and reality.