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Cognitive ability and strategic sophistication

Jeffrey Carpenter, Michael Graham and Jesse Wolf

Games and Economic Behavior, 2013, vol. 80, issue C, 115-130

Abstract: In three experiments we examine the extent to which strategic sophistication (i.e., inductive reasoning, iterative dominance and level-k thinking) is determined by broader cognitive skills. In the first experiment we replicate previous results showing strong associations between cognitive ability and sophistication in a game of iterative dominance and show that similar results arise in a game requiring induction. In the second two experiments we extend the literature in new directions. In Experiment 2 we modify the games to better capture participantsʼ ability to reason inductively and predict the sophistication of others and, again, find strong associations between cognitive ability, measured using a common IQ test, and sophistication. In Experiment 3 we examine more closely the causal nature of the relationship between cognitive ability and sophistication. We use a standard tool from cognitive psychology to randomly shock the cognitive ability of participants and show that this significantly affects game performance.

JEL-codes: C72 C92 D03 D83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (115)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:gamebe:v:80:y:2013:i:c:p:115-130

DOI: 10.1016/j.geb.2013.02.012

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