The Dynamics of Belief Updating in Human Cooperation: Findings from inter-brain ERP hyperscanning

Dandan Zhang; Yiqin Lin; Yiming Jing; Chunliang Feng; Ruolei Gu

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.05.029

The Dynamics of Belief Updating in Human Cooperation: Findings from inter-brain ERP hyperscanning

Neuroimage. 2019 Sep:198:1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.05.029. Epub 2019 May 11.

Authors

Dandan Zhang¹, Yiqin Lin², Yiming Jing³, Chunliang Feng⁴, Ruolei Gu⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, College of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China.
² Department of Psychology, College of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China; CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, 100101, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
³ CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, 100101, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
⁴ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
⁵ CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, 100101, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China. Electronic address: gurl@psych.ac.cn.

PMID: 31085300
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.05.029

Abstract

Generally, successful cooperation can only be established when the interacting persons believe that they would not be betrayed; this belief can be updated by observing the other persons' actual choices. Thus, the process of belief updating plays an important role in conditional cooperation. Using the Prisoner's Dilemma Game (PDG) with event-related potential (ERP) hyperscanning, this study investigated the dynamics of belief updating in a dyad. During the task, participants were asked if they believed that their opponent would cooperate in the next trial, and their answers functioned as a self-reported index of reciprocal belief. The results suggested that this index shows strong associations with participants' behavioral choices (cooperate/betray). At the individual level, the amplitudes of the ERP components frontal P3a and parietal P3b elicited by the decision outcome were sensitive to belief updating. At the interpersonal level, the between-subject synchronization in P3b was higher than those in the other conditions when the paired participants confirmed each other's reciprocal beliefs. Since previous studies have linked the P3b with memory updating, we suggest that a cooperative relationship is built up when the memory systems (which support belief updating) of two interacting persons reach a high level of coordination. These findings may help explain how conditional cooperation develops between strangers.

Keywords: Belief updating; Cooperation; Event-related potential; Hyperscanning; Inter-brain synchronization; P3b component; Prisoner's dilemma game.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Brain / physiology*
Cooperative Behavior*
Decision Making / physiology*
Event-Related Potentials, P300
Female
Humans
Interpersonal Relations*
Male
Prisoner Dilemma
Young Adult