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Competing with oneself: introducing self-interaction in a model of competitive learning

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Abstract

A competitive learning model was introduced in Mehta and Luck (Phys Rev E 60, 5:5218–5230, 1999), in which the learning is outcome-related. Every individual chooses between a pair of existing strategies or types, guided by a combination of two factors: tendency to conform to the local majority, and a preference for the type with higher perceived success among its neighbors, based on their relative outcomes. Here, an extension of the interfacial model of Mehta and Luck (Phys Rev E 60, 5:5218–5230, 1999) is proposed, in which individuals additionally take into account their own outcomes in arriving at their outcome-based choices. Three possible update rules for handling bulk sites are considered. The corresponding phase diagrams, obtained at coexistence, show systematic departures from the original interfacial model. Possible relationships of these variants with the cooperative model of Mehta and Luck (Phys Rev E 60, 5:5218–5230, 1999) are also touched upon.

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Acknowledgments

G.M. would like to thank Nirmal Thyagu for helpful discussions in the course of this study. G.M. was supported by a grant from DST (Govt. of India) through the project “Generativity in Cognitive Networks.”

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  1. S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Block JD, Sector III, Salt Lake, 700 098, Kolkata, India

    Gaurang Mahajan & Anita Mehta

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  1. Gaurang Mahajan
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  2. Anita Mehta
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Correspondence to Gaurang Mahajan.

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Mahajan, G., Mehta, A. Competing with oneself: introducing self-interaction in a model of competitive learning. Theory Biosci. 129, 271–282 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12064-010-0111-y

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