The emergence of compositional grammars in artificial codes
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Games and Economic Behavior
Publication Date
3-2017
Volume
102
First Page
255
Last Page
268
Publisher
Academic Press
Keywords
Communication games, Economics of language, Experimental semiotics, Compositional grammar
Abstract
This paper experimentally explores how compositional grammars in artificial codes emerge and are sustained. In a communication game with no conflict of interest, the sender sends a message that is an arbitrary string from available symbols with no prior meaning to indicate an abstract geometrical figure to the receiver. We find strong evidence from the laboratory for the emergence of compositional grammars in the subjects' common codes that facilitate learning efficiency. Moreover, when there is a scarcity of symbols in the repertoire, a few groups in our experiments developed languages with positional compositionality, meaning the same symbol has different interpretations depending on its position in a string, whereas some other groups developed language structures that are not compositional but still efficient in communication.
DOI
10.1016/j.geb.2016.12.009
Print ISSN
08998256
E-ISSN
10902473
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Hong, F., Lim, W., & Zhao, X. (2017). The emergence of compositional grammars in artificial codes. Games and Economic Behavior, 102, 255-268. doi: 10.1016/j.geb.2016.12.009