Modelling Joint Decision Making Processes Involving Emotion-Related Valuing and Empathic Understanding

Abstract

Abstract. In this paper a social agent model for joint decision making is presented addressing the role of mutually acknowledged empathic understanding in the decision making. The model is based on principles from recent neurological theories on mirror neurons, internal simulation, and emotion-related valuing. Emotion-related valuing of decision options and mutual contagion of intentions and emotions between agents are used as a basis for mutual empathic understanding and convergence of decisions and their associated emotions.

A Computational Analysis of Joint Decision Making Processes

“…A genuine joint decision does not only concern a choice for a common decision option, but also a good feeling about it, and mutually acknowledged empathic understanding. As a basis for the computational analysis a numerical computational social agent model for joint decision making is used, adopted from [40]. This model was inspired by principles from neurological theories on mirror neurons, internal simulation, and emotion-related valuing.…”

“…The issues and perspectives briefly reviewed in Section 2 have been used as a basis for the neurologically inspired social agent model presented in [40]; in summary:  Decision making is based on emotion-related valuing of the predicted effects of each action option  Both the tendency to go for an action and the associated emotion are transferred between agents via mirroring processes using internal simulation …”

“…Note that in general weights are assumed non-negative, except for inhibiting connections, which model suppression of the sensory representation of effect e, or of the sensory representation of body state b. In [40] the dynamics following the connections between the states in Fig. 1 are described in more detail.…”

“…The agent model has been computationally formalised in differential equation format and using the hybrid modeling language LEADSTO (cf. [5]); see [40] for further details of the social agent model.…”

“…In [40] a computational social agent model was introduced incorporating such mechanisms. In the current paper this model will be used as a point of departure to analyse computationally the different types of joint decision making processes that may occur, and how they may relate to characteristics of the persons involved.…”