Associative Learning of Social Value in Dynamic Groups
通过两个实验，结合巴甫洛夫学习框架和两人经济博弈，研究人们在群体情境中如何通过阻断机制学习社会价值，发现利他情境下存在社会阻断效应，而损失情境中期望违背会改变价值学习。
Although humans live in societies that regularly demand engaging with multiple people simultaneously, little is known about social learning in group settings. In two experiments, we combined a Pavlovian learning framework with dyadic economic games to test whether blocking mechanisms support value-based social learning in the gain (altruistic dictators) and loss (greedy robbers) domains. Subjects first learned about an altruistic dictator, who subsequently made altruistic splits collectively with a partner. Results revealed that because the presence of the dictator already predicted the outcome, subjects did not learn to associate value with the partner. This social blocking effect was not observed in the loss domain: A kind robber's partner, who could steal all the subjects' money but stole little, acquired highly positive value-which biased subjects' subsequent behavior. These findings reveal how Pavlovian mechanisms support efficient social learning, while also demonstrating that violations of social expectations can attenuate how readily these mechanisms are recruited.