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The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling

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Publicity and Common Commitment to Believe.

J R G Williams¹

¹University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.

|March 23, 2023

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Public information is crucial for group decision-making and communication. This study argues that public information, essential for rational choice, is equivalent to common belief within a group.

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Area of Science:

Philosophy of Information
Social Epistemology
Decision Theory

Background:

The concept of public information is fundamental in understanding interdependent rational choice, communication, and joint intention.
A common analysis equates public information with common belief, often assumed without rigorous justification.
Existing analyses lack insight into the underlying reasons for this identification.

Purpose of the Study:

To characterize a practical-normative role for public information in group contexts.
To demonstrate that common belief fulfills this identified role.
To provide a theoretical basis for why public information equates to common belief.

Main Methods:

Characterization of the functional role of 'taking a proposition for granted' in non-isolated decision-making.
Identification of minimal conditions for the correct holding of this attitude.
Derivation of logical consequences from a key assumption linking this attitude to beliefs about publicity.

Main Results:

A proposition being public among a group entails a common commitment to believe that proposition within that group.
Exploration of partial converses, the factivity of publicity, and outsider perspectives on group publicity.
Consideration of objections to the a priori nature of the findings.

Conclusions:

The study establishes a rigorous connection between the concept of public information and common belief.
It provides a theoretical justification for the standard analysis, moving beyond mere assumption or intuition.
The findings have implications for formal models of communication, coordination, and collective action.