Optimal Reasoning About Referential Expressions

The iterated best response (IBR) model is a game-theoretic approach to formal pragmatics that spells out pragmatic reasoning as back-and-forth reasoning about interlocutors’ rational choices and beliefs (Franke, 2011; Jäger, 2011). We investigate the comprehension and production of referential expressions within this framework. Two studies manipulating the complexity of inferences involved in comprehension (Exp. 1) and production (Exp. 2) of referential expressions show an intriguing asymmetry: comprehension performance is better than production in corresponding complex inference tasks, but worse on simpler ones. This is not predicted by standard formulations of IBR, which makes categorical predictions about rational choices. We suggest that taking into account quantitative information about beliefs of reasoners results in a better fit to the data, thus calling for a revision of the game-theoretic model.