无需推理他人想法，简单观察就能学会高手的环境认知策略。
Emergent social transmission of model-based representations without inference
- 通过观察专家行为，学习者用启发式策略间接获得高层认知表征。
- 模型基于学习者在社交暴露下更快掌握任务，表征更接近专家水平。
- 适合关注社会学习机制、非心智化知识传播的研究者阅读。
人类如何在认知资源有限的情况下，从他人那里获得丰富灵活的环境知识？传统观点认为需要复杂的心理推断（如推测他人信念），但文化演化理论强调简单社会线索即可支持行为传播。我们通过强化学习模拟发现，即使不进行心理推断，仅通过观察专家行为，学习者也能借助启发式动作选择或价值表示增强，使自身经验受到引导，最终其认知表征收敛至专家水平。基于模型的学习者在社交暴露中受益最大，表现出更快的学习速度和更接近专家的表征。这表明文化传递可源于简单的、非心智化的过程，利用非社会学习机制实现。实验环境为可重构环境，使用强化学习框架，学习者分组为独自学习与观察专家两种条件。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
How do people acquire rich, flexible knowledge about their environment from others despite limited cognitive capacity? Humans are often thought to rely on computationally costly mentalizing, such as inferring others' beliefs. In contrast, cultural evolution emphasizes that behavioral transmission can be supported by simple social cues. Using reinforcement learning simulations, we show how minimal social learning can indirectly transmit higher-level representations. We simulate a naïve agent searching for rewards in a reconfigurable environment, learning either alone or by observing an expert - crucially, without inferring mental states. Instead, the learner heuristically selects actions or boosts value representations based on observed actions. Our results demonstrate that these cues bias the learner's experience, causing its representation to converge toward the expert's. Model-based learners benefit most from social exposure, showing faster learning and more expert-like representations. These findings show how cultural transmission can arise from simple, non-mentalizing processes exploiting asocial learning mechanisms.
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