Quantum Markov Model for Data from Shafir-Tversky Experiments in Cognitive Psychology

Abstract

We analyze, from the point of view of quantum probability, statistical data from two interesting experiments, done by Shafir and Tversky [1, 2] in the domain of cognitive psychology. These are gambling experiments of Prisoner Dilemma type. They have important consequences for economics, especially for the justification of the Savage "Sure Thing Principle" [3] (implying that agents of the market behave rationally). Data from these experiments were astonishing, both from the viewpoint of cognitive psychology and economics and probability theory. Players behaved irrationally. Moreover, all attempts to generate these data by using classical Markov model were unsuccessful. In this note we show (by inventing a simple statistical test — generalized detailed balance condition) that these data are non-Kolmogorovian. We also show that it is neither quantum (i.e., it cannot be described by Dirac-von Neumann model). We proceed towards a quantum Markov model for these data.