Assignment I - Signals
Why are there deceptive signals? Why are they a problem - and to whom?
Signaling is associated with inherent qualities of the being and deceptive signals exist because the signaler wants to depict a quality it does not have. Also, the signaler can do this at a lower cost of sending the signal in relation to the benefits of the results making deceptive signaling more common in conventional signaling, for example, glorifying your job/skills to make a positive impression on friends.
Dishonest signals are a problem to both the signaler and the receiver because the former would need to expend more energy to compete with contenders and the latter pay a higher cost to receive the signal and evaluate it. An honest signaler can suffer to the extent that if a dishonest signaler does not have to pay any costs for signaling and wins, then the honest signaler is at a loss.
How reliable must a signal be for a signaling system to function? 100%? 51%
The communication system via signaling exists due to the trade-offs between costs and benefits of signaling, the goal obviously being to reduce costs and increase benefits. I believe that for any system to function there needs to be a mix of the reliable and unreliable variables because unreliable signals also communicate information of a certain kind and save on cost for both the sender and receiver. According to Dawkins and Guilford, both signalers and receivers aim at reducing costs, and thus, would accept less reliable, conventional signals. An excess of conventional reliable signals makes it easy for unreliable signalers, a surplus of unreliable signals is kept under check by probing on the receiver-end, and if revealed, a dishonest signaler would pay a higher cost for competing with a genuine signaler.
How do signals become correlated with a quality? What happens when the signaler receiver interpret the signal differently?
As mentioned earlier, signals are associated with inherent qualities like strength, skill, feelings, status to name a few. When one wants to impress upon another, the former does or says things to indicate those qualities. It is easier to observe these signals among animals than it is among humans. For example, signals of fear depicted by a lower species when it sees a lion, or a quiet student signaling his/her timidity.
As I understand it, when signals are misinterpreted it brings about the same issues as miscommunication among human beings. The receiver and signaler, both bear the cost of misinterpretation. The receiver not being able to understand the signal, would bear high costs of time spent in trying to understand the signal and in the animal kingdom could bear a risk to life. The signaler also invests a great deal of energy in vain when his/her signal is misunderstood and the qualities attempted at being signaled would remain hidden.
3. 1 Example of an Assessment Signal A possible example of assessment signal is what an interviewee depicts in an interview. Body language, words used, answers to interviewers questions are all signals of inner qualities the interviewee wants to portray. The interviewer is assessing the interviewee for a set of skills that are needed for the job position being offered. Signals of body language could be directly related to inherent qualities, while those like words used when answering questions could be indirectly related. The signal is a costly one as the interviewee needs to put in a lot of effort to do and say the right things especially due to competition. The signals could be reliable or unreliable. Interviewees practice and consciously go over the right things to say and do to depict qualities like team work and diligence that they might not possess. There are people who are better at working alone, but when interviewing for a team leader position will try their best to depict how much of a people’s person they are.
This signal has high costs to the interviewee and relatively low costs to the interviewer if there are a decent number of candidates who have applied for the job. If there are very few candidates who have applied then the costs for the interviewer also become higher in assessing the candidate and identifying the honest signals. Yes, there is a high chance of there being a mismatch between the signaler’s intent and the receiver’s impression. For example, a person may really be very good with people but not have the ability to articulate instances of this quality or the interviewer may read into the body language of the candidate incorrectly leading to an erroneous hire, which could turn into an early termination!
3.2 Example for a Conventional signal
A conventional signal could be people’s dress sense indicating life style. The signal is directly related to people’s lifestyles and characteristics. For example, people in Texas take pride their cowboy boots, guns, and pick-up trucks and New Yorkers sashay along in their Armani suits and Gucci shoes. This is conventional signaling is widespread but location-specific on a geographical scale. These signals are unreliable because people could be tourists who dress like locals or some who dress and behave alike just to fit in. Also, based on the brand name of clothes and accessories used, there could be individual distinctions and similar dress sense as the others signal belonging to a group. There is usually no sanction against it, but subtle differences (southerners versus northerners) may become obvious and could at times be politically incorrect.
There is very low or no cost to either the signaler or the receiver due to the vast number on both sides. The receiver avoids cost by not assessing every person dressed in boots and a hat to find an honest Texan. However, the receiver could probe further thus increasing cost of receiving the signal. The likelihood of a mismatch is probably lower because people who want to depict themselves as having a particular lifestyle could do so by altering their wardrobe and receivers not probing further could be in agreement with the signal being given about the signaler’s life style.
Signaling is associated with inherent qualities of the being and deceptive signals exist because the signaler wants to depict a quality it does not have. Also, the signaler can do this at a lower cost of sending the signal in relation to the benefits of the results making deceptive signaling more common in conventional signaling, for example, glorifying your job/skills to make a positive impression on friends.
Dishonest signals are a problem to both the signaler and the receiver because the former would need to expend more energy to compete with contenders and the latter pay a higher cost to receive the signal and evaluate it. An honest signaler can suffer to the extent that if a dishonest signaler does not have to pay any costs for signaling and wins, then the honest signaler is at a loss.
How reliable must a signal be for a signaling system to function? 100%? 51%
The communication system via signaling exists due to the trade-offs between costs and benefits of signaling, the goal obviously being to reduce costs and increase benefits. I believe that for any system to function there needs to be a mix of the reliable and unreliable variables because unreliable signals also communicate information of a certain kind and save on cost for both the sender and receiver. According to Dawkins and Guilford, both signalers and receivers aim at reducing costs, and thus, would accept less reliable, conventional signals. An excess of conventional reliable signals makes it easy for unreliable signalers, a surplus of unreliable signals is kept under check by probing on the receiver-end, and if revealed, a dishonest signaler would pay a higher cost for competing with a genuine signaler.
How do signals become correlated with a quality? What happens when the signaler receiver interpret the signal differently?
As mentioned earlier, signals are associated with inherent qualities like strength, skill, feelings, status to name a few. When one wants to impress upon another, the former does or says things to indicate those qualities. It is easier to observe these signals among animals than it is among humans. For example, signals of fear depicted by a lower species when it sees a lion, or a quiet student signaling his/her timidity.
As I understand it, when signals are misinterpreted it brings about the same issues as miscommunication among human beings. The receiver and signaler, both bear the cost of misinterpretation. The receiver not being able to understand the signal, would bear high costs of time spent in trying to understand the signal and in the animal kingdom could bear a risk to life. The signaler also invests a great deal of energy in vain when his/her signal is misunderstood and the qualities attempted at being signaled would remain hidden.
3. 1 Example of an Assessment Signal A possible example of assessment signal is what an interviewee depicts in an interview. Body language, words used, answers to interviewers questions are all signals of inner qualities the interviewee wants to portray. The interviewer is assessing the interviewee for a set of skills that are needed for the job position being offered. Signals of body language could be directly related to inherent qualities, while those like words used when answering questions could be indirectly related. The signal is a costly one as the interviewee needs to put in a lot of effort to do and say the right things especially due to competition. The signals could be reliable or unreliable. Interviewees practice and consciously go over the right things to say and do to depict qualities like team work and diligence that they might not possess. There are people who are better at working alone, but when interviewing for a team leader position will try their best to depict how much of a people’s person they are.
This signal has high costs to the interviewee and relatively low costs to the interviewer if there are a decent number of candidates who have applied for the job. If there are very few candidates who have applied then the costs for the interviewer also become higher in assessing the candidate and identifying the honest signals. Yes, there is a high chance of there being a mismatch between the signaler’s intent and the receiver’s impression. For example, a person may really be very good with people but not have the ability to articulate instances of this quality or the interviewer may read into the body language of the candidate incorrectly leading to an erroneous hire, which could turn into an early termination!
3.2 Example for a Conventional signal
A conventional signal could be people’s dress sense indicating life style. The signal is directly related to people’s lifestyles and characteristics. For example, people in Texas take pride their cowboy boots, guns, and pick-up trucks and New Yorkers sashay along in their Armani suits and Gucci shoes. This is conventional signaling is widespread but location-specific on a geographical scale. These signals are unreliable because people could be tourists who dress like locals or some who dress and behave alike just to fit in. Also, based on the brand name of clothes and accessories used, there could be individual distinctions and similar dress sense as the others signal belonging to a group. There is usually no sanction against it, but subtle differences (southerners versus northerners) may become obvious and could at times be politically incorrect.
There is very low or no cost to either the signaler or the receiver due to the vast number on both sides. The receiver avoids cost by not assessing every person dressed in boots and a hat to find an honest Texan. However, the receiver could probe further thus increasing cost of receiving the signal. The likelihood of a mismatch is probably lower because people who want to depict themselves as having a particular lifestyle could do so by altering their wardrobe and receivers not probing further could be in agreement with the signal being given about the signaler’s life style.
posted by Pal at 6:38 AM
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