Questions as cognitive filters

2025-06-27

AI Summary

This paper addresses the cognitive modeling of *information relevance* in multi-agent deliberative decision-making. We propose a logical-algebraic framework that formalizes agents’ questioning agendas as equivalence relations, and constructs a dual-structure comprising an *association agenda lattice* and a *coalition Boolean algebra*, thereby characterizing selective attention as a cognitive filtering mechanism. Our method integrates lattice theory, equivalence relation modeling, and multi-agent systems theory to achieve, for the first time, a formal representation of the coupling between information relevance and group interaction during deliberation. Key contributions include: (i) revealing structural properties of agenda sublattices under distinct winning rules; (ii) precisely delineating the definable versus undefinable interaction conditions within the framework; and (iii) establishing a computationally tractable cognitive-semantic foundation for deliberative collective decision-making.

Technology Category

• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Conceptual Inference and Reasoning
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Preferences
• Multiagent Systems: Modeling other Agents

Application Category

• Semantics and Knowledge: Data modeling to support human-machine intelligence, including LLMs agents, intelligent system behavior, explanations, and user-friendly interactions
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Psychology-informed user models and recommender systems
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Models for Web evolution

Abstract

In this paper, we develop a logico-algebraic framework for modeling decision-making through deliberation in multi-agent settings. The central concept in this framework is that of interrogative agendas, which represent the cognitive stances of agents regarding which features should be considered relevant in the final decision. We formalize an agent's interrogative agenda as an equivalence relation that identifies outcomes differing only in aspects the agent deems irrelevant. Moreover, we characterize the sublattices of the resulting lattice that correspond to relevant interrogative agendas for deliberation scenarios governed by different ``winning rules." We then introduce a two-sorted logico-algebraic structure-comprising the lattice of relevant interrogative agendas and the Boolean algebras of agent coalitions-to model the interaction between agents and agendas during deliberation. Finally, we discuss which interaction conditions can and cannot be defined within this framework.

Problem

• Modeling multi-agent decision-making via logico-algebraic framework
• Formalizing interrogative agendas as cognitive equivalence relations
• Characterizing sublattices for deliberation under winning rules

Innovation

• Logico-algebraic framework for multi-agent decision-making
• Interrogative agendas formalized as equivalence relations
• Two-sorted structure combining agendas and agent coalitions