Faithfulness-boost effect: loyal teammate selection correlates with skill acquisition improvement in online games

The problem of skill acquisition is ubiquitous and fundamental to life. Most tasks in modern society involve the cooperation with other subjects. Notwithstanding its fundamental importance, teammate selection is commonly overlooked when studying learning. We exploit the virtually infinite repository of human behavior available in Internet to study a relevant topic in anthropological science: how grouping strategies may affect learning. We analyze the impact of team play strategies in skill acquisition using a turn-based game where players can participate individually or in teams. We unveil a subtle but strong effect in skill acquisition based on the way teams are formed and maintained during time. “Faithfulness-boost effect” provides a skill boost during the first games that would only be acquired after thousands of games. The tendency to play games in teams is associated with a long-run skill improvement while playing loyally with the same teammate significantly accelerates short-run s...

技能习得问题普遍存在且是生命的基础。现代社会的大多数任务都涉及与其他主体的合作。尽管其至关重要，但在研究学习时，队友选择通常被忽视。我们利用互联网上可获取的几乎无限的人类行为库，研究人类学中的一个相关课题：群体策略如何影响学习。我们通过一款回合制游戏分析团队游戏策略对技能习得的影响，玩家可在该游戏中单独或组队参与。我们揭示了技能习得中一种微妙但显著的效应，该效应取决于团队形成和长期维持的方式。"忠诚度提升效应"（Faithfulness-boost effect）在最初的游戏中就能提供技能提升，而这种提升原本需要数千场游戏才能获得。组队游戏的倾向与长期技能提升相关，而与同一队友忠诚合作则显著加速短期技能...