In this study, we explore the emergence of symbols during interactions between individuals through an experimental semiotic study. Previous studies investigate how humans organize symbol systems through communication using artificially designed subjective experiments. In this study, we have focused on a joint attention-naming game (JA-NG) in which participants independently categorize objects and assign names while assuming their joint attention. In the theory of the Metropolis-Hastings naming game (MHNG), listeners accept provided names according to the acceptance probability computed using the Metropolis-Hastings (MH) algorithm. The theory of MHNG suggests that symbols emerge as an approximate decentralized Bayesian inference of signs, which is represented as a shared prior variable if the conditions of MHNG are satisfied. This study examines whether human participants exhibit behavior consistent with MHNG theory when playing JA-NG. By comparing human acceptance decisions of a partner's naming with acceptance probabilities computed in the MHNG, we tested whether human behavior is consistent with the MHNG theory. The main contributions of this study are twofold. First, we reject the null hypothesis that humans make acceptance judgments with a constant probability, regardless of the acceptance probability calculated by the MH algorithm. This result suggests that people followed the acceptance probability computed by the MH algorithm to some extent. Second, the MH-based model predicted human acceptance/rejection behavior more accurately than the other four models: Constant, Numerator, Subtraction, and Binary. This result indicates that symbol emergence in JA-NG can be explained using MHNG and is considered an approximate decentralized Bayesian inference.

翻译：摘要：本研究通过实验符号学方法，探讨个体互动过程中符号的涌现机制。以往研究通过设计人工主观实验，考察人类如何通过沟通组织符号系统。本研究中，我们聚焦于联合注意命名游戏（JA-NG），其中参与者在假定共同注意的前提下，独立地对对象进行分类并分配名称。在Metropolis-Hastings命名游戏（MHNG）理论中，听者根据由Metropolis-Hastings（MH）算法计算的接受概率来接受提供的名称。MHNG理论表明，若满足MHNG条件，符号将作为共享先验变量的一种近似去中心化贝叶斯推断而涌现。本研究旨在检验人类参与者在进行JA-NG时，其行为是否与MHNG理论一致。通过对比人类对伙伴命名行为的接受决策与MHNG计算的接受概率，我们检验了人类行为是否符合MHNG理论。本研究的主要贡献有两方面：首先，我们拒绝了原假设——即人类以恒定概率做出接受判断，而不考虑MH算法计算的接受概率。该结果表明，人类在一定程度上遵循MH算法计算的接受概率。其次，基于MH的模型对人类接受/拒绝行为的预测准确率高于其他四种模型（恒定模型、分子模型、减法模型和二元模型）。这一结果表明，JA-NG中的符号涌现可通过MHNG解释，且可视为一种近似去中心化贝叶斯推断。