A cognitive model of epistemic vigilance in situations of varying competence, consistency, and utility

This paper outlines a computational, cognitive model representing how humans may use epistemic vigilance to evaluate socially-provided information in a way that reacts flexibly to differences in the reliability of content versus source vigilance strategies. Furthermore, the model explores how the system reacts in situations where the utility of the information provided is either unrelated to its accuracy or, even, is inversely proportional to it. We find that even a simple model is able to react flexibly to variation in these parameters, providing a basis for further exploration of the phenomenon.