Andrew Zaldivar

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Andrew Zaldivar investigates the neural and computational underpinnings of decision-making, with a particular focus on how neuromodulators like serotonin shape our responses to risk, cost, and social conflict. His work bridges game theory, neurobiology, and adaptive agent modeling to understand why individuals cooperate, retaliate, or take risks. In his most cited work, "Reciprocity and Retaliation in Social Games With Adaptive Agents" (18 citations), Zaldivar introduced a neurobiologically plausible model of action selection, moving beyond static opponent strategies to study dynamic, adaptive social interactions. His review "A dynamic, embodied paradigm to investigate the role of serotonin in decision-making" (10 citations) synthesizes approaches for examining how serotonergic systems influence harm aversion and cost assessment—critical for understanding psychiatric conditions. Further, in "Modeling individual differences in socioeconomic game playing" (2 citations), he used embodied robotic agents playing the Hawk-Dove game to capture real-time behavioral variability. By integrating computational models with physical agents, Zaldivar’s work offers a powerful framework for studying the biological roots of social behavior, with implications for both neuroscience and artificial intelligence.