Belief revision in games: forward and backward induction

The rationality of choices in a game depend not only on what players believe, but also on their policies for revising their beliefs in response to surprising information. A general descriptive framework for representing belief revision policies in game situations is sketched, and the consequences of some assumptions about such policies are explored. Assumptions about epistemic independence and a rationalization principle are considered. It is argued that while such assumptions may be appropriate in some contexts, no substantive constraints on belief revision policies can be justified on the basis of the assumption of common knowledge of rationality.