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Activity - Prisoner's Dilemma

Training and Development

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Kaveeta M Abicchandani
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79 views2 pages

Activity - Prisoner's Dilemma

Training and Development

Uploaded by

Kaveeta M Abicchandani
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Prisoner's Dilemma

The Prisoner's Dilemma is a classic game theory exercise that explores the dynamics of
cooperation and competition in social situations. It is a simple game that involves two
players and two choices and is often used to study how individuals make decisions in
situations where their choices affect others.
The game is called the Prisoner's Dilemma because it was originally framed as a hypothetical
scenario where two suspects in a crime are interrogated separately and are given the option
to either cooperate with each other by remaining silent, or betray each other by confessing
to the crime. The game can be applied to a wide range of situations, from business
negotiations to international politics.
Purpose:
The purpose of the activity "The Prisoner's Dilemma" is to demonstrate how individual
rationality can conflict with group rationality in a situation where the outcomes of one
person's choices depend on the choices of others. The game is often used to illustrate the
concept of a Nash equilibrium, which is a set of strategies in which no player can improve
their payoff by unilaterally changing their strategy, assuming the other player's strategies
remain the same. The activity also shows how cooperation can be beneficial for both players
in the long run, but the temptation to defect may be too great for some players in the short
run, leading to suboptimal outcomes for both players. The game is used in a variety of fields,
including economics, political science, psychology, and philosophy, to analyse situations
where multiple actors must make strategic decisions in a context of interdependence.

How it is played:

 In the game, each player has two options: to cooperate (C) or to defect (D). If both
players cooperate, they both receive a moderate reward. If one player cooperates
and the other defects, the defecting player receives a higher reward while the
cooperating player receives a lower reward. If both players defect, they both receive
a low reward.
 The outcome of the game depends on the choices made by both players, and the
scoring is usually presented in the form of a matrix or a table. The example given in
the previous answer shows how the game can be scored, with the first number in
each pair indicating the score received by Player A and the second number indicating
the score received by Player B.
 Players may play multiple rounds of the game, and the strategy that leads to the
highest overall score may vary depending on the opponent's actions and the number
of rounds played. The game is often used to study how people make decisions in
situations where their actions affect others, and can help to shed light on the
complex dynamics of cooperation and competition in social interactions.
Instructions:
1. Two players are involved in the game, Player A and Player B.
2. Each player has two options: to cooperate (C) or to defect (D).
3. The players must make their choices without communicating with each other.
4. The outcome of the game depends on the choices made by both players.
Scoring Guidelines:
1. If both players cooperate (C, C), they both receive a reward of 3 points.
2. If one player cooperates and the other defects (C, D or D, C), the cooperating player
receives a score of 0, and the defecting player receives a score of 5.
3. If both players defect (D, D), they both receive a score of 1.
The scoring is usually presented in the form of a matrix or a table. Here's an example:

Player B (C) Player B (D)

Player A (C) (3, 3) (0, 5)

Player A (D) (5, 0) (1, 1)

In the table, the first number in each pair indicates the score received by Player A, and the
second number indicates the score received by Player B.
Players may play multiple rounds of the game, and the strategy that leads to the highest
overall score may vary depending on the opponent's actions and the number of rounds
played.

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