A game is a systematic form of play, normally undertaken for fun or entertainment, and occasionally used as a teaching tool. Games are quite different from homework, which tends to be done for remuneration, or from poetry, that is more often a creative expression of particular artistic or aesthetic themes. Game study involves identifying the role of the games in the life of individuals, as well as the effects of the games on the players themselves. It also takes into account the ways in which certain games may be modified to serve specific purposes.
Game theory is studied using two complementary but equally important frameworks, namely the field of economics and psychology. The former attempts to understand human action in the context of the game theory framework, while the latter looks into the behavior of agents in the face of economic models. The most common method of framing the subject is to lump all forms of human endeavor under one broad heading. In fact, this tendency is very far from obvious, even among those who follow economic models as a basis for cultural behavior and politics.
The most common example of this is prison games, in which the rules of both the prisoner and the dictator game are the same. Prisoners can choose to defect from the group and start serving time in the gas chambers; the dictator, however, has the option to send his loyalists to do the same. Both have to survive the experience, and this requires careful planning and execution. The prison game in itself, therefore, constitutes a form of game theory, since it attempts to explain why the same agents will decide to cooperate or not, given a variety of external factors. Economic models in turn provide a rich source of material for game theory research, since they allow us to formulate and explore different versions of the prisoner’s dilemma.
The idea of a game theory refers to the systematic way by which individuals come to make choices in any situation. This applies equally well to the study of politics, economics, or culture. Basically, game theory suggests that people will tend to act in ways that increase their chance of gaining a particular benefit, but will decrease their risk of receiving a negative result. It also suggests that they will try to spread out these gains and losses over as many hands as possible, in order to ensure that each person always ends up with at least some gain. It should be noted, though, that this does not apply to every situation, since the prisoner’s dilemma and the dictator game in particular are rather unique. Still, it offers a rich model for analyzing the social and psychological processes that occur in the course of everyday life.
To begin, one can think of the prisoner’s dilemma as the game equivalent of a classic problem solving exercise. In this case, two players sit at a table with a set of cards. Before choosing a card, one player considers all the possible outcomes in which each card could be discarded, such as, choosing a card if all the others are taken. The second player considers only the cards in his hand and then decides what card to discard. Once all the options are explored, the second player discards the cards that correspond to the worst possible outcomes. This is the basis of the prisoner’s dilemma, where the individuals are required to choose between suffering a worse fate than being left alive or choosing a lesser evil.
The prisoner’s dilemma is just one of many game theory examples used in classrooms across the world. Game theory is used to help students learn how various economic, political, and psychological situations can be predicted. It also teaches students how to solve even seemingly complex problems by means of advanced mathematics and logic. In essence, game theory helps students understand how to predict patterns and generalizations about future behavior. If you’re looking to improve your students’ grades or simply want to understand the workings of the mind more thoroughly, then using game theory as a teaching tool is an excellent idea.