Study Questions

Ridley's Game Theory

1.) What is game theory?

2.) What is the Nash Equilibrium, and what does it signify?

3.) What is utility?  What does it mean to maximize utility?

4.) What is the prisoner's dilemma, and what general conditions characterize the prisoner's dilemma?

5.) What is the tit-for-tat strategy?  What are its weaknesses?

6.) How does Martin Nowak's version of the prisoner's dilemma differ from previous versions?

7.) What is the Generous-Tit-for-tat or Generous strategy?

8.) What is the Pavlov strategy?

9.) What is the firm-but-fair strategy?

10.) What is the moralistic strategy, and to what sort of conditions is it supposed to apply?

11.) What is the “optional prisoner's dilemma”?

12.) What strategy dominates the “optional prisoner's dilemma”?