Prisoner's Dilemma: Application of AgentBased Modeling

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Prisoner's Dilemma Application of Agent-Based
Modeling

• Matt Lee
• Computer Systems 2007-2008
• Period 5

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Prisoner's Dilemma Application of Agent-Based
Modeling

• Abstract
• Problem Prisoner's Dilemma is used with two
  people when neither of the participants are aware
  of the other's decisions. So, what happens if
  there were more people involved, a select number
  were aware, and the goal wasn't just gaining the
  highest payoff.
• Purpose To create a simulation of Prisoner's
  Dilemma which can run through a variety of
  conditions including more participants,
  'awareness' of cooperation, application of
  morality, and a change in goals

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Background

• Prisoner's Dilemma Non-Zero Sum game where two
  players (a.k.a, prisoners) try to maximize their
  payoff.
• During a contest, Axelrod determined that 'tit
  for tat' was the best strategy to the game.
• There have been many variations of this program,
  including N participants.

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Applications

• Prisoner's Dilemma is used in a variety of
  simulations, including economics and politics.
• Arms race
• Literal prisoner's dilemma

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Development

• Originally, two prisoners were playing, but this
  was later rewritten.
• Now, it's set in an array for better future
  implementation of multiple prisoners.
• As of now, the two play with a simple random
  algorithm. Both randomly decide whether to
  cooperate or defect.

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Determining Payoff

• if(truthcountfalsecount)
  CooperateBetray(prisoners)
  else if(truthcountfalsecount
  ) CooperateCooperate(
  prisoners)
  else if(falsecounttruthcount)
  BetrayBetray(prisoners)
• This portion of code should be able to be
  implemented for future development with N
  prisoners.

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Prisoner Class

• class prisoner extends Object String
  myID boolean myDecision int myPay
  //THE DEFAULT DECISION WILL BE TO BETRAY...
  //A PRISONER KEEPS TRACK OF HIS PAYMENT AND
  HIS DECISION. /Additional coding is here/
• Can get its ID, its decision, and its 'pay'.
• Can also set these
• Future implementation may include 'strategy'
  class.

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Future

• Implement the use of teams with different goals.
• Enable cooperation that can be applied to any
  number of participants.
• Simulate some morality among differing
  participants.
• If possible, find a general solution to certain
  scenarios.