Prisoner's Dilemma - Overview

This instance of the famous Prisoner's Dilemma game theory model is intended to provide a web-based tool for running multiple iterations of the scenario across large populations while automating the data collection tabulation and reporting for the teams and administrators throughout the simulations.

Overall structure

Prisoner's Dilemma is setup for two players (or teams) to process their options over a series of negotiations. In this tool, a dilemma consists of rounds (or iterations) of negotiations between two players (or teams) - referred to as side A or side B within the tool.

Dilemma Structure

The overall structure of the dilemma which defines the number of teams, the number of rounds, the point values used throughout the rounds as well as meta information such as the name of the institution, the course / project name being supported, etc. An administrator account may create multiple dilemmas across multiple classes or projects. Individual participants will access their assigned dilemmas using a unique userID/password assigned to their team's side (A or B)

Team Structure

Each dilemma supports multiple sets of teams. In the traditional setup, there would be one team consisting of two sides (side A or prisoner #1 and side B, prisoner #2). Within this tool, multiple teams are supported to allow for scaling across larger populations. Each team consists of two sides (A and B) which may represent individuals (for a two-person "crime") or team representatives ("negotiators", allowing for larger populations, i.e. two groups of five individuals on each side allowing for ten participants per team).

User Information / Login Structure

There are two types of accounts for this system: administrator and participant.

• Administrator accounts allow course instructors / project coordinators / coaches to login to the main website in order to manage their dilemmas. An administrator account may create multiple dilemmas across multiple classes or projects, depending on their account type. Administrative accounts persist over time and can be used to manage multiple dilemmas.
• Participant accounts are used by individual participants to log into the simulator to submit their team's choices, review previous rounds and to see if the other team has submitted their response for a given round. Participant accounts or short-term accounts and are typically eliminated at the end of a course or simulation. The sole purpose of the participant account is to interact with system for the duration of the simulation.