Strategy and the credibility of promises in the Prisoner's Dilemma game

Abstract

Since the PDG is a two-person game, one independent variable which can be studied is the effect of one player's strategy selections on the strategy choices of the player. There are two general ways of doing this: (1) by examining the strategy choices of a player on a given trial or set of trials and finding their effect on the player's strategy choices, or (2) by having one S play against a simulated other player. The use of a simulated other has the advantage of being a preplanned, controlled procedure, while the comparison