Vince Raphael R.

Miranda

V-24

1. The prisoner’s dilemma is a normal form game with one set of prisoners that both contain the
same set of strategies (deny or confess). The possible outcomes of the game with their
respective payoffs are the following (Where each deduction in a prisoner’s utility is caused by
one year in prison)

Outcome Payoff
Prisoner 1 Prisoner 2 Prisoner 1 Prisoner 2
Deny Deny -1 Util -1 Util
Confess Deny 0 Utils -10 Utils
Deny Confess -10 Utils 0 Utils
Confess Confess -4 Utils -4 Utils

In solving the Prisoner’s dilemma, an individual may opt to attempt different strategies like
IESDs and solving for the Nash Equilibrium. For this game, we will attempt to find _________ by
first using the IESDs method. Utility is higher when grade is higher

This solution may not hold if a prisoner’s utility is also dependent on the utility received by the
second prisoner (which may happen if they were colleagues that robbed a bank together), for the
second prisoner’s utility will then have to be factored into prisoner ones utility function, and the utility
the first prisoner is now affected by both the number of years in prison and the number of years his
colleague will get in prison. Another instance that could change the outcome of this game is if the first
prisoner were a utilitarian and was more concerned with maximizing utility as a whole than maximizing
his own utility. Both scenarios, would cause changes in the payoff matrix affecting the decision making
process of the game.