Win-stay, lose-shift

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In game theory , win-stay, lose-shift describes a strategy for iterated prisoner's dilemmas . In his book Supercooperators, Martin A. Nowak shows that the strategy “ tit for tat ” in situations in which misunderstandings and incorrect transmission of behavior between the players can occur, does worse than “win-stay, lose-shift”.

The strategy is to stick to the chosen strategy (cheat, cooperate) if it was successful and switch if it was unsuccessful.

Example with tit for tat

  1. Player A cooperates, B accidentally cheats ( A will change his strategy, B too)
  2. A cheats, B cooperates ( A will change strategy, B too)
  3. A cooperates, B cheats ( A will change strategy, B too)
etc.

Example with win-stay, lose-shift

  1. A cooperates, B accidentally cheats ( A will change strategy, B will not)
  2. A cheats, B cheats (both will switch strategies)
  3. A cooperates, B cooperates (both will keep their strategy)
  4. A cooperates, B cooperates
etc.

literature

  • Martin Nowak, Karl Sigmund: A strategy of win-stay, lose-shift that outperforms tit-for-tat in the Prisoner's Dilemma game . In: Nature . tape 364 , no. 6432 , July 1, 1993, p. 56–58 , doi : 10.1038 / 364056a0 ( nature.com [accessed August 7, 2016]).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nowak, Martin A., and Roger Highfield. Supercooperators - altruism, evolution, and why we need each other to succeed. New York: Free Press, 2011