This article finds the minimum number of moves to order a deck of cards by placing them in suits, but not necessarily in order.

The long history of experimental research on the prisoner's dilemma (PD) has primarily used a methodology that eliminates cues to participants. Researchers, however, have interpreted participants' choices as cooperative or competitive. The authors' research shows that giving participants researchers' interpretive labels of the game, the choices,…

We define a "hot potato" to be a good that may be traded a finite number of times, but which becomes a bad if and when it can no longer be exchanged. We describe a game involving such goods, and show that non-acceptance is a unique subgame perfect Nash equilibrium for rational egoists. Contrastingly, experiments with human subjects show…

The author describes a course designed to build the critical thinking skills of undergraduate economics students. The course introduces and uses game theory to study the Bible. Students gain experience using game theory to formalize events and, by drawing parallels between the Bible and common economic concepts, illustrate the pervasiveness of…

The authors present a classroom public goods experiment on the basis of a provision-point mechanism (PPM), where subjects must make an all or nothing decision about providing the public good. As a teaching tool, this design is superior to traditional prisoner's dilemma games because it creates multiple equilibrium in which individual financial…

Although many decisions involve a stream of payoffs over time, political scientists have given little attention to how actors make the required tradeoffs between present and future payoffs, other than applying the standard exponential discounting model from economics. After summarizing the basic discounting model, we identify some of its leading…

The relation of games to life in general is discussed, with the suggestion that games constitute an excursion or "time out" from goal-directed activities in life, in which an alternative set of rules are established for a delimited period. A game thus constitutes a short-term parallel to life in general. As such, it acts, for children, as a device…

This review of recent literature which deals with simulation programs and materials used with school personnel cites several advantages which proponents of simulation claim for their technique and also gives detailed examples of the many purposes to which simulation can be put and the variety of modes by which it can be presented. In addition,…

A discussion of a game quality--integrity--a term the author defines as everything used in a game and which should embody the central concept. (HB)

A brief discussion of the differences between the design of simulation games and the difficulty of development of games is presented. (HB)

Suggestions for conducting an instructional game or simulation. (Author)

The background and method of play of a game designed to study communication behavior in the organizational setting of a factory. (DAG)