EFFECT OF LEARNING IN THE PRISONER’S DILEMMA GAME

The task of this experimental study is to examine the existence of an effect of learning when initial and further encounters (i.e., iterated games) with undisclosed predetermined strategies are compared. This is one of the first systematic empirical studies of the inter-game learning in the Prisoner’s Dilemma game. Effect of learning in terms of higher gains in repeated encounters was found for the whole set of five strategies taken together (Tit for Tat, Deterrent, Bully, Benevolent and Random), and individually for three of the strategies employed (Tit for Tat, Deterrent, and Bully). We also tested whether there was an effect of learning both in women and in men as a group. 45 subjects (18 males, 27 females) participated in the study each subject played 15 iterated games of at least 30-trial duration.