Game Theory in Evolution
Like every other situation that involves decision making, the evolution of some types of animal behavior can be modeled using game theory. Many common decisions faced by organisms can be represented using the Prisoners’ Dilemma in which two prisoners must decide whether or not confess and face the consequences based on the other’s decision; organisms can experience different results based on their’s and others’ decisions in collaboration in producing resources, competition for the same resources, etc. The article references a paper that described a selfish strategy to optimize an individual’s outcome for the game which contradicts an older strategy of not being selfish and staying loyal. After running simulations of players using the selfish and loyal strategies, they found that if the losing players were removed from the pool after each round (as in evolution), the result would be selfish players playing against each other which would not be successful for either player.
The study shows that in the short term, selfish players will be more successful, but it will not be beneficial to the progression of the entire group in the long run. In class we talked about the strategies and equilibrium for one game between two players, but we didn’t consider having a series of a games played in a simulation. The article only talked about the Prisoners’ Dilemma and how it represents decision making in organisms, but animal behavior is more complex and some situations can be modeled using a different game. By using game theory and playing many games with many players, we get a new and interesting view on how behaviors and traits developed in animals over time.
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/36880/title/A-Twist-in-Evolutionary-Game-Theory/