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Game Theory of Parenting

The following article offers ways for parents to have an easier time controlling and nurturing their children using the basic principles of game theory.  Although none of these parenting tactics are guaranteed to work on children, they’re helpful suggestions that are meant to assist parents in getting their children to eat well and go to bed early.  The article makes a point to say that good parents can help mold their children by understanding how their children are thinking at a certain age, and tailoring their parenting strategies to how they believe their child will react to a situation.  There were two tactics that were particularly interesting in the article.  The first was used to get the child to eat well.  Usually when a parent puts one green food in front of a child, he will almost surely refuse to eat it.  However, if the parent puts four healthy options in front of the child and gives him the option to eat two, suddenly there’s a higher possibility that the child eats the healthy food.  The second tactic is used to get children tucked in early and shorten the bedtime routine.  If the parent has several children to tuck in, the parent can have an ultimatum game of take-it or leave-it with having a bedtime story.  What this means is that all the children compete in a game of rocks paper scissors, with the winner getting to choose the story.  In order for the book to be read, the winning story must be agreed upon by all children, otherwise its lights out.  These simple strategies can allow a parent to get their children involved in healthy habits early on.

The article plays into the recent discussions we have had in class about game theory.  Game theory is all about understanding the decisions of the other players in order to make the best possible decision for yourself.  In this case, the parent would be trying to understand how his or her child operates, and tailoring the parenting strategy accordingly.  If the parent can understand the child’s reactions to certain situations, he or she can incite good habits in the child by coming up with creative ways to almost trick the child into making the right decisions.  It would almost be like a prisoner’s dilemma for the child, where the dominant strategy is to eat healthy or to get a good night’s sleep.  It is very cool to see game theory applied to real life situations like parenting.

Article: http://www.wsj.com/articles/game-theory-secrets-for-parents-1405005848

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