How trees allocate carbon for optimal growth: insight from a game-theoretic model.

PubMed

Fu, Liyong; Sun, Lidan; Han, Hao; Jiang, Libo; Zhu, Sheng; Ye, Meixia; Tang, Shouzheng; Huang, Minren; Wu, Rongling

2017-02-01

How trees allocate photosynthetic products to primary height growth and secondary radial growth reflects their capacity to best use environmental resources. Despite substantial efforts to explore tree height-diameter relationship empirically and through theoretical modeling, our understanding of the biological mechanisms that govern this phenomenon is still limited. By thinking of stem woody biomass production as an ecological system of apical and lateral growth components, we implement game theory to model and discern how these two components cooperate symbiotically with each other or compete for resources to determine the size of a tree stem. This resulting allometry game theory is further embedded within a genetic mapping and association paradigm, allowing the genetic loci mediating the carbon allocation of stemwood growth to be characterized and mapped throughout the genome. Allometry game theory was validated by analyzing a mapping data of stem height and diameter growth over perennial seasons in a poplar tree. Several key quantitative trait loci were found to interpret the process and pattern of stemwood growth through regulating the ecological interactions of stem apical and lateral growth. The application of allometry game theory enables the prediction of the situations in which the cooperation, competition or altruism is an optimal decision of a tree to fully use the environmental resources it owns. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A Game-Theoretic Approach to Branching Time Abstract-Check-Refine Process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Yi; Tamai, Tetsuo

2009-01-01

Since the complexity of software systems continues to grow, most engineers face two serious problems: the state space explosion problem and the problem of how to debug systems. In this paper, we propose a game-theoretic approach to full branching time model checking on three-valued semantics. The three-valued models and logics provide successful abstraction that overcomes the state space explosion problem. The game style model checking that generates counter-examples can guide refinement or identify validated formulas, which solves the system debugging problem. Furthermore, output of our game style method will give significant information to engineers in detecting where errors have occurred and what the causes of the errors are.

A game-theoretical approach to multimedia social networks security.

PubMed

Liu, Enqiang; Liu, Zengliang; Shao, Fei; Zhang, Zhiyong

2014-01-01

The contents access and sharing in multimedia social networks (MSNs) mainly rely on access control models and mechanisms. Simple adoptions of security policies in the traditional access control model cannot effectively establish a trust relationship among parties. This paper proposed a novel two-party trust architecture (TPTA) to apply in a generic MSN scenario. According to the architecture, security policies are adopted through game-theoretic analyses and decisions. Based on formalized utilities of security policies and security rules, the choice of security policies in content access is described as a game between the content provider and the content requester. By the game method for the combination of security policies utility and its influences on each party's benefits, the Nash equilibrium is achieved, that is, an optimal and stable combination of security policies, to establish and enhance trust among stakeholders.

A Game-Theoretical Approach to Multimedia Social Networks Security

PubMed Central

Liu, Enqiang; Liu, Zengliang; Shao, Fei; Zhang, Zhiyong

2014-01-01

The contents access and sharing in multimedia social networks (MSNs) mainly rely on access control models and mechanisms. Simple adoptions of security policies in the traditional access control model cannot effectively establish a trust relationship among parties. This paper proposed a novel two-party trust architecture (TPTA) to apply in a generic MSN scenario. According to the architecture, security policies are adopted through game-theoretic analyses and decisions. Based on formalized utilities of security policies and security rules, the choice of security policies in content access is described as a game between the content provider and the content requester. By the game method for the combination of security policies utility and its influences on each party's benefits, the Nash equilibrium is achieved, that is, an optimal and stable combination of security policies, to establish and enhance trust among stakeholders. PMID:24977226

Merging Theoretical Models and Therapy Approaches in the Context of Internet Gaming Disorder: A Personal Perspective.

PubMed

Young, Kimberly S; Brand, Matthias

2017-01-01

Although, it is not yet officially recognized as a clinical entity which is diagnosable, Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has been included in section III for further study in the DSM-5 by the American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2013). This is important because there is increasing evidence that people of all ages, in particular teens and young adults, are facing very real and sometimes very severe consequences in daily life resulting from an addictive use of online games. This article summarizes general aspects of IGD including diagnostic criteria and arguments for the classification as an addictive disorder including evidence from neurobiological studies. Based on previous theoretical considerations and empirical findings, this paper examines the use of one recently proposed model, the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model, for inspiring future research and for developing new treatment protocols for IGD. The I-PACE model is a theoretical framework that explains symptoms of Internet addiction by looking at interactions between predisposing factors, moderators, and mediators in combination with reduced executive functioning and diminished decision making. Finally, the paper discusses how current treatment protocols focusing on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Internet addiction (CBT-IA) fit with the processes hypothesized in the I-PACE model.

Merging Theoretical Models and Therapy Approaches in the Context of Internet Gaming Disorder: A Personal Perspective

PubMed Central

Young, Kimberly S.; Brand, Matthias

2017-01-01

Although, it is not yet officially recognized as a clinical entity which is diagnosable, Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has been included in section III for further study in the DSM-5 by the American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2013). This is important because there is increasing evidence that people of all ages, in particular teens and young adults, are facing very real and sometimes very severe consequences in daily life resulting from an addictive use of online games. This article summarizes general aspects of IGD including diagnostic criteria and arguments for the classification as an addictive disorder including evidence from neurobiological studies. Based on previous theoretical considerations and empirical findings, this paper examines the use of one recently proposed model, the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model, for inspiring future research and for developing new treatment protocols for IGD. The I-PACE model is a theoretical framework that explains symptoms of Internet addiction by looking at interactions between predisposing factors, moderators, and mediators in combination with reduced executive functioning and diminished decision making. Finally, the paper discusses how current treatment protocols focusing on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Internet addiction (CBT-IA) fit with the processes hypothesized in the I-PACE model. PMID:29104555

Game-Theoretic Models of Information Overload in Social Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borgs, Christian; Chayes, Jennifer; Karrer, Brian; Meeder, Brendan; Ravi, R.; Reagans, Ray; Sayedi, Amin

We study the effect of information overload on user engagement in an asymmetric social network like Twitter. We introduce simple game-theoretic models that capture rate competition between celebrities producing updates in such networks where users non-strategically choose a subset of celebrities to follow based on the utility derived from high quality updates as well as disutility derived from having to wade through too many updates. Our two variants model the two behaviors of users dropping some potential connections (followership model) or leaving the network altogether (engagement model). We show that under a simple formulation of celebrity rate competition, there is no pure strategy Nash equilibrium under the first model. We then identify special cases in both models when pure rate equilibria exist for the celebrities: For the followership model, we show existence of a pure rate equilibrium when there is a global ranking of the celebrities in terms of the quality of their updates to users. This result also generalizes to the case when there is a partial order consistent with all the linear orders of the celebrities based on their qualities to the users. Furthermore, these equilibria can be computed in polynomial time. For the engagement model, pure rate equilibria exist when all users are interested in the same number of celebrities, or when they are interested in at most two. Finally, we also give a finite though inefficient procedure to determine if pure equilibria exist in the general case of the followership model.

A game theoretic model of drug launch in India.

PubMed

Bhaduri, Saradindu; Ray, Amit Shovon

2006-01-01

There is a popular belief that drug launch is delayed in developing countries like India because of delayed transfer of technology due to a 'post-launch' imitation threat through weak intellectual property rights (IPR). In fact, this belief has been a major reason for the imposition of the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights regime under the WTO. This construct undermines the fact that in countries like India, with high reverse engineering capabilities, imitation can occur even before the formal technology transfer, and fails to recognize the first mover advantage in pharmaceutical markets. This paper argues that the first mover advantage is important and will vary across therapeutic areas, especially in developing countries with diverse levels of patient enlightenment and quality awareness. We construct a game theoretic model of incomplete information to examine the delay in drug launch in terms of costs and benefits of first move, assumed to be primarily a function of the therapeutic area of the new drug. Our model shows that drug launch will be delayed only for external (infective/communicable) diseases, while drugs for internal, non-communicable diseases (accounting for the overwhelming majority of new drug discovery) will be launched without delay.

Game-theoretic equilibrium analysis applications to deregulated electricity markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joung, Manho

This dissertation examines game-theoretic equilibrium analysis applications to deregulated electricity markets. In particular, three specific applications are discussed: analyzing the competitive effects of ownership of financial transmission rights, developing a dynamic game model considering the ramp rate constraints of generators, and analyzing strategic behavior in electricity capacity markets. In the financial transmission right application, an investigation is made of how generators' ownership of financial transmission rights may influence the effects of the transmission lines on competition. In the second application, the ramp rate constraints of generators are explicitly modeled using a dynamic game framework, and the equilibrium is characterized as the Markov perfect equilibrium. Finally, the strategic behavior of market participants in electricity capacity markets is analyzed and it is shown that the market participants may exaggerate their available capacity in a Nash equilibrium. It is also shown that the more conservative the independent system operator's capacity procurement, the higher the risk of exaggerated capacity offers.

A Game-Theoretic Measure of Presence for Assessing Aircraft Carrier Options.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-10-01

AD-A121 599 A GAME -THEORETIC MEASURE 0F PRESENCE FOR ASSESSIN NO ANALYSES ALEXANDRIA VA PROGRAM ANALYR PRE P S IE O ESE UNCLASSIFED JH GPOTTE ET...1. REPORT MNUM 1 L GOVT ACCESRIM IM. REINT5 CPAALOG NUOGG 14. TITLE Cid ubMsj S. TYPE OF REPORT & PERIOD COVERED A Game -Theoretic Measure of...NOTES C Is. KEY wOrS (0mM. 0a No" f .a..eaup meM RSEI’ p eek ... l6t Game theory, Zero-sum games , Col Blotto games , aircraft carriers, alternative

Security Analysis of Selected AMI Failure Scenarios Using Agent Based Game Theoretic Simulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Abercrombie, Robert K; Schlicher, Bob G; Sheldon, Frederick T

Information security analysis can be performed using game theory implemented in dynamic Agent Based Game Theoretic (ABGT) simulations. Such simulations can be verified with the results from game theory analysis and further used to explore larger scale, real world scenarios involving multiple attackers, defenders, and information assets. We concentrated our analysis on the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) functional domain which the National Electric Sector Cyber security Organization Resource (NESCOR) working group has currently documented 29 failure scenarios. The strategy for the game was developed by analyzing five electric sector representative failure scenarios contained in the AMI functional domain. From thesemore » five selected scenarios, we characterize them into three specific threat categories affecting confidentiality, integrity and availability (CIA). The analysis using our ABGT simulation demonstrates how to model the AMI functional domain using a set of rationalized game theoretic rules decomposed from the failure scenarios in terms of how those scenarios might impact the AMI network with respect to CIA.« less

Intelligent cognitive radio jamming - a game-theoretical approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dabcevic, Kresimir; Betancourt, Alejandro; Marcenaro, Lucio; Regazzoni, Carlo S.

2014-12-01

Cognitive radio (CR) promises to be a solution for the spectrum underutilization problems. However, security issues pertaining to cognitive radio technology are still an understudied topic. One of the prevailing such issues are intelligent radio frequency (RF) jamming attacks, where adversaries are able to exploit on-the-fly reconfigurability potentials and learning mechanisms of cognitive radios in order to devise and deploy advanced jamming tactics. In this paper, we use a game-theoretical approach to analyze jamming/anti-jamming behavior between cognitive radio systems. A non-zero-sum game with incomplete information on an opponent's strategy and payoff is modelled as an extension of Markov decision process (MDP). Learning algorithms based on adaptive payoff play and fictitious play are considered. A combination of frequency hopping and power alteration is deployed as an anti-jamming scheme. A real-life software-defined radio (SDR) platform is used in order to perform measurements useful for quantifying the jamming impacts, as well as to infer relevant hardware-related properties. Results of these measurements are then used as parameters for the modelled jamming/anti-jamming game and are compared to the Nash equilibrium of the game. Simulation results indicate, among other, the benefit provided to the jammer when it is employed with the spectrum sensing algorithm in proactive frequency hopping and power alteration schemes.

Wireless Networks under a Backoff Attack: A Game Theoretical Perspective

PubMed Central

Zazo, Santiago

2018-01-01

We study a wireless sensor network using CSMA/CA in the MAC layer under a backoff attack: some of the sensors of the network are malicious and deviate from the defined contention mechanism. We use Bianchi’s network model to study the impact of the malicious sensors on the total network throughput, showing that it causes the throughput to be unfairly distributed among sensors. We model this conflict using game theory tools, where each sensor is a player. We obtain analytical solutions and propose an algorithm, based on Regret Matching, to learn the equilibrium of the game with an arbitrary number of players. Our approach is validated via simulations, showing that our theoretical predictions adjust to reality. PMID:29385752

Wireless Networks under a Backoff Attack: A Game Theoretical Perspective.

PubMed

Parras, Juan; Zazo, Santiago

2018-01-30

We study a wireless sensor network using CSMA/CA in the MAC layer under a backoff attack: some of the sensors of the network are malicious and deviate from the defined contention mechanism. We use Bianchi's network model to study the impact of the malicious sensors on the total network throughput, showing that it causes the throughput to be unfairly distributed among sensors. We model this conflict using game theory tools, where each sensor is a player. We obtain analytical solutions and propose an algorithm, based on Regret Matching, to learn the equilibrium of the game with an arbitrary number of players. Our approach is validated via simulations, showing that our theoretical predictions adjust to reality.

Game-theoretic homological sensor resource management for SSA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chin, Sang Peter

2009-05-01

We present a game-theoretic approach to Level 2/3/4 fusion for the purpose of Space Situational Awareness (SSA) along with prototypical SW implementation of this approach to demonstrate its effectiveness for possible future space operations. Our approach is based upon innovative techniques that we are developing to solve dynamic games and Nperson cooperative/non-cooperative games, as well as a new emerging homological sensing algorithms which we apply to control disparate network of space sensors in order to gain better SSA.

Game Theoretic Resolution of Water Conflicts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tyagi, H.; Gosain, A. K.; Khosa, R.

2017-12-01

Water disputes are of multi-disciplinary nature and involve an array of natural, hydrological,social, political and economic issues. Operations Research based decision making methodshave been found to facilitate mathematical analysis of such multifaceted problems thatconsist of multiple stakeholders and their conflicting objectives. Game Theoretic techniqueslike Metagame and Hypergame Analysis can provide a framework for conceptualizing waterconflicts and envisaging their potential solutions. In the present research, firstly a Metagamemodel has been developed to identify range of plausible equilibrium outcomes for resolvingconflicts pertaining to water apportionments in a transboundary watercourse. Further, it hasbeen observed that the contenders often hide their strategies from other players to getfavorable water allocations. Consequently, there are widespread misinterpretations about thetactics of the competitors and contenders have to formulate their strategies entirely based ontheir perception about others. Accordingly, a Hypergame study has also been conducted tomodel the probable misperceptions that may exist amongst the river riparians. Thus, thecurrent study assesses the efficacy of Game Theoretic techniques as possible redressalmechanism for water conflicts.

A Markov game theoretic data fusion approach for cyber situational awareness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Dan; Chen, Genshe; Cruz, Jose B., Jr.; Haynes, Leonard; Kruger, Martin; Blasch, Erik

2007-04-01

This paper proposes an innovative data-fusion/ data-mining game theoretic situation awareness and impact assessment approach for cyber network defense. Alerts generated by Intrusion Detection Sensors (IDSs) or Intrusion Prevention Sensors (IPSs) are fed into the data refinement (Level 0) and object assessment (L1) data fusion components. High-level situation/threat assessment (L2/L3) data fusion based on Markov game model and Hierarchical Entity Aggregation (HEA) are proposed to refine the primitive prediction generated by adaptive feature/pattern recognition and capture new unknown features. A Markov (Stochastic) game method is used to estimate the belief of each possible cyber attack pattern. Game theory captures the nature of cyber conflicts: determination of the attacking-force strategies is tightly coupled to determination of the defense-force strategies and vice versa. Also, Markov game theory deals with uncertainty and incompleteness of available information. A software tool is developed to demonstrate the performance of the high level information fusion for cyber network defense situation and a simulation example shows the enhanced understating of cyber-network defense.

Study of network resource allocation based on market and game theoretic mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yingmei; Wang, Hongwei; Wang, Gang

2004-04-01

We work on the network resource allocation issue concerning network management system function based on market-oriented mechanism. The scheme is to model the telecommunication network resources as trading goods in which the various network components could be owned by different competitive, real-world entities. This is a multidisciplinary framework concentrating on the similarity between resource allocation in network environment and the market mechanism in economic theory. By taking an economic (market-based and game theoretic) approach in routing of communication network, we study the dynamic behavior under game-theoretic framework in allocating network resources. Based on the prior work of Gibney and Jennings, we apply concepts of utility and fitness to the market mechanism with an intention to close the gap between experiment environment and real world situation.

Gaming Space: A Game-Theoretic Methodology for Assessing the Deterrent Value of Space Control Options

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-06-07

Gaming Space A Game-Theoretic Methodology for Assessing the Deterrent Value of Space Control Options C O R...in space. Adversaries have already employed non -kinetic OSC capabilities, such as Global Positioning System jammers, in recent conflicts, and they...as part of the project “Assessing the Deterrent Value of Defensive Space Control Options.” The purpose of the project was to develop a methodology

Game Theoretic Approaches to Protect Cyberspace

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-20

security problems. 3.1 Definitions Game A description of the strategic interaction between opposing, or co-operating, interests where the con ...that involves probabilistic transitions through several states of the system. The game pro - gresses as a sequence of states. The game begins with a...eventually leads to a discretized model. The reaction functions uniquely minimize the strictly con - vex cost functions. After discretization, this

Defense of Cyber Infrastructures Against Cyber-Physical Attacks Using Game-Theoretic Models

DOE PAGES

Rao, Nageswara S. V.; Poole, Stephen W.; Ma, Chris Y. T.; ...

2015-04-06

The operation of cyber infrastructures relies on both cyber and physical components, which are subject to incidental and intentional degradations of different kinds. Within the context of network and computing infrastructures, we study the strategic interactions between an attacker and a defender using game-theoretic models that take into account both cyber and physical components. The attacker and defender optimize their individual utilities expressed as sums of cost and system terms. First, we consider a Boolean attack-defense model, wherein the cyber and physical sub-infrastructures may be attacked and reinforced as individual units. Second, we consider a component attack-defense model wherein theirmore » components may be attacked and defended, and the infrastructure requires minimum numbers of both to function. We show that the Nash equilibrium under uniform costs in both cases is computable in polynomial time, and it provides high-level deterministic conditions for the infrastructure survival. When probabilities of successful attack and defense, and of incidental failures are incorporated into the models, the results favor the attacker but otherwise remain qualitatively similar. This approach has been motivated and validated by our experiences with UltraScience Net infrastructure, which was built to support high-performance network experiments. In conclusion, the analytical results, however, are more general, and we apply them to simplified models of cloud and high-performance computing infrastructures.« less

Defense of Cyber Infrastructures Against Cyber-Physical Attacks Using Game-Theoretic Models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rao, Nageswara S. V.; Poole, Stephen W.; Ma, Chris Y. T.

The operation of cyber infrastructures relies on both cyber and physical components, which are subject to incidental and intentional degradations of different kinds. Within the context of network and computing infrastructures, we study the strategic interactions between an attacker and a defender using game-theoretic models that take into account both cyber and physical components. The attacker and defender optimize their individual utilities expressed as sums of cost and system terms. First, we consider a Boolean attack-defense model, wherein the cyber and physical sub-infrastructures may be attacked and reinforced as individual units. Second, we consider a component attack-defense model wherein theirmore » components may be attacked and defended, and the infrastructure requires minimum numbers of both to function. We show that the Nash equilibrium under uniform costs in both cases is computable in polynomial time, and it provides high-level deterministic conditions for the infrastructure survival. When probabilities of successful attack and defense, and of incidental failures are incorporated into the models, the results favor the attacker but otherwise remain qualitatively similar. This approach has been motivated and validated by our experiences with UltraScience Net infrastructure, which was built to support high-performance network experiments. In conclusion, the analytical results, however, are more general, and we apply them to simplified models of cloud and high-performance computing infrastructures.« less

Defense of Cyber Infrastructures Against Cyber-Physical Attacks Using Game-Theoretic Models.

PubMed

Rao, Nageswara S V; Poole, Stephen W; Ma, Chris Y T; He, Fei; Zhuang, Jun; Yau, David K Y

2016-04-01

The operation of cyber infrastructures relies on both cyber and physical components, which are subject to incidental and intentional degradations of different kinds. Within the context of network and computing infrastructures, we study the strategic interactions between an attacker and a defender using game-theoretic models that take into account both cyber and physical components. The attacker and defender optimize their individual utilities, expressed as sums of cost and system terms. First, we consider a Boolean attack-defense model, wherein the cyber and physical subinfrastructures may be attacked and reinforced as individual units. Second, we consider a component attack-defense model wherein their components may be attacked and defended, and the infrastructure requires minimum numbers of both to function. We show that the Nash equilibrium under uniform costs in both cases is computable in polynomial time, and it provides high-level deterministic conditions for the infrastructure survival. When probabilities of successful attack and defense, and of incidental failures, are incorporated into the models, the results favor the attacker but otherwise remain qualitatively similar. This approach has been motivated and validated by our experiences with UltraScience Net infrastructure, which was built to support high-performance network experiments. The analytical results, however, are more general, and we apply them to simplified models of cloud and high-performance computing infrastructures. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

Game Theoretic Approach to Post-Docked Satellite Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hiramatsu, Takashi; Fitz-Coy, Norman G.

2007-01-01

This paper studies the interaction between two satellites after docking. In order to maintain the docked state with uncertainty in the motion of the target vehicle, a game theoretic controller with Stackelberg strategy to minimize the interaction between the satellites is considered. The small perturbation approximation leads to LQ differential game scheme, which is validated to address the docking interactions between a service vehicle and a target vehicle. The open-loop solution are compared with Nash strategy, and it is shown that less control efforts are obtained with Stackelberg strategy.

A Game Theoretic Approach for Balancing Energy Consumption in Clustered Wireless Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Yang, Liu; Lu, Yinzhi; Xiong, Lian; Tao, Yang; Zhong, Yuanchang

2017-11-17

Clustering is an effective topology control method in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), since it can enhance the network lifetime and scalability. To prolong the network lifetime in clustered WSNs, an efficient cluster head (CH) optimization policy is essential to distribute the energy among sensor nodes. Recently, game theory has been introduced to model clustering. Each sensor node is considered as a rational and selfish player which will play a clustering game with an equilibrium strategy. Then it decides whether to act as the CH according to this strategy for a tradeoff between providing required services and energy conservation. However, how to get the equilibrium strategy while maximizing the payoff of sensor nodes has rarely been addressed to date. In this paper, we present a game theoretic approach for balancing energy consumption in clustered WSNs. With our novel payoff function, realistic sensor behaviors can be captured well. The energy heterogeneity of nodes is considered by incorporating a penalty mechanism in the payoff function, so the nodes with more energy will compete for CHs more actively. We have obtained the Nash equilibrium (NE) strategy of the clustering game through convex optimization. Specifically, each sensor node can achieve its own maximal payoff when it makes the decision according to this strategy. Through plenty of simulations, our proposed game theoretic clustering is proved to have a good energy balancing performance and consequently the network lifetime is greatly enhanced.

A Game Theoretic Approach for Balancing Energy Consumption in Clustered Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Lu, Yinzhi; Xiong, Lian; Tao, Yang; Zhong, Yuanchang

2017-01-01

Clustering is an effective topology control method in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), since it can enhance the network lifetime and scalability. To prolong the network lifetime in clustered WSNs, an efficient cluster head (CH) optimization policy is essential to distribute the energy among sensor nodes. Recently, game theory has been introduced to model clustering. Each sensor node is considered as a rational and selfish player which will play a clustering game with an equilibrium strategy. Then it decides whether to act as the CH according to this strategy for a tradeoff between providing required services and energy conservation. However, how to get the equilibrium strategy while maximizing the payoff of sensor nodes has rarely been addressed to date. In this paper, we present a game theoretic approach for balancing energy consumption in clustered WSNs. With our novel payoff function, realistic sensor behaviors can be captured well. The energy heterogeneity of nodes is considered by incorporating a penalty mechanism in the payoff function, so the nodes with more energy will compete for CHs more actively. We have obtained the Nash equilibrium (NE) strategy of the clustering game through convex optimization. Specifically, each sensor node can achieve its own maximal payoff when it makes the decision according to this strategy. Through plenty of simulations, our proposed game theoretic clustering is proved to have a good energy balancing performance and consequently the network lifetime is greatly enhanced. PMID:29149075

An orbital emulator for pursuit-evasion game theoretic sensor management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Dan; Wang, Tao; Wang, Gang; Jia, Bin; Wang, Zhonghai; Chen, Genshe; Blasch, Erik; Pham, Khanh

2017-05-01

This paper develops and evaluates an orbital emulator (OE) for space situational awareness (SSA). The OE can produce 3D satellite movements using capabilities generated from omni-wheeled robot and robotic arm motion methods. The 3D motion of a satellite is partitioned into the movements in the equatorial plane and the up-down motions in the vertical plane. The 3D actions are emulated by omni-wheeled robot models while the up-down motions are performed by a stepped-motor-controlled-ball along a rod (robotic arm), which is attached to the robot. For multiple satellites, a fast map-merging algorithm is integrated into the robot operating system (ROS) and simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) routines to locate the multiple robots in the scene. The OE is used to demonstrate a pursuit-evasion (PE) game theoretic sensor management algorithm, which models conflicts between a space-based-visible (SBV) satellite (as pursuer) and a geosynchronous (GEO) satellite (as evader). The cost function of the PE game is based on the informational entropy of the SBV-tracking-GEO scenario. GEO can maneuver using a continuous and low thruster. The hard-in-loop space emulator visually illustrates the SSA problem solution based PE game.

Domino effects within a chemical cluster: a game-theoretical modeling approach by using Nash-equilibrium.

PubMed

Reniers, Genserik; Dullaert, Wout; Karel, Soudan

2009-08-15

Every company situated within a chemical cluster faces domino effect risks, whose magnitude depends on every company's own risk management strategies and on those of all others. Preventing domino effects is therefore very important to avoid catastrophes in the chemical process industry. Given that chemical companies are interlinked by domino effect accident links, there is some likelihood that even if certain companies fully invest in domino effects prevention measures, they can nonetheless experience an external domino effect caused by an accident which occurred in another chemical enterprise of the cluster. In this article a game-theoretic approach to interpret and model behaviour of chemical plants within chemical clusters while negotiating and deciding on domino effects prevention investments is employed.

Nanoscale molecular communication networks: a game-theoretic perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Chunxiao; Chen, Yan; Ray Liu, K. J.

2015-12-01

Currently, communication between nanomachines is an important topic for the development of novel devices. To implement a nanocommunication system, diffusion-based molecular communication is considered as a promising bio-inspired approach. Various technical issues about molecular communications, including channel capacity, noise and interference, and modulation and coding, have been studied in the literature, while the resource allocation problem among multiple nanomachines has not been well investigated, which is a very important issue since all the nanomachines share the same propagation medium. Considering the limited computation capability of nanomachines and the expensive information exchange cost among them, in this paper, we propose a game-theoretic framework for distributed resource allocation in nanoscale molecular communication systems. We first analyze the inter-symbol and inter-user interference, as well as bit error rate performance, in the molecular communication system. Based on the interference analysis, we formulate the resource allocation problem as a non-cooperative molecule emission control game, where the Nash equilibrium is found and proved to be unique. In order to improve the system efficiency while guaranteeing fairness, we further model the resource allocation problem using a cooperative game based on the Nash bargaining solution, which is proved to be proportionally fair. Simulation results show that the Nash bargaining solution can effectively ensure fairness among multiple nanomachines while achieving comparable social welfare performance with the centralized scheme.

Designing an optimal software intensive system acquisition: A game theoretic approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buettner, Douglas John

The development of schedule-constrained software-intensive space systems is challenging. Case study data from national security space programs developed at the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (USAF SMC) provide evidence of the strong desire by contractors to skip or severely reduce software development design and early defect detection methods in these schedule-constrained environments. The research findings suggest recommendations to fully address these issues at numerous levels. However, the observations lead us to investigate modeling and theoretical methods to fundamentally understand what motivated this behavior in the first place. As a result, Madachy's inspection-based system dynamics model is modified to include unit testing and an integration test feedback loop. This Modified Madachy Model (MMM) is used as a tool to investigate the consequences of this behavior on the observed defect dynamics for two remarkably different case study software projects. Latin Hypercube sampling of the MMM with sample distributions for quality, schedule and cost-driven strategies demonstrate that the higher cost and effort quality-driven strategies provide consistently better schedule performance than the schedule-driven up-front effort-reduction strategies. Game theory reasoning for schedule-driven engineers cutting corners on inspections and unit testing is based on the case study evidence and Austin's agency model to describe the observed phenomena. Game theory concepts are then used to argue that the source of the problem and hence the solution to developers cutting corners on quality for schedule-driven system acquisitions ultimately lies with the government. The game theory arguments also lead to the suggestion that the use of a multi-player dynamic Nash bargaining game provides a solution for our observed lack of quality game between the government (the acquirer) and "large-corporation" software developers. A note is provided that argues this multi

A Computer-Assisted Learning Model Based on the Digital Game Exponential Reward System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moon, Man-Ki; Jahng, Surng-Gahb; Kim, Tae-Yong

2011-01-01

The aim of this research was to construct a motivational model which would stimulate voluntary and proactive learning using digital game methods offering players more freedom and control. The theoretical framework of this research lays the foundation for a pedagogical learning model based on digital games. We analyzed the game reward system, which…

Computing Game-Theoretic Solutions for Security in the Medium Term

DTIC Science & Technology

This project concerns the design of algorithms for computing game- theoretic solutions . (Game theory concerns how to act in a strategically optimal...way in environments with other agents who also seek to act optimally but have different , and possibly opposite, interests .) Such algorithms have...recently found application in a number of real-world security applications, including among others airport security, scheduling Federal Air Marshals, and

A Game-Theoretic Approach to Information-Flow Control via Protocol Composition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alvim, Mário; Chatzikokolakis, Konstantinos; Kawamoto, Yusuke; Palamidessi, Catuscia

2018-05-01

In the inference attacks studied in Quantitative Information Flow (QIF), the attacker typically tries to interfere with the system in the attempt to increase its leakage of secret information. The defender, on the other hand, typically tries to decrease leakage by introducing some controlled noise. This noise introduction can be modeled as a type of protocol composition, i.e., a probabilistic choice among different protocols, and its effect on the amount of leakage depends heavily on whether or not this choice is visible to the attacker. In this work, we consider operators for modeling visible and hidden choice in protocol composition, and we study their algebraic properties. We then formalize the interplay between defender and attacker in a game-theoretic framework adapted to the specific issues of QIF, where the payoff is information leakage. We consider various kinds of leakage games, depending on whether players act simultaneously or sequentially, and on whether or not the choices of the defender are visible to the attacker. In the case of sequential games, the choice of the second player is generally a function of the choice of the first player, and his/her probabilistic choice can be either over the possible functions (mixed strategy) or it can be on the result of the function (behavioral strategy). We show that when the attacker moves first in a sequential game with a hidden choice, then behavioral strategies are more advantageous for the defender than mixed strategies. This contrasts with the standard game theory, where the two types of strategies are equivalent. Finally, we establish a hierarchy of these games in terms of their information leakage and provide methods for finding optimal strategies (at the points of equilibrium) for both attacker and defender in the various cases.

Game dynamic model for yeast development.

PubMed

Huang, Yuanyuan; Wu, Zhijun

2012-07-01

Game theoretic models, along with replicator equations, have been applied successfully to the study of evolution of populations of competing species, including the growth of a population, the reaching of the population to an equilibrium state, and the evolutionary stability of the state. In this paper, we analyze a game model proposed by Gore et al. (Nature 456:253-256, 2009) in their recent study on the co-development of two mixed yeast strains. We examine the mathematical properties of this model with varying experimental parameters. We simulate the growths of the yeast strains and compare them with the experimental results. We also compute and analyze the equilibrium state of the system and prove that it is asymptotically and evolutionarily stable.

A game-theoretic approach to donor kidney sharing.

PubMed

O'Brien, B J

1988-01-01

Graft survival in renal transplantation is a function, amongst other things, of the degree of histocompatibility lymphocyte-A (HLA) tissue matching achieved between donor and recipient. Yet a donor procured at centre A might match a transplant candidate at centre B and vice versa. This raises the question of whether, and under what circumstances, surgeons will offer and exchange donor kidneys and gain from such trade in terms of graft survival. We analyse the problem in a game-theoretic framework where the choice of strategy 'to offer or not?' is evaluated in the context of the uncertainty of reciprocation by the other player(s) in the game. The equilibrium solution to a number of variations of the game is predicted to be non-cooperation resulting in collectively sub-optimal graft survival rates. Some policy options for improving cooperation are considered including exchange incentives and coercive measures.

Game Theoretical Analysis on Cooperation Stability and Incentive Effectiveness in Community Networks.

PubMed

Song, Kaida; Wang, Rui; Liu, Yi; Qian, Depei; Zhang, Han; Cai, Jihong

2015-01-01

Community networks, the distinguishing feature of which is membership admittance, appear on P2P networks, social networks, and conventional Web networks. Joining the network costs money, time or network bandwidth, but the individuals get access to special resources owned by the community in return. The prosperity and stability of the community are determined by both the policy of admittance and the attraction of the privileges gained by joining. However, some misbehaving users can get the dedicated resources with some illicit and low-cost approaches, which introduce instability into the community, a phenomenon that will destroy the membership policy. In this paper, we analyze on the stability using game theory on such a phenomenon. We propose a game-theoretical model of stability analysis in community networks and provide conditions for a stable community. We then extend the model to analyze the effectiveness of different incentive policies, which could be used when the community cannot maintain its members in certain situations. Then we verify those models through a simulation. Finally, we discuss several ways to promote community network's stability by adjusting the network's properties and give some proposal on the designs of these types of networks from the points of game theory and stability.

Outperforming Game Theoretic Play with Opponent Modeling in Two Player Dominoes

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-27

36 III. Methodology Introduction This chapter describes the methodology of how a dominoes artificial intelligence agent employs...Applying this concept to a partially observable game means that both players will have to model each other and have some intelligence of the board...

A game theoretic controller for a linear time-invariant system with parameter uncertainty and its application to the Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rhee, Ihnseok; Speyer, Jason L.

1990-01-01

A game theoretic controller is developed for a linear time-invariant system with parameter uncertainties in system and input matrices. The input-output decomposition modeling for the plant uncertainty is adopted. The uncertain dynamic system is represented as an internal feedback loop in which the system is assumed forced by fictitious disturbance caused by the parameter uncertainty. By considering the input and the fictitious disturbance as two noncooperative players, a differential game problem is constructed. It is shown that the resulting time invariant controller stabilizes the uncertain system for a prescribed uncertainty bound. This game theoretic controller is applied to the momentum management and attitude control of the Space Station in the presence of uncertainties in the moments of inertia. Inclusion of the external disturbance torque to the design procedure results in a dynamical feedback controller which consists of conventional PID control and cyclic disturbance rejection filter. It is shown that the game theoretic design, comparing to the LQR design or pole placement design, improves the stability robustness with respect to inertia variations.

The impact of competition on elephant musth strategies: A game-theoretic model.

PubMed

Wyse, J Max; Hardy, Ian C W; Yon, Lisa; Mesterton-Gibbons, Mike

2017-03-21

Mature male African Savannah elephants are known to periodically enter a temporary state of heightened aggression called "musth", often linked with increased androgens, particularly testosterone. Sexually mature males are capable of entering musth at any time of year, and will often travel long distances to find estrous females. When two musth bulls or two non-musth bulls encounter one another, the agonistic interaction is usually won by the larger male. However, when a smaller musth bull encounters a larger non-musth bull, the smaller musth male can win. The relative mating success of musth males is due partly to this fighting advantage, and partly to estrous females' general preference for musth males. Though musth behavior has long been observed and documented, the evolutionary advantages of musth remain poorly understood. Here we develop a game-theoretic model of male musth behavior which assumes musth duration as a parameter, and distributions of small, medium and large musth males are predicted in both time and space. The predicted results are similar to the musth timing behavior observed in the Amboseli National Park elephant population, and further results are generated with relevance to Samburu National Park. We discuss small male musth behavior, the effects of estrous female spatial heterogeneity on musth timing, conservation applications, and the assumptions underpinning the model. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling Cyber Physical War Gaming

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-08-07

and benefits of the cyber war game vary depending on the goals of the organization. These goals may include identifying hidden vulnerabilities...example. This is a generalized case of our game -theoretic framework described in Section 2.1. Although the defender costs are not dependent on the...

Game-theoretic approach to joint transmitter adaptation and power control in wireless systems.

PubMed

Popescu, Dimitrie C; Rawat, Danda B; Popescu, Otilia; Saquib, Mohamad

2010-06-01

Game theory has emerged as a new mathematical tool in the analysis and design of wireless communication systems, being particularly useful in studying the interactions among adaptive transmitters that attempt to achieve specific objectives without cooperation. In this paper, we present a game-theoretic approach to the problem of joint transmitter adaptation and power control in wireless systems, where users' transmissions are subject to quality-of-service requirements specified in terms of target signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratios (SINRs) and nonideal vector channels between transmitters and receivers are explicitly considered. Our approach is based on application of separable games, which are a specific class of noncooperative games where the players' cost is a separable function of their strategic choices. We formally state a joint codeword and power adaptation game, which is separable, and we study its properties in terms of its subgames, namely, the codeword adaptation subgame and the power adaptation subgame. We investigate the necessary conditions for an optimal Nash equilibrium and show that this corresponds to an ensemble of user codewords and powers, which maximizes the sum capacity of the corresponding multiaccess vector channel model, and for which the specified target SINRs are achieved with minimum transmitted power.

An experiential, game-theoretic pedagogy for sustainability ethics.

PubMed

Sadowski, Jathan; Seager, Thomas P; Selinger, Evan; Spierre, Susan G; Whyte, Kyle P

2013-09-01

The wicked problems that constitute sustainability require students to learn a different set of ethical skills than is ordinarily required by professional ethics. The focus for sustainability ethics must be redirected towards: (1) reasoning rather than rules, and (2) groups rather than individuals. This need for a different skill set presents several pedagogical challenges to traditional programs of ethics education that emphasize abstraction and reflection at the expense of experimentation and experience. This paper describes a novel pedagogy of sustainability ethics that is based on noncooperative, game-theoretic problems that cause students to confront two salient questions: "What are my obligations to others?" and "What am I willing to risk in my own well-being to meet those obligations?" In comparison to traditional professional ethics education, the game-based pedagogy moves the learning experience from: passive to active, apathetic to emotionally invested, narratively closed to experimentally open, and from predictable to surprising. In the context of game play, where players must make decisions that can adversely impact classmates, students typically discover a significant gap between their moral aspirations and their moral actions. When the games are delivered sequentially as part of a full course in Sustainability Ethics, students may experience a moral identity crisis as they reflect upon the incongruity of their self-understanding and their behavior. Repeated play allows students to reconcile this discrepancy through group deliberation that coordinates individual decisions to achieve collective outcomes. It is our experience that students gradually progress through increased levels of group tacit knowledge as they encounter increasingly complex game situations.

A comparison of naïve and sophisticated subject behavior with game theoretic predictions

PubMed Central

McCabe, Kevin A.; Smith, Vernon L.

2000-01-01

We use an extensive form two-person game as the basis for two experiments designed to compare the behavior of two groups of subjects with each other and with the subgame perfect theoretical prediction in an anonymous interaction protocol. The two subject groups are undergraduates and advanced graduate students, the latter having studied economics and game theory. There is no difference in their choice behavior, and both groups depart substantially from game theoretic predictions. We also compare a subsample of the same graduate students with a typical undergraduate sample in an asset trading environment in which inexperienced undergraduates invariably produce substantial departures from the rational expectations prediction. In this way, we examine how robust are the results across two distinct anonymous interactive environments. In the constant sum trading game, the graduate students closely track the predictions of rational theory. Our interpretation is that the graduate student subjects' departure from subgame perfection to achieve cooperative outcomes in the two-person bargaining game is a consequence of a deliberate strategy and is not the result of error or inadequate learning. PMID:10725349

Linear game non-contextuality and Bell inequalities—a graph-theoretic approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosicka, M.; Ramanathan, R.; Gnaciński, P.; Horodecki, K.; Horodecki, M.; Horodecki, P.; Severini, S.

2016-04-01

We study the classical and quantum values of a class of one- and two-party unique games, that generalizes the well-known XOR games to the case of non-binary outcomes. In the bipartite case the generalized XOR (XOR-d) games we study are a subclass of the well-known linear games. We introduce a ‘constraint graph’ associated to such a game, with the constraints defining the game represented by an edge-coloring of the graph. We use the graph-theoretic characterization to relate the task of finding equivalent games to the notion of signed graphs and switching equivalence from graph theory. We relate the problem of computing the classical value of single-party anti-correlation XOR games to finding the edge bipartization number of a graph, which is known to be MaxSNP hard, and connect the computation of the classical value of XOR-d games to the identification of specific cycles in the graph. We construct an orthogonality graph of the game from the constraint graph and study its Lovász theta number as a general upper bound on the quantum value even in the case of single-party contextual XOR-d games. XOR-d games possess appealing properties for use in device-independent applications such as randomness of the local correlated outcomes in the optimal quantum strategy. We study the possibility of obtaining quantum algebraic violation of these games, and show that no finite XOR-d game possesses the property of pseudo-telepathy leaving the frequently used chained Bell inequalities as the natural candidates for such applications. We also show this lack of pseudo-telepathy for multi-party XOR-type inequalities involving two-body correlation functions.

Game theory and plant ecology.

PubMed

McNickle, Gordon G; Dybzinski, Ray

2013-04-01

The fixed and plastic traits possessed by a plant, which may be collectively thought of as its strategy, are commonly modelled as density-independent adaptations to its environment. However, plant strategies may also represent density- or frequency-dependent adaptations to the strategies used by neighbours. Game theory provides the tools to characterise such density- and frequency-dependent interactions. Here, we review the contributions of game theory to plant ecology. After briefly reviewing game theory from the perspective of plant ecology, we divide our review into three sections. First, game theoretical models of allocation to shoots and roots often predict investment in those organs beyond what would be optimal in the absence of competition. Second, game theoretical models of enemy defence suggest that an individual's investment in defence is not only a means of reducing its own tissue damage but also a means of deflecting enemies onto competitors. Finally, game theoretical models of trade with mutualistic partners suggest that the optimal trade may reflect competition for access to mutualistic partners among plants. In short, our review provides an accessible entrance to game theory that will help plant ecologists enrich their research with its worldview and existing predictions. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

Formation of Virtual Organizations in Grids: A Game-Theoretic Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carroll, Thomas E.; Grosu, Daniel

The execution of large scale grid applications requires the use of several computational resources owned by various Grid Service Providers (GSPs). GSPs must form Virtual Organizations (VOs) to be able to provide the composite resource to these applications. We consider grids as self-organizing systems composed of autonomous, self-interested GSPs that will organize themselves into VOs with every GSP having the objective of maximizing its profit. We formulate the resource composition among GSPs as a coalition formation problem and propose a game-theoretic framework based on cooperation structures to model it. Using this framework, we design a resource management system that supports the VO formation among GSPs in a grid computing system.

A Game Theoretic Optimization Method for Energy Efficient Global Connectivity in Hybrid Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Lee, JongHyup; Pak, Dohyun

2016-01-01

For practical deployment of wireless sensor networks (WSN), WSNs construct clusters, where a sensor node communicates with other nodes in its cluster, and a cluster head support connectivity between the sensor nodes and a sink node. In hybrid WSNs, cluster heads have cellular network interfaces for global connectivity. However, when WSNs are active and the load of cellular networks is high, the optimal assignment of cluster heads to base stations becomes critical. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a game theoretic model to find the optimal assignment of base stations for hybrid WSNs. Since the communication and energy cost is different according to cellular systems, we devise two game models for TDMA/FDMA and CDMA systems employing power prices to adapt to the varying efficiency of recent wireless technologies. The proposed model is defined on the assumptions of the ideal sensing field, but our evaluation shows that the proposed model is more adaptive and energy efficient than local selections. PMID:27589743

A game-theoretic method for cross-layer stochastic resilient control design in CPS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Jiajun; Feng, Dongqin

2018-03-01

In this paper, the cross-layer security problem of cyber-physical system (CPS) is investigated from the game-theoretic perspective. Physical dynamics of plant is captured by stochastic differential game with cyber-physical influence being considered. The sufficient and necessary condition for the existence of state-feedback equilibrium strategies is given. The attack-defence cyber interactions are formulated by a Stackelberg game intertwined with stochastic differential game in physical layer. The condition such that the Stackelberg equilibrium being unique and the corresponding analytical solutions are both provided. An algorithm is proposed for obtaining hierarchical security strategy by solving coupled games, which ensures the operational normalcy and cyber security of CPS subject to uncertain disturbance and unexpected cyberattacks. Simulation results are given to show the effectiveness and performance of the proposed algorithm.

The game as strategy for approach to sexuality with adolescents: theoretical-methodological reflections.

PubMed

Souza, Vânia de; Gazzinelli, Maria Flávia; Soares, Amanda Nathale; Fernandes, Marconi Moura; Oliveira, Rebeca Nunes Guedes de; Fonseca, Rosa Maria Godoy Serpa da

2017-04-01

To describe the Papo Reto [Straight Talk] game and reflect on its theoretical-methodological basis. Analytical study on the process of elaboration of the Papo Reto online game, destined to adolescents aged 15-18 years, with access to the Game between 2014 and 2015. the interactions of 60 adolescents from Belo Horizonte and São Paulo constituted examples of the potentialities of the Game to favor the approach to sexuality with adolescents through simulation of reality, invention and interaction. Based on those potentialities, four thinking categories were discussed: the game as pedagogic device; the game as simulation of realities; the game as device for inventive learning; and the game empowering the interaction. By permitting that the adolescents take risks on new ways, the Game allows them to become creative and active in the production of senses, in the creation of their discourses and in the ways of thinking, feeling and acting in the sexuality field.

A game theoretic approach to a finite-time disturbance attenuation problem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rhee, Ihnseok; Speyer, Jason L.

1991-01-01

A disturbance attenuation problem over a finite-time interval is considered by a game theoretic approach where the control, restricted to a function of the measurement history, plays against adversaries composed of the process and measurement disturbances, and the initial state. A zero-sum game, formulated as a quadratic cost criterion subject to linear time-varying dynamics and measurements, is solved by a calculus of variation technique. By first maximizing the quadratic cost criterion with respect to the process disturbance and initial state, a full information game between the control and the measurement residual subject to the estimator dynamics results. The resulting solution produces an n-dimensional compensator which expresses the controller as a linear combination of the measurement history. A disturbance attenuation problem is solved based on the results of the game problem. For time-invariant systems it is shown that under certain conditions the time-varying controller becomes time-invariant on the infinite-time interval. The resulting controller satisfies an H(infinity) norm bound.

Game-theoretic cooperativity in networks of self-interested units

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barto, Andrew G.

1986-08-01

The behavior of theoretical neural networks is often described in terms of competition and cooperation. I present an approach to network learning that is related to game and team problems in which competition and cooperation have more technical meanings. I briefly describe the application of stochastic learning automata to game and team problems and then present an adaptive element that is a synthesis of aspects of stochastic learning automata and typical neuron-like adaptive elements. These elements act as self-interested agents that work toward improving their performance with respect to their individual preference orderings. Networks of these elements can solve a variety of team decision problems, some of which take the form of layered networks in which the ``hidden units'' become appropriate functional components as they attempt to improve their own payoffs.

By-product mutualism and the ambiguous effects of harsher environments - A game-theoretic model.

PubMed

De Jaegher, Kris; Hoyer, Britta

2016-03-21

We construct two-player two-strategy game-theoretic models of by-product mutualism, where our focus lies on the way in which the probability of cooperation among players is affected by the degree of adversity facing the players. In our first model, cooperation consists of the production of a public good, and adversity is linked to the degree of complementarity of the players׳ efforts in producing the public good. In our second model, cooperation consists of the defense of a public, and/or a private good with by-product benefits, and adversity is measured by the number of random attacks (e.g., by a predator) facing the players. In both of these models, our analysis confirms the existence of the so-called boomerang effect, which states that in a harsh environment, the individual player has few incentives to unilaterally defect in a situation of joint cooperation. Focusing on such an effect in isolation leads to the "common-enemy" hypothesis that a larger degree of adversity increases the probability of cooperation. Yet, we also find that a sucker effect may simultaneously exist, which says that in a harsh environment, the individual player has few incentives to unilaterally cooperate in a situation of joint defection. Looked at in isolation, the sucker effect leads to the competing hypothesis that a larger degree of adversity decreases the probability of cooperation. Our analysis predicts circumstances in which the "common enemy" hypothesis prevails, and circumstances in which the competing hypothesis prevails. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measuring user experience in digital gaming: theoretical and methodological issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takatalo, Jari; Häkkinen, Jukka; Kaistinen, Jyrki; Nyman, Göte

2007-01-01

There are innumerable concepts, terms and definitions for user experience. Few of them have a solid empirical foundation. In trying to understand user experience in interactive technologies such as computer games and virtual environments, reliable and valid concepts are needed for measuring relevant user reactions and experiences. Here we present our approach to create both theoretically and methodologically sound methods for quantification of the rich user experience in different digital environments. Our approach is based on the idea that the experience received from a content presented with a specific technology is always a result of a complex psychological interpretation process, which components should be understood. The main aim of our approach is to grasp the complex and multivariate nature of the experience and make it measurable. We will present our two basic measurement frameworks, which have been developed and tested in large data set (n=2182). The 15 measurement scales extracted from these models are applied to digital gaming with a head-mounted display and a table-top display. The results show how it is possible to map between experience, technology variables and the background of the user (e.g., gender). This approach can help to optimize, for example, the contents for specific viewing devices or viewing situations.

Accession Gaming Model (AGAM).

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-08-01

k D-A009 160 NAVY PERSONNEL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER SAN 0--ETC F/6 5/9 ACCESSION GAMING MODEL (AGAM).(U) UA 80 A WHISNAN, Y YEN, M...RECIPIENT’SCATALOG NUMBER NPRDC-TR_8 - vA - c I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *:TITLE (and Suabitle) S. TYPE OF REPORT& PERIOD COVERED /ACCESSION GAMING MODEL (AG AM) ’C Final FY79 S...billet, trained personnel, and untrained personnel requirements, and the development of an Accession Gaming Model (AGAM), an optimization model that

Games and Diabetes: A Review Investigating Theoretical Frameworks, Evaluation Methodologies, and Opportunities for Design Grounded in Learning Theories.

PubMed

Lazem, Shaimaa; Webster, Mary; Holmes, Wayne; Wolf, Motje

2015-09-02

Here we review 18 articles that describe the design and evaluation of 1 or more games for diabetes from technical, methodological, and theoretical perspectives. We undertook searches covering the period 2010 to May 2015 in the ACM, IEEE, Journal of Medical Internet Research, Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, and Google Scholar online databases using the keywords "children," "computer games," "diabetes," "games," "type 1," and "type 2" in various Boolean combinations. The review sets out to establish, for future research, an understanding of the current landscape of digital games designed for children with diabetes. We briefly explored the use and impact of well-established learning theories in such games. The most frequently mentioned theoretical frameworks were social cognitive theory and social constructivism. Due to the limitations of the reported evaluation methodologies, little evidence was found to support the strong promise of games for diabetes. Furthermore, we could not establish a relation between design features and the game outcomes. We argue that an in-depth discussion about the extent to which learning theories could and should be manifested in the design decisions is required. © 2015 Diabetes Technology Society.

A Theoretical Framework for Serious Game Design: Exploring Pedagogy, Play and Fidelity and Their Implications for the Design Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rooney, Pauline

2012-01-01

It is widely acknowledged that digital games can provide an engaging, motivating and "fun" experience for students. However an entertaining game does not necessarily constitute a meaningful, valuable learning experience. For this reason, experts espouse the importance of underpinning serious games with a sound theoretical framework which…

Game Maturity Model for Health Care.

PubMed

de Boer, Jan C; Adriani, Paul; van Houwelingen, Jan Willem; Geerts, A

2016-04-01

This article introduces the Game Maturity Model for the healthcare industry as an extension to the general Game Maturity Model and describes the usage by two case studies of applied health games. The Game Maturity Model for healthcare provides a practical and value-adding method to assess existing games and to determine strategic considerations for application of applied health games. Our forecast is that within 5 years the use and development of applied games will have a role in our daily lives and the way we organize health care that will be similar to the role social media has today.

Foundations of Game-Based Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plass, Jan L.; Homer, Bruce D.; Kinzer, Charles K.

2015-01-01

In this article we argue that to study or apply games as learning environments, multiple perspectives have to be taken into account. We first define game-based learning and gamification, and then discuss theoretical models that describe learning with games, arguing that playfulness is orthogonal to learning theory. We then review design elements…

Dynamic Stackelberg game model for water rationalization in drought emergency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kicsiny, R.; Piscopo, V.; Scarelli, A.; Varga, Z.

2014-09-01

In water resource management, in case of a limited resource, there is a conflict situation between different consumers. In this paper, a dynamic game-theoretical model is suggested for the solution of such conflict. Let us suppose that in a region, water supply is based on a given aquifer, from which a quantity of effective reserve can be used without damaging the aquifer, and a long drought is foreseen. The use of water is divided between the social sector represented by the local authority, and the production sector, in our case, simplified to a single agricultural producer using water for irrigation; they are the players in the game. For a fixed time period, every day, a given amount is available, from which first the authority, then the producer takes a proportion, which corresponds to the strategy choices of the players. A price function is given, which depends on the total available reserve, the payoffs of both players are quantified as their net incomes for the whole period: for the producer: profit from selling the product minus price of water and tax paid, for the authority: tax received plus the gain for the authority from selling the water bought to the social sector minus price of water purchased. A solution (equilibrium) of the game consists of such strategy choices of both players, with which each player maximizes her/his total payoff (over the whole time horizon of the game) provided that the other player also maximizes her/his own payoff. In the paper, in a mathematical model for the above conflict situation, a deterministic continuum-strategy two-player discrete-time dynamic Stackelberg game with fixed finite time duration and closed-loop information structure is proposed, where the authority is “leader” and the producer is “follower”. The algorithms for the solution of the game are based on recent theoretical results of the authors. Illustrative numerical examples are also given.

A Model for Critical Games Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Apperley, Tom; Beavis, Catherine

2013-01-01

This article outlines a model for teaching both computer games and videogames in the classroom for teachers. The model illustrates the connections between in-game actions and youth gaming culture. The article explains how the out-of-school knowledge building, creation and collaboration that occurs in gaming and gaming culture has an impact on…

Combination of real options and game-theoretic approach in investment analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arasteh, Abdollah

2016-09-01

Investments in technology create a large amount of capital investments by major companies. Assessing such investment projects is identified as critical to the efficient assignment of resources. Viewing investment projects as real options, this paper expands a method for assessing technology investment decisions in the linkage existence of uncertainty and competition. It combines the game-theoretic models of strategic market interactions with a real options approach. Several key characteristics underlie the model. First, our study shows how investment strategies rely on competitive interactions. Under the force of competition, firms hurry to exercise their options early. The resulting "hurry equilibrium" destroys the option value of waiting and involves violent investment behavior. Second, we get best investment policies and critical investment entrances. This suggests that integrating will be unavoidable in some information product markets. The model creates some new intuitions into the forces that shape market behavior as noticed in the information technology industry. It can be used to specify best investment policies for technology innovations and adoptions, multistage R&D, and investment projects in information technology.

A cognitive-behavioral model of Internet gaming disorder: theoretical underpinnings and clinical implications.

PubMed

Dong, Guangheng; Potenza, Marc N

2014-11-01

Cognitive contributions to the behaviors observed in substance and non-substance addictions have been investigated and characterized. Based on models of drug addictions and the extant literature on Internet gaming disorder (IGD), we propose a cognitive-behavioral model for conceptualizing IGD. The model focuses on three domains and their roles in addictive behaviors. The three domains include motivational drives related to reward-seeking and stress-reduction, behavioral control relating to executive inhibition, and decision-making that involves weighing the pros and cons of engaging in motivated behaviors. Based on this model, we propose how behavioral therapies might target these domains in the treatment of IGD. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Game theoretical framework in determining house prices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saiddin, Nor Syuhadah; Zaibidi, Nerda Zura; Sulaiman, Nor Intan Saniah; Abidin, Norhaslinda Zainal

2017-11-01

Housing is a vital component in world's economic development as it provides big contribution of the wealth. The issue of high house prices, worrying several parties, especially middle income buyers in Malaysia. Basically, in housing, there are three main parties involved; buyer, property developer and government. Interaction between those parties will give an impact to the housing market, specifically house prices. The complexity of the interaction has increased due to the differences in each party's preferences and interest. In this research, the main objective is to develop the framework of the interactions among those parties using game theoretical approach. To do so, the preferences and target of each party are investigated and their constraints are established. From the framework, it offers some ideas on how the interaction occurs and how it affect the house prices.

Internet gaming disorder: Inadequate diagnostic criteria wrapped in a constraining conceptual model.

PubMed

Starcevic, Vladan

2017-06-01

Background and aims The paper "Chaos and confusion in DSM-5 diagnosis of Internet Gaming Disorder: Issues, concerns, and recommendations for clarity in the field" by Kuss, Griffiths, and Pontes (in press) critically examines the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for Internet gaming disorder (IGD) and addresses the issue of whether IGD should be reconceptualized as gaming disorder, regardless of whether video games are played online or offline. This commentary provides additional critical perspectives on the concept of IGD. Methods The focus of this commentary is on the addiction model on which the concept of IGD is based, the nature of the DSM-5 criteria for IGD, and the inclusion of withdrawal symptoms and tolerance as the diagnostic criteria for IGD. Results The addiction framework on which the DSM-5 concept of IGD is based is not without problems and represents only one of multiple theoretical approaches to problematic gaming. The polythetic, non-hierarchical DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for IGD make the concept of IGD unacceptably heterogeneous. There is no support for maintaining withdrawal symptoms and tolerance as the diagnostic criteria for IGD without their substantial revision. Conclusions The addiction model of IGD is constraining and does not contribute to a better understanding of the various patterns of problematic gaming. The corresponding diagnostic criteria need a thorough overhaul, which should be based on a model of problematic gaming that can accommodate its disparate aspects.

Game-Theoretical Design of an Adaptive Distributed Dissemination Protocol for VANETs.

PubMed

Iza-Paredes, Cristhian; Mezher, Ahmad Mohamad; Aguilar Igartua, Mónica; Forné, Jordi

2018-01-19

Road safety applications envisaged for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) depend largely on the dissemination of warning messages to deliver information to concerned vehicles. The intended applications, as well as some inherent VANET characteristics, make data dissemination an essential service and a challenging task in this kind of networks. This work lays out a decentralized stochastic solution for the data dissemination problem through two game-theoretical mechanisms. Given the non-stationarity induced by a highly dynamic topology, diverse network densities, and intermittent connectivity, a solution for the formulated game requires an adaptive procedure able to exploit the environment changes. Extensive simulations reveal that our proposal excels in terms of number of transmissions, lower end-to-end delay and reduced overhead while maintaining high delivery ratio, compared to other proposals.

Game-Theoretical Design of an Adaptive Distributed Dissemination Protocol for VANETs

PubMed Central

Mezher, Ahmad Mohamad; Aguilar Igartua, Mónica

2018-01-01

Road safety applications envisaged for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) depend largely on the dissemination of warning messages to deliver information to concerned vehicles. The intended applications, as well as some inherent VANET characteristics, make data dissemination an essential service and a challenging task in this kind of networks. This work lays out a decentralized stochastic solution for the data dissemination problem through two game-theoretical mechanisms. Given the non-stationarity induced by a highly dynamic topology, diverse network densities, and intermittent connectivity, a solution for the formulated game requires an adaptive procedure able to exploit the environment changes. Extensive simulations reveal that our proposal excels in terms of number of transmissions, lower end-to-end delay and reduced overhead while maintaining high delivery ratio, compared to other proposals. PMID:29351255

Analysing Buyers' and Sellers' Strategic Interactions in Marketplaces: An Evolutionary Game Theoretic Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vytelingum, Perukrishnen; Cliff, Dave; Jennings, Nicholas R.

We develop a new model to analyse the strategic behaviour of buyers and sellers in market mechanisms. In particular, we wish to understand how the different strategies they adopt affect their economic efficiency in the market and to understand the impact of these choices on the overall efficiency of the marketplace. To this end, we adopt a two-population evolutionary game theoretic approach, where we consider how the behaviours of both buyers and sellers evolve in marketplaces. In so doing, we address the shortcomings of the previous state-of-the-art analytical model that assumes that buyers and sellers have to adopt the same mixed strategy in the market. Finally, we apply our model in one of the most common market mechanisms, the Continuous Double Auction, and demonstrate how it allows us to provide new insights into the strategic interactions of such trading agents.

Defending Against Advanced Persistent Threats Using Game-Theory

PubMed Central

König, Sandra; Schauer, Stefan

2017-01-01

Advanced persistent threats (APT) combine a variety of different attack forms ranging from social engineering to technical exploits. The diversity and usual stealthiness of APT turns them into a central problem of contemporary practical system security, since information on attacks, the current system status or the attacker’s incentives is often vague, uncertain and in many cases even unavailable. Game theory is a natural approach to model the conflict between the attacker and the defender, and this work investigates a generalized class of matrix games as a risk mitigation tool for an advanced persistent threat (APT) defense. Unlike standard game and decision theory, our model is tailored to capture and handle the full uncertainty that is immanent to APTs, such as disagreement among qualitative expert risk assessments, unknown adversarial incentives and uncertainty about the current system state (in terms of how deeply the attacker may have penetrated into the system’s protective shells already). Practically, game-theoretic APT models can be derived straightforwardly from topological vulnerability analysis, together with risk assessments as they are done in common risk management standards like the ISO 31000 family. Theoretically, these models come with different properties than classical game theoretic models, whose technical solution presented in this work may be of independent interest. PMID:28045922

Defending Against Advanced Persistent Threats Using Game-Theory.

PubMed

Rass, Stefan; König, Sandra; Schauer, Stefan

2017-01-01

Advanced persistent threats (APT) combine a variety of different attack forms ranging from social engineering to technical exploits. The diversity and usual stealthiness of APT turns them into a central problem of contemporary practical system security, since information on attacks, the current system status or the attacker's incentives is often vague, uncertain and in many cases even unavailable. Game theory is a natural approach to model the conflict between the attacker and the defender, and this work investigates a generalized class of matrix games as a risk mitigation tool for an advanced persistent threat (APT) defense. Unlike standard game and decision theory, our model is tailored to capture and handle the full uncertainty that is immanent to APTs, such as disagreement among qualitative expert risk assessments, unknown adversarial incentives and uncertainty about the current system state (in terms of how deeply the attacker may have penetrated into the system's protective shells already). Practically, game-theoretic APT models can be derived straightforwardly from topological vulnerability analysis, together with risk assessments as they are done in common risk management standards like the ISO 31000 family. Theoretically, these models come with different properties than classical game theoretic models, whose technical solution presented in this work may be of independent interest.

A Game Theoretic Fault Detection Filter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chung, Walter H.; Speyer, Jason L.

1995-01-01

The fault detection process is modelled as a disturbance attenuation problem. The solution to this problem is found via differential game theory, leading to an H(sub infinity) filter which bounds the transmission of all exogenous signals save the fault to be detected. For a general class of linear systems which includes some time-varying systems, it is shown that this transmission bound can be taken to zero by simultaneously bringing the sensor noise weighting to zero. Thus, in the limit, a complete transmission block can he achieved, making the game filter into a fault detection filter. When we specialize this result to time-invariant system, it is found that the detection filter attained in the limit is identical to the well known Beard-Jones Fault Detection Filter. That is, all fault inputs other than the one to be detected (the "nuisance faults") are restricted to an invariant subspace which is unobservable to a projection on the output. For time-invariant systems, it is also shown that in the limit, the order of the state-space and the game filter can be reduced by factoring out the invariant subspace. The result is a lower dimensional filter which can observe only the fault to be detected. A reduced-order filter can also he generated for time-varying systems, though the computational overhead may be intensive. An example given at the end of the paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the filter as a tool for fault detection and identification.

Assessing the advantage of morphological changes in Candida albicans: a game theoretical study

PubMed Central

Tyc, Katarzyna M.; Kühn, Clemens; Wilson, Duncan; Klipp, Edda

2014-01-01

A range of attributes determines the virulence of human pathogens. During interactions with their hosts, pathogenic microbes often undergo transitions between distinct stages, and the ability to switch between these can be directly related to the disease process. Understanding the mechanisms and dynamics of these transitions is a key factor in understanding and combating infectious diseases. The human fungal pathogen Candida albicans exhibits different morphotypes at different stages during the course of infection (candidiasis). For example, hyphae are considered to be the invasive form, which causes tissue damage, while yeast cells are predominant in the commensal stage. Here, we described interactions of C. albicans with its human host in a game theoretic model. In the game, players are fungal cells. Each fungal cell can adopt one of the two strategies: to exist as a yeast or hyphal cell. We characterized the ranges of model parameters in which the coexistence of both yeast and hyphal forms is plausible. Stability analysis of the system showed that, in theory, a reduced ability of the host to specifically recognize yeast and hyphal cells can result in bi-stability of the microbial populations' profile. Inspired by the model analysis we reasoned that the types of microbial interactions can change during invasive candidiasis. We found that positive cooperation among fungal cells occurs in mild infections and an enhanced tendency to invade the host is associated with negative cooperation. The model can easily be extended to multi-player systems with direct application to identifying individuals that enhance either positive or negative cooperation. Results of the modeling approach have potential application in developing treatment strategies. PMID:24567730

Two-agent cooperative search using game models with endurance-time constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sujit, P. B.; Ghose, Debasish

2010-07-01

In this article, the problem of two Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) cooperatively searching an unknown region is addressed. The search region is discretized into hexagonal cells and each cell is assumed to possess an uncertainty value. The UAVs have to cooperatively search these cells taking limited endurance, sensor and communication range constraints into account. Due to limited endurance, the UAVs need to return to the base station for refuelling and also need to select a base station when multiple base stations are present. This article proposes a route planning algorithm that takes endurance time constraints into account and uses game theoretical strategies to reduce the uncertainty. The route planning algorithm selects only those cells that ensure the agent will return to any one of the available bases. A set of paths are formed using these cells which the game theoretical strategies use to select a path that yields maximum uncertainty reduction. We explore non-cooperative Nash, cooperative and security strategies from game theory to enhance the search effectiveness. Monte-Carlo simulations are carried out which show the superiority of the game theoretical strategies over greedy strategy for different look ahead step length paths. Within the game theoretical strategies, non-cooperative Nash and cooperative strategy perform similarly in an ideal case, but Nash strategy performs better than the cooperative strategy when the perceived information is different. We also propose a heuristic based on partitioning of the search space into sectors to reduce computational overhead without performance degradation.

Testability of evolutionary game dynamics based on experimental economics data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yijia; Chen, Xiaojie; Wang, Zhijian

2017-11-01

Understanding the dynamic processes of a real game system requires an appropriate dynamics model, and rigorously testing a dynamics model is nontrivial. In our methodological research, we develop an approach to testing the validity of game dynamics models that considers the dynamic patterns of angular momentum and speed as measurement variables. Using Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS) games as an example, we illustrate the geometric patterns in the experiment data. We then derive the related theoretical patterns from a series of typical dynamics models. By testing the goodness-of-fit between the experimental and theoretical patterns, we show that the validity of these models can be evaluated quantitatively. Our approach establishes a link between dynamics models and experimental systems, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the most effective and rigorous strategy for ascertaining the testability of evolutionary game dynamics models.

Game theoretic approaches to operating room management.

PubMed

Marco, Alan P

2002-05-01

All interactions between people can be considered games with rules and outcomes. However, modern business practices demand that the players in the game go beyond traditional game theory and look at new ways to improve the outcome of the game. Choosing the right strategy is important to a player's success. A new business strategy, "co-opetition," can be used to increase the value of the game ("create a bigger pie") through cooperative behavior, whereas competition is used to divided the "pie." By looking at how the players adopt simultaneous roles such as complementor and competitor the stakeholders in the operating room (managers, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nursing staff) can apply the principles of co-opetition to improve the overall success of their facility. Such stakeholders can utilize knowledge of how populations act in games to enhance cooperative play. Adopting such a perspective may lead to increases in the satisfaction and morale of those involved with the operating rooms. Increased morale should increase productivity and staff retention and reduce recruiting needs.

Impact of risk attitudes and perception on game theoretic driving interactions and safety.

PubMed

Arbis, David; Dixit, Vinayak V; Rashidi, Taha Hossein

2016-09-01

This study employs game theory to investigate behavioural norms of interaction between drivers at a signalised intersection. The choice framework incorporates drivers' risk perception as well as their risk attitudes. A laboratory experiment is conducted to study the impact of risk attitudes and perception in crossing behaviour at a signalised intersection. The laboratory experiment uses methods from experimental economics to induce incentives and study revealed behaviour. Conflicting drivers are considered to have symmetric disincentives for crashing, to represent a no-fault car insurance environment. The study is novel as it uses experimental data collection methods to investigate perceived risk. Further, it directly integrates perceived risk of crashing with other active drivers into the modelling structure. A theoretical model of intersection crossing behaviour is also developed in this paper. This study shows that right-of-way entitlements assigned without authoritative penalties to at-fault drivers may still improve perceptions of safety. Further, risk aversion amongst drivers attributes to manoeuvring strategies at or below Nash mixed strategy equilibrium. These findings offer a theoretical explanation for interactive manoeuvres that lead to crashes, as opposed to purely statistical methods which provide correlation but not necessarily explanation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A strategic gaming model for health information exchange markets.

PubMed

Martinez, Diego A; Feijoo, Felipe; Zayas-Castro, Jose L; Levin, Scott; Das, Tapas K

2018-03-01

Current market conditions create incentives for some providers to exercise control over patient data in ways that unreasonably limit its availability and use. Here we develop a game theoretic model for estimating the willingness of healthcare organizations to join a health information exchange (HIE) network and demonstrate its use in HIE policy design. We formulated the model as a bi-level integer program. A quasi-Newton method is proposed to obtain a strategy Nash equilibrium. We applied our modeling and solution technique to 1,093,177 encounters for exchanging information over a 7.5-year period in 9 hospitals located within a three-county region in Florida. Under a set of assumptions, we found that a proposed federal penalty of up to $2,000,000 has a higher impact on increasing HIE adoption than current federal monetary incentives. Medium-sized hospitals were more reticent to adopt HIE than large-sized hospitals. In the presence of collusion among multiple hospitals to not adopt HIE, neither federal incentives nor proposed penalties increase hospitals' willingness to adopt. Hospitals' apathy toward HIE adoption may threaten the value of inter-connectivity even with federal incentives in place. Competition among hospitals, coupled with volume-based payment systems, creates no incentives for smaller hospitals to exchange data with competitors. Medium-sized hospitals need targeted actions (e.g., outside technological assistance, group purchasing arrangements) to mitigate market incentives to not adopt HIE. Strategic game theoretic models help to clarify HIE adoption decisions under market conditions at play in an extremely complex technology environment.

A Game-Theoretic Response Strategy for Coordinator Attack in Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Liu, Jianhua; Yue, Guangxue; Shang, Huiliang; Li, Hongjie

2014-01-01

The coordinator is a specific node that controls the whole network and has a significant impact on the performance in cooperative multihop ZigBee wireless sensor networks (ZWSNs). However, the malicious node attacks coordinator nodes in an effort to waste the resources and disrupt the operation of the network. Attacking leads to a failure of one round of communication between the source nodes and destination nodes. Coordinator selection is a technique that can considerably defend against attack and reduce the data delivery delay, and increase network performance of cooperative communications. In this paper, we propose an adaptive coordinator selection algorithm using game and fuzzy logic aiming at both minimizing the average number of hops and maximizing network lifetime. The proposed game model consists of two interrelated formulations: a stochastic game for dynamic defense and a best response policy using evolutionary game formulation for coordinator selection. The stable equilibrium best policy to response defense is obtained from this game model. It is shown that the proposed scheme can improve reliability and save energy during the network lifetime with respect to security. PMID:25105171

A game-theoretic response strategy for coordinator attack in wireless sensor networks.

PubMed

Liu, Jianhua; Yue, Guangxue; Shen, Shigen; Shang, Huiliang; Li, Hongjie

2014-01-01

The coordinator is a specific node that controls the whole network and has a significant impact on the performance in cooperative multihop ZigBee wireless sensor networks (ZWSNs). However, the malicious node attacks coordinator nodes in an effort to waste the resources and disrupt the operation of the network. Attacking leads to a failure of one round of communication between the source nodes and destination nodes. Coordinator selection is a technique that can considerably defend against attack and reduce the data delivery delay, and increase network performance of cooperative communications. In this paper, we propose an adaptive coordinator selection algorithm using game and fuzzy logic aiming at both minimizing the average number of hops and maximizing network lifetime. The proposed game model consists of two interrelated formulations: a stochastic game for dynamic defense and a best response policy using evolutionary game formulation for coordinator selection. The stable equilibrium best policy to response defense is obtained from this game model. It is shown that the proposed scheme can improve reliability and save energy during the network lifetime with respect to security.

Bribe and Punishment: An Evolutionary Game-Theoretic Analysis of Bribery.

PubMed

Verma, Prateek; Sengupta, Supratim

2015-01-01

Harassment bribes, paid by citizens to corrupt officers for services the former are legally entitled to, constitute one of the most widespread forms of corruption in many countries. Nation states have adopted different policies to address this form of corruption. While some countries make both the bribe giver and the bribe taker equally liable for the crime, others impose a larger penalty on corrupt officers. We examine the consequences of asymmetric and symmetric penalties by developing deterministic and stochastic evolutionary game-theoretic models of bribery. We find that the asymmetric penalty scheme can lead to a reduction in incidents of bribery. However, the extent of reduction depends on how the players update their strategies over time. If the interacting members change their strategies with a probability proportional to the payoff of the alternative strategy option, the reduction in incidents of bribery is less pronounced. Our results indicate that changing from a symmetric to an asymmetric penalty scheme may not suffice in achieving significant reductions in incidents of harassment bribery.

Bribe and Punishment: An Evolutionary Game-Theoretic Analysis of Bribery

PubMed Central

Verma, Prateek; Sengupta, Supratim

2015-01-01

Harassment bribes, paid by citizens to corrupt officers for services the former are legally entitled to, constitute one of the most widespread forms of corruption in many countries. Nation states have adopted different policies to address this form of corruption. While some countries make both the bribe giver and the bribe taker equally liable for the crime, others impose a larger penalty on corrupt officers. We examine the consequences of asymmetric and symmetric penalties by developing deterministic and stochastic evolutionary game-theoretic models of bribery. We find that the asymmetric penalty scheme can lead to a reduction in incidents of bribery. However, the extent of reduction depends on how the players update their strategies over time. If the interacting members change their strategies with a probability proportional to the payoff of the alternative strategy option, the reduction in incidents of bribery is less pronounced. Our results indicate that changing from a symmetric to an asymmetric penalty scheme may not suffice in achieving significant reductions in incidents of harassment bribery. PMID:26204110

Some dynamics of signaling games.

PubMed

Huttegger, Simon; Skyrms, Brian; Tarrès, Pierre; Wagner, Elliott

2014-07-22

Information transfer is a basic feature of life that includes signaling within and between organisms. Owing to its interactive nature, signaling can be investigated by using game theory. Game theoretic models of signaling have a long tradition in biology, economics, and philosophy. For a long time the analyses of these games has mostly relied on using static equilibrium concepts such as Pareto optimal Nash equilibria or evolutionarily stable strategies. More recently signaling games of various types have been investigated with the help of game dynamics, which includes dynamical models of evolution and individual learning. A dynamical analysis leads to more nuanced conclusions as to the outcomes of signaling interactions. Here we explore different kinds of signaling games that range from interactions without conflicts of interest between the players to interactions where their interests are seriously misaligned. We consider these games within the context of evolutionary dynamics (both infinite and finite population models) and learning dynamics (reinforcement learning). Some results are specific features of a particular dynamical model, whereas others turn out to be quite robust across different models. This suggests that there are certain qualitative aspects that are common to many real-world signaling interactions.

Some dynamics of signaling games

PubMed Central

Huttegger, Simon; Skyrms, Brian; Tarrès, Pierre; Wagner, Elliott

2014-01-01

Information transfer is a basic feature of life that includes signaling within and between organisms. Owing to its interactive nature, signaling can be investigated by using game theory. Game theoretic models of signaling have a long tradition in biology, economics, and philosophy. For a long time the analyses of these games has mostly relied on using static equilibrium concepts such as Pareto optimal Nash equilibria or evolutionarily stable strategies. More recently signaling games of various types have been investigated with the help of game dynamics, which includes dynamical models of evolution and individual learning. A dynamical analysis leads to more nuanced conclusions as to the outcomes of signaling interactions. Here we explore different kinds of signaling games that range from interactions without conflicts of interest between the players to interactions where their interests are seriously misaligned. We consider these games within the context of evolutionary dynamics (both infinite and finite population models) and learning dynamics (reinforcement learning). Some results are specific features of a particular dynamical model, whereas others turn out to be quite robust across different models. This suggests that there are certain qualitative aspects that are common to many real-world signaling interactions. PMID:25024209

An Open Source Tool for Game Theoretic Health Data De-Identification.

PubMed

Prasser, Fabian; Gaupp, James; Wan, Zhiyu; Xia, Weiyi; Vorobeychik, Yevgeniy; Kantarcioglu, Murat; Kuhn, Klaus; Malin, Brad

2017-01-01

Biomedical data continues to grow in quantity and quality, creating new opportunities for research and data-driven applications. To realize these activities at scale, data must be shared beyond its initial point of collection. To maintain privacy, healthcare organizations often de-identify data, but they assume worst-case adversaries, inducing high levels of data corruption. Recently, game theory has been proposed to account for the incentives of data publishers and recipients (who attempt to re-identify patients), but this perspective has been more hypothetical than practical. In this paper, we report on a new game theoretic data publication strategy and its integration into the open source software ARX. We evaluate our implementation with an analysis on the relationship between data transformation, utility, and efficiency for over 30,000 demographic records drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau. The results indicate that our implementation is scalable and can be combined with various data privacy risk and quality measures.

Game-theoretic perspective of Ping-Pong protocol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaur, Hargeet; Kumar, Atul

2018-01-01

We analyse Ping-Pong protocol from the point of view of a game. The analysis helps us in understanding the different strategies of a sender and an eavesdropper to gain the maximum payoff in the game. The study presented here characterizes strategies that lead to different Nash equilibriums. We further demonstrate the condition for Pareto optimality depending on the parameters used in the game. Moreover, we also analysed LM05 protocol and compared it with PP protocol from the point of view of a generic two-way QKD game with or without entanglement. Our results provide a deeper understanding of general two-way QKD protocols in terms of the security and payoffs of different stakeholders in the protocol.

Economic Game Theory to Model the Attenuation of Virulence of an Obligate Intracellular Bacterium.

PubMed

Tago, Damian; Meyer, Damien F

2016-01-01

Diseases induced by obligate intracellular pathogens have a large burden on global human and animal health. Understanding the factors involved in the virulence and fitness of these pathogens contributes to the development of control strategies against these diseases. Based on biological observations, a theoretical model using game theory is proposed to explain how obligate intracellular bacteria interact with their host. The equilibrium in such a game shows that the virulence and fitness of the bacterium is host-triggered and by changing the host's defense system to which the bacterium is confronted, an evolutionary process leads to an attenuated strain. Although, the attenuation procedure has already been conducted in practice in order to develop an attenuated vaccine (e.g., with Ehrlichia ruminantium), there was a lack of understanding of the theoretical basis behind this process. Our work provides a model to better comprehend the existence of different phenotypes and some underlying evolutionary mechanisms for the virulence of obligate intracellular bacteria.

Economic Game Theory to Model the Attenuation of Virulence of an Obligate Intracellular Bacterium

PubMed Central

Tago, Damian; Meyer, Damien F.

2016-01-01

Diseases induced by obligate intracellular pathogens have a large burden on global human and animal health. Understanding the factors involved in the virulence and fitness of these pathogens contributes to the development of control strategies against these diseases. Based on biological observations, a theoretical model using game theory is proposed to explain how obligate intracellular bacteria interact with their host. The equilibrium in such a game shows that the virulence and fitness of the bacterium is host-triggered and by changing the host's defense system to which the bacterium is confronted, an evolutionary process leads to an attenuated strain. Although, the attenuation procedure has already been conducted in practice in order to develop an attenuated vaccine (e.g., with Ehrlichia ruminantium), there was a lack of understanding of the theoretical basis behind this process. Our work provides a model to better comprehend the existence of different phenotypes and some underlying evolutionary mechanisms for the virulence of obligate intracellular bacteria. PMID:27610355

Mobility versus terrain: a game theoretic approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bednarz, David; Muench, Paul

2016-05-01

Mobility and terrain are two sides of the same coin. You cannot describe mobility unless you describe the terrain. For example, if my world is trench warfare, the tank may be the ideal vehicle. If my world is urban warfare, clearing buildings and such, the tank may not be an ideal vehicle, perhaps an anthropomorphic robot would be better. We seek a general framework for mobility that captures the relative value of different mobility strategies. Game theory is positively the right way to analyze the interactions of rational players who behave strategically. In this paper, we will describe the interactions between a mobility player, who is trying to make it from point A to point B with one chance to refuel, and a terrain player who is trying to minimize that probability by placing an obstacle somewhere along the path from A to B. In previous work [1], we used Monte Carlo methods to analyze this mobility game, and found optimal strategies for a discretized version of the game. Here we show the relationship of this game to a classic game of timing [2], and use solution methods from that literature to solve for optimal strategies in a continuous version of this mobility game.

Games of life and death: antibiotic resistance and production through the lens of evolutionary game theory.

PubMed

Conlin, Peter L; Chandler, Josephine R; Kerr, Benjamin

2014-10-01

In this review, we demonstrate how game theory can be a useful first step in modeling and understanding interactions among bacteria that produce and resist antibiotics. We introduce the basic features of evolutionary game theory and explore model microbial systems that correspond to some classical games. Each game discussed defines a different category of social interaction with different resulting population dynamics (exclusion, coexistence, bistability, cycling). We then explore how the framework can be extended to incorporate some of the complexity of natural microbial communities. Overall, the game theoretical perspective helps to guide our expectations about the evolution of some forms of antibiotic resistance and production because it makes clear the precise nature of social interaction in this context. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Game and Information Theory Analysis of Electronic Counter Measures in Pursuit-Evasion Games

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Griffin, Christopher H

Two-player Pursuit-Evasion games in the literature typically either assume both players have perfect knowledge of the opponent s positions or use primitive sensing models. This unrealistically skews the problem in favor of the pursuer who need only maintain a faster velocity at all turning radii. In real life, an evader usually escapes when the pursuer no longer knows the evader s position. In our previous work, we modeled pursuit-evasion without perfect information as a two-player bi-matrix game by using a realistic sensor model and information theory to compute game theoretic payoff matrices. That game has a saddle point when themore » evader uses strategies that exploit sensor limitations, while the pursuer relies on strategies that ignore the sensing limitations. In this paper, we consider for the first time the effect of many types of electronic counter measures (ECM) on pursuit evasion games. The evader s decision to initiate its ECM is modeled as a function of the distance between the players. Simulations show how to find optimal strategies for ECM use when initial conditions are known. We also discuss the effectiveness of different ECM technologies in pursuit-evasion games.« less

Mapping of the stochastic Lotka-Volterra model to models of population genetics and game theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Constable, George W. A.; McKane, Alan J.

2017-08-01

The relationship between the M -species stochastic Lotka-Volterra competition (SLVC) model and the M -allele Moran model of population genetics is explored via timescale separation arguments. When selection for species is weak and the population size is large but finite, precise conditions are determined for the stochastic dynamics of the SLVC model to be mappable to the neutral Moran model, the Moran model with frequency-independent selection, and the Moran model with frequency-dependent selection (equivalently a game-theoretic formulation of the Moran model). We demonstrate how these mappings can be used to calculate extinction probabilities and the times until a species' extinction in the SLVC model.

Role of word-of-mouth for programs of voluntary vaccination: A game-theoretic approach.

PubMed

Bhattacharyya, Samit; Bauch, Chris T; Breban, Romulus

2015-11-01

We propose a model describing the synergetic feedback between word-of-mouth (WoM) and epidemic dynamics controlled by voluntary vaccination. The key feature consists in combining a game-theoretic model for the spread of WoM and a compartmental model describing VSIR disease dynamics in the presence of a program of voluntary vaccination. We evaluate and compare two scenarios for determinants of behavior, depending on what WoM disseminates: (1) vaccine advertising, which may occur whether or not an epidemic is ongoing and (2) epidemic status, notably disease prevalence. Understanding the synergy between the two strategies could be particularly important for designing voluntary vaccination campaigns. We find that, in the initial phase of an epidemic, vaccination uptake is determined more by vaccine advertising than the epidemic status. As the epidemic progresses, epidemic status becomes increasingly important for vaccination uptake, considerably accelerating vaccination uptake toward a stable vaccination coverage. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A game theoretic analysis of research data sharing.

PubMed

Pronk, Tessa E; Wiersma, Paulien H; van Weerden, Anne; Schieving, Feike

2015-01-01

While reusing research data has evident benefits for the scientific community as a whole, decisions to archive and share these data are primarily made by individual researchers. In this paper we analyse, within a game theoretical framework, how sharing and reuse of research data affect individuals who share or do not share their datasets. We construct a model in which there is a cost associated with sharing datasets whereas reusing such sets implies a benefit. In our calculations, conflicting interests appear for researchers. Individual researchers are always better off not sharing and omitting the sharing cost, at the same time both sharing and not sharing researchers are better off if (almost) all researchers share. Namely, the more researchers share, the more benefit can be gained by the reuse of those datasets. We simulated several policy measures to increase benefits for researchers sharing or reusing datasets. Results point out that, although policies should be able to increase the rate of sharing researchers, and increased discoverability and dataset quality could partly compensate for costs, a better measure would be to directly lower the cost for sharing, or even turn it into a (citation-) benefit. Making data available would in that case become the most profitable, and therefore stable, strategy. This means researchers would willingly make their datasets available, and arguably in the best possible way to enable reuse.

Optimizing annotation resources for natural language de-identification via a game theoretic framework.

PubMed

Li, Muqun; Carrell, David; Aberdeen, John; Hirschman, Lynette; Kirby, Jacqueline; Li, Bo; Vorobeychik, Yevgeniy; Malin, Bradley A

2016-06-01

de-identification of the HCO are 0.86 and 0.8, respectively. A game-based approach enables a more refined cost-benefit tradeoff, improving both privacy and utility for the HCO. For example, our investigation shows that it is possible for an HCO to release the data without spending all their budget on de-identification and still deter the attacker, with a precision of 0.77 and a recall of 0.61 for the de-identification. There also exist scenarios in which the model indicates an HCO should not release any data because the risk is too great. In addition, we find that the practice of paying fines back to a HCO (an artifact of suing for breach of contract), as opposed to a third party such as a federal regulator, can induce an elevated level of data sharing risk, where the HCO is incentivized to bait the attacker to elicit compensation. A game theoretic framework can be applied in leading HCO's to optimized decision making in natural language de-identification investments before sharing EMR data. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Game Theoretical Model for Location of Terror Response Facilities under Capacitated Resources

PubMed Central

Kang, Qi; Xu, Weisheng; Wu, Qidi

2013-01-01

This paper is concerned with the effect of capacity constraints on the locations of terror response facilities. We assume that the state has limited resources, and multiple facilities may be involved in the response until the demand is satisfied consequently. We formulate a leader-follower game model between the state and the terrorist and prove the existence and uniqueness of the Nash equilibrium. An integer linear programming is proposed to obtain the equilibrium results when the facility number is fixed. The problem is demonstrated by a case study of the 19 districts of Shanghai, China. PMID:24459446

Gene-Culture Coevolutionary Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blute, Marion

2006-01-01

Gene-culture interactions have largely been modelled employing population genetic-type models. Moreover, in the most notable application to date, the "interactive" modes have been one way rather than bidirectional. This paper suggests using game theoretic, fully interactive models. Employing the logic utilized in population ecology for coevolution…

Security-aware Virtual Machine Allocation in the Cloud: A Game Theoretic Approach

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-13

predecessor, however, this paper used empirical evidence and actual data from running experiments on the Amazon EC2 cloud . They began by running all 5...is through effective VM allocation management of the cloud provider to ensure delivery of maximum security for all cloud users. The negative... Cloud : A Game Theoretic Approach 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f

The value of private patient information in the physician-patient relationship: a game-theoretic account.

PubMed

De Jaegher, Kris

2012-01-01

This paper presents a game-theoretical model of the physician-patient relationship. There is a conflict of interests between physician and patient, in that the physician prefers the patient to always obtain a particular treatment, even if the patient would not consider this treatment in his interest. The patient obtains imperfect cues of whether or not he needs the treatment. The effect of an increase in the quality of the patient's private information is studied, in the form of an improvement in the quality of his cues. It is shown that when the patient's information improves in this sense, he may either become better off or worse off. The precise circumstances under which either result is obtained are derived.

Combining Modeling and Gaming for Predictive Analytics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Riensche, Roderick M.; Whitney, Paul D.

2012-08-22

Many of our most significant challenges involve people. While human behavior has long been studied, there are recent advances in computational modeling of human behavior. With advances in computational capabilities come increases in the volume and complexity of data that humans must understand in order to make sense of and capitalize on these modeling advances. Ultimately, models represent an encapsulation of human knowledge. One inherent challenge in modeling is efficient and accurate transfer of knowledge from humans to models, and subsequent retrieval. The simulated real-world environment of games presents one avenue for these knowledge transfers. In this paper we describemore » our approach of combining modeling and gaming disciplines to develop predictive capabilities, using formal models to inform game development, and using games to provide data for modeling.« less

Cognitive Modeling of Video Game Player User Experience

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bohil, Corey J.; Biocca, Frank A.

2010-01-01

This paper argues for the use of cognitive modeling to gain a detailed and dynamic look into user experience during game play. Applying cognitive models to game play data can help researchers understand a player's attentional focus, memory status, learning state, and decision strategies (among other things) as these cognitive processes occurred throughout game play. This is a stark contrast to the common approach of trying to assess the long-term impact of games on cognitive functioning after game play has ended. We describe what cognitive models are, what they can be used for and how game researchers could benefit by adopting these methods. We also provide details of a single model - based on decision field theory - that has been successfUlly applied to data sets from memory, perception, and decision making experiments, and has recently found application in real world scenarios. We examine possibilities for applying this model to game-play data.

[A prediction model for internet game addiction in adolescents: using a decision tree analysis].

PubMed

Kim, Ki Sook; Kim, Kyung Hee

2010-06-01

This study was designed to build a theoretical frame to provide practical help to prevent and manage adolescent internet game addiction by developing a prediction model through a comprehensive analysis of related factors. The participants were 1,318 students studying in elementary, middle, and high schools in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, Korea. Collected data were analyzed using the SPSS program. Decision Tree Analysis using the Clementine program was applied to build an optimum and significant prediction model to predict internet game addiction related to various factors, especially parent related factors. From the data analyses, the prediction model for factors related to internet game addiction presented with 5 pathways. Causative factors included gender, type of school, siblings, economic status, religion, time spent alone, gaming place, payment to Internet café, frequency, duration, parent's ability to use internet, occupation (mother), trust (father), expectations regarding adolescent's study (mother), supervising (both parents), rearing attitude (both parents). The results suggest preventive and managerial nursing programs for specific groups by path. Use of this predictive model can expand the role of school nurses, not only in counseling addicted adolescents but also, in developing and carrying out programs with parents and approaching adolescents individually through databases and computer programming.

Cognitive Aspects of Power in a Two-Level Game

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Juvina, Ion; Lebiere, Christian; Martin, Jolie; Gonzalez, Cleotilde

The Intergroup Prisoner's Dilemma with Intragroup Power Dynamics (IPD^2) is a new game paradigm for studying human behavior in conflict situations. IPD^2 adds the concept of intragroup power to an intergroup version of the standard Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma game. We conducted an exploratory laboratory study in which individual human participants played the game against computer strategies of various complexities. We also developed a cognitive model of human decision making in this game. The model was run in place of the human participant under the same conditions as in the laboratory study. Results from the human study and the model simulations are presented and discussed, emphasizing the value of including intragroup power in game theoretic models of conflict.

The rock-paper-scissors game

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Hai-Jun

2016-04-01

Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS), a game of cyclic dominance, is not merely a popular children's game but also a basic model system for studying decision-making in non-cooperative strategic interactions. Aimed at students of physics with no background in game theory, this paper introduces the concepts of Nash equilibrium and evolutionarily stable strategy, and reviews some recent theoretical and empirical efforts on the non-equilibrium properties of the iterated RPS, including collective cycling, conditional response patterns and microscopic mechanisms that facilitate cooperation. We also introduce several dynamical processes to illustrate the applications of RPS as a simplified model of species competition in ecological systems and price cycling in economic markets.

Using Game Theoretic Models to Predict Pilot Behavior in NextGen Merging and Landing Scenario

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yildiz, Yildiray; Lee, Ritchie; Brat, Guillaume

2012-01-01

In this paper, we present an implementation of the Semi Network-Form Game framework to predict pilot behavior in a merging and landing scenario. In this scenario, two aircraft are approaching to a freeze horizon with approximately equal distance when they become aware of each other via an ADS-B communication link that will be available in NextGen airspace. Both pilots want to gain advantage over the other by entering the freeze horizon earlier and obtain the first place in landing. They re-adjust their speed accordingly. However, they cannot simply increase their speed to the maximum allowable values since they are concerned with safety, separation distance, effort, possibility of being vectored-off from landing and possibility of violating speed constraints. We present how to model these concerns and the rest of the system using semi network-from game framework. Using this framework, based on certain assumptions on pilot utility functions and on system configuration, we provide estimates of pilot behavior and overall system evolution in time. We also discuss the possible employment of this modeling tool for airspace design optimization. To support this discussion, we provide a case where we investigate the effect of increasing the merging point speed limit on the commanded speed distribution and on the percentage of vectored aircraft.

HackAttack: Game-Theoretic Analysis of Realistic Cyber Conflicts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ferragut, Erik M; Brady, Andrew C; Brady, Ethan J

Game theory is appropriate for studying cyber conflict because it allows for an intelligent and goal-driven adversary. Applications of game theory have led to a number of results regarding optimal attack and defense strategies. However, the overwhelming majority of applications explore overly simplistic games, often ones in which each participant s actions are visible to every other participant. These simplifications strip away the fundamental properties of real cyber conflicts: probabilistic alerting, hidden actions, unknown opponent capabilities. In this paper, we demonstrate that it is possible to analyze a more realistic game, one in which different resources have different weaknesses, playersmore » have different exploits, and moves occur in secrecy, but they can be detected. Certainly, more advanced and complex games are possible, but the game presented here is more realistic than any other game we know of in the scientific literature. While optimal strategies can be found for simpler games using calculus, case-by-case analysis, or, for stochastic games, Q-learning, our more complex game is more naturally analyzed using the same methods used to study other complex games, such as checkers and chess. We define a simple evaluation function and employ multi-step searches to create strategies. We show that such scenarios can be analyzed, and find that in cases of extreme uncertainty, it is often better to ignore one s opponent s possible moves. Furthermore, we show that a simple evaluation function in a complex game can lead to interesting and nuanced strategies.« less

Stochastic stability in three-player games.

PubMed

Kamiński, Dominik; Miekisz, Jacek; Zaborowski, Marcin

2005-11-01

Animal behavior and evolution can often be described by game-theoretic models. Although in many situations the number of players is very large, their strategic interactions are usually decomposed into a sum of two-player games. Only recently were evolutionarily stable strategies defined for multi-player games and their properties analyzed [Broom, M., Cannings, C., Vickers, G.T., 1997. Multi-player matrix games. Bull. Math. Biol. 59, 931-952]. Here we study the long-run behavior of stochastic dynamics of populations of randomly matched individuals playing symmetric three-player games. We analyze the stochastic stability of equilibria in games with multiple evolutionarily stable strategies. We also show that, in some games, a population may not evolve in the long run to an evolutionarily stable equilibrium.

Illustrating a Model-Game-Model Paradigm for Using Human Wargames in Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-02-01

Working Paper Illustrating a Model- Game -Model Paradigm for Using Human Wargames in Analysis Paul K. Davis RAND National Security Research...paper proposes and illustrates an analysis-centric paradigm (model- game -model or what might be better called model-exercise-model in some cases) for...to involve stakehold- ers in model development from the outset. The model- game -model paradigm was illustrated in an application to crisis planning

Validating the Learning Cycle Models of Business Simulation Games via Student Perceived Gains in Skills and Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tao, Yu-Hui; Yeh, C. Rosa; Hung, Kung Chin

2015-01-01

Several theoretical models have been constructed to determine the effects of buisness simulation games (BSGs) on learning performance. Although these models agree on the concept of learning-cycle effect, no empirical evidence supports the claim that the use of learning cycle activities with BSGs produces an effect on incremental gains in knowledge…

A Spatial Analysis and Game Theoretical Approach Over the Disputed Islands in the Aegean Sea

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited A SPATIAL ANALYSIS ...REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED Master’s thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE A SPATIAL ANALYSIS AND GAME THEORETICAL APPROACH OVER THE DISPUTED ISLANDS...including perimeter, area, population, distance to Greece, distance to Turkey, and territorial water area. After applying spatial analysis to two

Edge effects in game-theoretic dynamics of spatially structured tumours.

PubMed

Kaznatcheev, Artem; Scott, Jacob G; Basanta, David

2015-07-06

Cancer dynamics are an evolutionary game between cellular phenotypes. A typical assumption in this modelling paradigm is that the probability of a given phenotypic strategy interacting with another depends exclusively on the abundance of those strategies without regard for local neighbourhood structure. We address this limitation by using the Ohtsuki-Nowak transform to introduce spatial structure to the go versus grow game. We show that spatial structure can promote the invasive (go) strategy. By considering the change in neighbourhood size at a static boundary--such as a blood vessel, organ capsule or basement membrane--we show an edge effect that allows a tumour without invasive phenotypes in the bulk to have a polyclonal boundary with invasive cells. We present an example of this promotion of invasive (epithelial-mesenchymal transition-positive) cells in a metastatic colony of prostate adenocarcinoma in bone marrow. Our results caution that pathologic analyses that do not distinguish between cells in the bulk and cells at a static edge of a tumour can underestimate the number of invasive cells. Although we concentrate on applications in mathematical oncology, we expect our approach to extend to other evolutionary game models where interaction neighbourhoods change at fixed system boundaries. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Game Theoretic Models of Competition and Upgrade Investments in Communication Networks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Shuang

2010-01-01

In the first part of this dissertation, we study the competition among network service providers in a parallel-link network with the presence of elastic user demand that diminishes both with higher prices and congestion. First we analyze a game where providers strategically price their service for single class of traffic. Later we analyze a game…

Games of multicellularity.

PubMed

Kaveh, Kamran; Veller, Carl; Nowak, Martin A

2016-08-21

Evolutionary game dynamics are often studied in the context of different population structures. Here we propose a new population structure that is inspired by simple multicellular life forms. In our model, cells reproduce but can stay together after reproduction. They reach complexes of a certain size, n, before producing single cells again. The cells within a complex derive payoff from an evolutionary game by interacting with each other. The reproductive rate of cells is proportional to their payoff. We consider all two-strategy games. We study deterministic evolutionary dynamics with mutations, and derive exact conditions for selection to favor one strategy over another. Our main result has the same symmetry as the well-known sigma condition, which has been proven for stochastic game dynamics and weak selection. For a maximum complex size of n=2 our result holds for any intensity of selection. For n≥3 it holds for weak selection. As specific examples we study the prisoner's dilemma and hawk-dove games. Our model advances theoretical work on multicellularity by allowing for frequency-dependent interactions within groups. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Combinatorial structures to modeling simple games and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molinero, Xavier

2017-09-01

We connect three different topics: combinatorial structures, game theory and chemistry. In particular, we establish the bases to represent some simple games, defined as influence games, and molecules, defined from atoms, by using combinatorial structures. First, we characterize simple games as influence games using influence graphs. It let us to modeling simple games as combinatorial structures (from the viewpoint of structures or graphs). Second, we formally define molecules as combinations of atoms. It let us to modeling molecules as combinatorial structures (from the viewpoint of combinations). It is open to generate such combinatorial structures using some specific techniques as genetic algorithms, (meta-)heuristics algorithms and parallel programming, among others.

Collaborative learning model inquiring based on digital game

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Jiugen; Xing, Ruonan

2012-04-01

With the development of computer education software, digital educational game has become an important part in our life, entertainment and education. Therefore how to make full use of digital game's teaching functions and educate through entertainment has become the focus of current research. The thesis make a connection between educational game and collaborative learning, the current popular teaching model, and concludes digital game-based collaborative learning model combined with teaching practice.

Stability of Zero-Sum Games in Evolutionary Game Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knebel, Johannes; Krueger, Torben; Weber, Markus F.; Frey, Erwin

2014-03-01

Evolutionary game theory has evolved into a successful theoretical concept to study mechanisms that govern the evolution of ecological communities. On a mathematical level, this theory was formalized in the framework of the celebrated replicator equations (REs) and its stochastic generalizations. In our work, we analyze the long-time behavior of the REs for zero-sum games with arbitrarily many strategies, which are generalized versions of the children's game Rock-Paper-Scissors.[1] We demonstrate how to determine the strategies that survive and those that become extinct in the long run. Our results show that extinction of strategies is exponentially fast in generic setups, and that conditions for the survival can be formulated in terms of the Pfaffian of the REs' antisymmetric payoff matrix. Consequences for the stochastic dynamics, which arise in finite populations, are reflected by a generalized scaling law for the extinction time in the vicinity of critical reaction rates. Our findings underline the relevance of zero-sum games as a reference for the analysis of other models in evolutionary game theory.

How do passion for video games and needs frustration explain time spent gaming?

PubMed

Mills, Devin J; Milyavskaya, Marina; Mettler, Jessica; Heath, Nancy L; Derevensky, Jeffrey L

2018-04-01

Research applying self-determination theory and the dualistic model of passion (DMP) has shown video games may satisfy basic psychological needs (i.e., competence, autonomy, and relatedness) and be identified as a passion. The DMP distinguishes between healthy or harmonious passion and problematic or obsessive passion (OP), with the latter reflecting an overreliance towards one's passion to obtain needs satisfaction. The experience of daily obstructions to needs satisfaction, or needs frustration (NF), may facilitate such an overreliance. This study explored how NF and both types of passion explain the amount of time that university students spend gaming. The overall association between NF and time spent gaming was not significant. However, for video game users with low levels of OP for gaming, there was a significant negative association between NF and time spent gaming. Additionally, evidence of a mutually reinforcing association between NF and OP for gaming indicates that a vicious cycle exists, whereby a strong OP for gaming predicts and is reinforced by greater NF. The theoretical implications are discussed. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

Playing Modeling Games in the Science Classroom: The Case for Disciplinary Integration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sengupta, Pratim; Clark, Doug

2016-01-01

The authors extend the theory of "disciplinary integration" of games for science education beyond the virtual world of games, and identify two key themes of a practice-based theoretical commitment to science learning: (1) materiality in the classroom, and (2) iterative design of multiple, complementary, symbolic inscriptions (e.g.,…

Co-Evolution of Opinion and Strategy in Persuasion Dynamics:. AN Evolutionary Game Theoretical Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Fei; Liu, Yun; Li, Yong

In this paper, a new model of opinion formation within the framework of evolutionary game theory is presented. The model simulates strategic situations when people are in opinion discussion. Heterogeneous agents adjust their behaviors to the environment during discussions, and their interacting strategies evolve together with opinions. In the proposed game, we take into account payoff discount to join a discussion, and the situation that people might drop out of an unpromising game. Analytical and emulational results show that evolution of opinion and strategy always tend to converge, with utility threshold, memory length, and decision uncertainty parameters influencing the convergence time. The model displays different dynamical regimes when we set differently the rule when people are at a loss in strategy.

Advances in Games Technology: Software, Models, and Intelligence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prakash, Edmond; Brindle, Geoff; Jones, Kevin; Zhou, Suiping; Chaudhari, Narendra S.; Wong, Kok-Wai

2009-01-01

Games technology has undergone tremendous development. In this article, the authors report the rapid advancement that has been observed in the way games software is being developed, as well as in the development of games content using game engines. One area that has gained special attention is modeling the game environment such as terrain and…

Dynamics of internal models in game players

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taiji, Makoto; Ikegami, Takashi

1999-10-01

A new approach for the study of social games and communications is proposed. Games are simulated between cognitive players who build the opponent’s internal model and decide their next strategy from predictions based on the model. In this paper, internal models are constructed by the recurrent neural network (RNN), and the iterated prisoner’s dilemma game is performed. The RNN allows us to express the internal model in a geometrical shape. The complicated transients of actions are observed before the stable mutually defecting equilibrium is reached. During the transients, the model shape also becomes complicated and often experiences chaotic changes. These new chaotic dynamics of internal models reflect the dynamical and high-dimensional rugged landscape of the internal model space.

Attacker-defender game from a network science perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ya-Peng; Tan, Suo-Yi; Deng, Ye; Wu, Jun

2018-05-01

Dealing with the protection of critical infrastructures, many game-theoretic methods have been developed to study the strategic interactions between defenders and attackers. However, most game models ignore the interrelationship between different components within a certain system. In this paper, we propose a simultaneous-move attacker-defender game model, which is a two-player zero-sum static game with complete information. The strategies and payoffs of this game are defined on the basis of the topology structure of the infrastructure system, which is represented by a complex network. Due to the complexity of strategies, the attack and defense strategies are confined by two typical strategies, namely, targeted strategy and random strategy. The simulation results indicate that in a scale-free network, the attacker virtually always attacks randomly in the Nash equilibrium. With a small cost-sensitive parameter, representing the degree to which costs increase with the importance of a target, the defender protects the hub targets with large degrees preferentially. When the cost-sensitive parameter exceeds a threshold, the defender switches to protecting nodes randomly. Our work provides a new theoretical framework to analyze the confrontations between the attacker and the defender on critical infrastructures and deserves further study.

A Game Theoretical Approach to Hacktivism: Is Attack Likelihood a Product of Risks and Payoffs?

PubMed

Bodford, Jessica E; Kwan, Virginia S Y

2018-02-01

The current study examines hacktivism (i.e., hacking to convey a moral, ethical, or social justice message) through a general game theoretic framework-that is, as a product of costs and benefits. Given the inherent risk of carrying out a hacktivist attack (e.g., legal action, imprisonment), it would be rational for the user to weigh these risks against perceived benefits of carrying out the attack. As such, we examined computer science students' estimations of risks, payoffs, and attack likelihood through a game theoretic design. Furthermore, this study aims at constructing a descriptive profile of potential hacktivists, exploring two predicted covariates of attack decision making, namely, peer prevalence of hacking and sex differences. Contrary to expectations, results suggest that participants' estimations of attack likelihood stemmed solely from expected payoffs, rather than subjective risks. Peer prevalence significantly predicted increased payoffs and attack likelihood, suggesting an underlying descriptive norm in social networks. Notably, we observed no sex differences in the decision to attack, nor in the factors predicting attack likelihood. Implications for policymakers and the understanding and prevention of hacktivism are discussed, as are the possible ramifications of widely communicated payoffs over potential risks in hacking communities.

Using Game Theory Techniques and Concepts to Develop Proprietary Models for Use in Intelligent Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christopher, Timothy Van

2011-01-01

This work is about analyzing games as models of systems. The goal is to understand the techniques that have been used by game designers in the past, and to compare them to the study of mathematical game theory. Through the study of a system or concept a model often emerges that can effectively educate students about making intelligent decisions…

Modeling of geographical pricing: A game analysis of siberian fuel costs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sivushina, Anastasiya; Kombu, Anchy; Ryumkin, Valeriy

2017-11-01

In the present study, we propose a novel game-theoretic pricing model describing the interaction between producers and retailers of goods in conditions of poor transport infrastructure and sparse geographical distribution of the points of sale. The proposed model generalizes the Stackelberg leadership model for an arbitrary number of leaders and followers. We show that the model always has a Nash and Stackelberg equilibria. We also provide formulas for the equilibrium prices and volume of sales. As an example we model diesel pricing in south Siberia. Our model found no signs of a cartel. The results of this paper can be used by policymakers to inform market regulations aimed at promoting free competition and avoiding monopolies in production and retail of goods.

An improved game-theoretic approach to uncover overlapping communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Hong-Liang; Ch'Ng, Eugene; Yong, Xi; Garibaldi, Jonathan M.; See, Simon; Chen, Duan-Bing

How can we uncover overlapping communities from complex networks to understand the inherent structures and functions? Chen et al. firstly proposed a community game (Game) to study this problem, and the overlapping communities have been discovered when the game is convergent. It is based on the assumption that each vertex of the underlying network is a rational game player to maximize its utility. In this paper, we investigate how similar vertices affect the formation of community game. The Adamic-Adar Index (AA Index) has been employed to define the new utility function. This novel method has been evaluated on both synthetic and real-world networks. Experimental study shows that it has significant improvement of accuracy (from 4.8% to 37.6%) compared with the Game on 10 real networks. It is more efficient on Facebook networks (FN) and Amazon co-purchasing networks than on other networks. This result implicates that “friend circles of friends” of Facebook are valuable to understand the overlapping community division.

Physics of human cooperation: experimental evidence and theoretical models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sánchez, Angel

2018-02-01

In recent years, many physicists have used evolutionary game theory combined with a complex systems perspective in an attempt to understand social phenomena and challenges. Prominent among such phenomena is the issue of the emergence and sustainability of cooperation in a networked world of selfish or self-focused individuals. The vast majority of research done by physicists on these questions is theoretical, and is almost always posed in terms of agent-based models. Unfortunately, more often than not such models ignore a number of facts that are well established experimentally, and are thus rendered irrelevant to actual social applications. I here summarize some of the facts that any realistic model should incorporate and take into account, discuss important aspects underlying the relation between theory and experiments, and discuss future directions for research based on the available experimental knowledge.

A Monte-Carlo game theoretic approach for Multi-Criteria Decision Making under uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madani, Kaveh; Lund, Jay R.

2011-05-01

Game theory provides a useful framework for studying Multi-Criteria Decision Making problems. This paper suggests modeling Multi-Criteria Decision Making problems as strategic games and solving them using non-cooperative game theory concepts. The suggested method can be used to prescribe non-dominated solutions and also can be used as a method to predict the outcome of a decision making problem. Non-cooperative stability definitions for solving the games allow consideration of non-cooperative behaviors, often neglected by other methods which assume perfect cooperation among decision makers. To deal with the uncertainty in input variables a Monte-Carlo Game Theory (MCGT) approach is suggested which maps the stochastic problem into many deterministic strategic games. The games are solved using non-cooperative stability definitions and the results include possible effects of uncertainty in input variables on outcomes. The method can handle multi-criteria multi-decision-maker problems with uncertainty. The suggested method does not require criteria weighting, developing a compound decision objective, and accurate quantitative (cardinal) information as it simplifies the decision analysis by solving problems based on qualitative (ordinal) information, reducing the computational burden substantially. The MCGT method is applied to analyze California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta problem. The suggested method provides insights, identifies non-dominated alternatives, and predicts likely decision outcomes.

Multi-language naming game

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Jianfeng; Lou, Yang; Chen, Guanrong; Tang, Wallace K. S.

2018-04-01

Naming game is a simulation-based experiment used to study the evolution of languages. The conventional naming game focuses on a single language. In this paper, a novel naming game model named multi-language naming game (MLNG) is proposed, where the agents are different-language speakers who cannot communicate with each other without a translator (interpreter) in between. The MLNG model is general, capable of managing k different languages with k ≥ 2. For illustration, the paper only discusses the MLNG with two different languages, and studies five representative network topologies, namely random-graph, WS small-world, NW small-world, scale-free, and random-triangle topologies. Simulation and analysis results both show that: 1) using the network features and based on the proportion of translators the probability of establishing a conversation between two or three agents can be theoretically estimated; 2) the relationship between the convergence speed and the proportion of translators has a power-law-like relation; 3) different agents require different memory sizes, thus a local memory allocation rule is recommended for saving memory resources. The new model and new findings should be useful for further studies of naming games and for better understanding of languages evolution from a dynamical network perspective.

Modelling the costs of natural hazards in games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bostenaru-Dan, M.

2012-04-01

We will present the application of (socio-)economic models coming from games theory to urban planning and to large scale architectural tasks, the most frequent one presented being that of the church. The importance of games will be seen as a continuation of the role played by toys for the development of skills of the architects. While toys dealt with the development of 3D viewing and more realistic "building" focusing, for example, on details, games use stylized construction management models with "symbols" for resources, being it in a board game or in a computer supported social environment. 22 October 1997 to 31 May 1998 the Canadian Centre of Architecture hosted the exhibition "Toy Town". Apart of architecture toys, a field where principles of city building apply are architecture games. City building games are a subgenre of construction and management games, the best know of each is SimCity. In its initial version of 1989 SimCity included disaster scenarios including the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, but also flooding, fire etc. During the further development only the fire remained as well implemented as the initial scenarios. It was a way to look at the role of disasters in urban planning, not only as way for a new begin, but also as mitigation and earthquake management. It is to be noted that disasters represented in SimCity 2000 are converted to such which develop in surface, such as fire and flood. Earthquake damage which occures at random buildings is not modelled. Also, the fight against the consequences of the disaster, fire and flood are done in a realtime first hand action game, not as construction management game. However, there are costs associated to mitigating the disaster, such as the costs for fire fighters. Today such city building games evolved to 3D applications, the semantic enrichment of which involves the economic model. The digital 3D model will be compared with the "hard copy" 3D model which architecture toys represent. Models for Sim

Game theory.

PubMed

Dufwenberg, Martin

2011-03-01

Game theory is a toolkit for examining situations where decision makers influence each other. I discuss the nature of game-theoretic analysis, the history of game theory, why game theory is useful for understanding human psychology, and why game theory has played a key role in the recent explosion of interest in the field of behavioral economics. WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 167-173 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.119 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Serious game design principles: The impact of game design on learning outcomes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, Michael W.

This dissertation examines the research question "How do video game design principles affect learning outcomes in serious games?" This research first develops a theoretical foundation concerning the meaning of the terms "game" and "serious game". This conceptual clarification is broken down into analytic propositions, which state that games have participants, rules, goals and challenges, and synthetic propositions, which state that the games should be intrinsically compelling, provide meaningful choices, and be self encapsulated. Based on these synthetic propositions, three hypotheses were developed. The hypotheses are that games with an enhanced aesthetic presentation, more meaningful choices, or provide player competition will elicit higher learning outcomes than identical games without these factors. These hypotheses were tested via a quantitative experiment involving 172 undergraduate students in the Old Dominion University Chemistry Department. The students were asked to play a chemistry-oriented serious game entitled Element Solitaire©, which was created by the research author. The students were randomly given different treatments of the Element Solitaire© game to play, and the difference between their learning outcomes were compared. The experimental results demonstrated that the aesthetic presentation of a game can have a significant impact upon the learning outcome. The experiment was not able to discern significant effects from the choice or competition conditions, but further examination of the experimental data did reveal some insight into these aspects of serious game design. Choices need to provide the player with options that have a sufficient value that they will be considered and the application of competition within games needs to be judiciously implemented to promote a positive affect for all players. The results of the theoretical foundations and empirical evidence were then combined with additional theoretical research to develop a set of

The decision to conduct a head-to-head comparative trial: a game-theoretic analysis.

PubMed

Mansley, Edward C; Elbasha, Elamin H; Teutsch, Steven M; Berger, Marc L

2007-01-01

Recent Medicare legislation calls on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to conduct research related to the comparative effectiveness of health care items and services, including prescription drugs. This reinforces earlier calls for head-to-head comparative trials of clinically relevant treatment alternatives. Using a game-theoretic model, the authors explore the decision of pharmaceutical companies to conduct such trials. The model suggests that an important factor affecting this decision is the potential loss in market share and profits following a result of inferiority or comparability. This hidden cost is higher for the market leader than the market follower, making it less likely that the leader will choose to conduct a trial. The model also suggests that in a full-information environment, it will never be the case that both firms choose to conduct such a trial. Furthermore, if market shares and the probability of proving superiority are similar for both firms, it is quite possible that neither firm will choose to conduct a trial. Finally, the results indicate that incentives that offset the direct cost of a trial can prevent a no-trial equilibrium, even when both firms face the possibility of an inferior outcome.

Cooperative Game Theoretic Models for Decision-Making in Contexts of Library Cooperation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayes, Robert M.

2003-01-01

Presents a brief summary of Cooperative Economic Game Theory, followed by a summary of specific measures identified by Nash, Shapley, and Harsanyi. Reviews contexts in which negotiation and cooperation among libraries is of special economic importance, and for two of these contexts-cooperative acquisitions and cooperative automation-illustrates…

Exact probability distribution functions for Parrondo's games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zadourian, Rubina; Saakian, David B.; Klümper, Andreas

2016-12-01

We study the discrete time dynamics of Brownian ratchet models and Parrondo's games. Using the Fourier transform, we calculate the exact probability distribution functions for both the capital dependent and history dependent Parrondo's games. In certain cases we find strong oscillations near the maximum of the probability distribution with two limiting distributions for odd and even number of rounds of the game. Indications of such oscillations first appeared in the analysis of real financial data, but now we have found this phenomenon in model systems and a theoretical understanding of the phenomenon. The method of our work can be applied to Brownian ratchets, molecular motors, and portfolio optimization.

Exact probability distribution functions for Parrondo's games.

PubMed

Zadourian, Rubina; Saakian, David B; Klümper, Andreas

2016-12-01

We study the discrete time dynamics of Brownian ratchet models and Parrondo's games. Using the Fourier transform, we calculate the exact probability distribution functions for both the capital dependent and history dependent Parrondo's games. In certain cases we find strong oscillations near the maximum of the probability distribution with two limiting distributions for odd and even number of rounds of the game. Indications of such oscillations first appeared in the analysis of real financial data, but now we have found this phenomenon in model systems and a theoretical understanding of the phenomenon. The method of our work can be applied to Brownian ratchets, molecular motors, and portfolio optimization.

Autogenerator-based modelling framework for development of strategic games simulations: rational pigs game extended.

PubMed

Fabac, Robert; Radošević, Danijel; Magdalenić, Ivan

2014-01-01

When considering strategic games from the conceptual perspective that focuses on the questions of participants' decision-making rationality, the very issues of modelling and simulation are rarely discussed. The well-known Rational Pigs matrix game has been relatively intensively analyzed in terms of reassessment of the logic of two players involved in asymmetric situations as gluttons that differ significantly by their attributes. This paper presents a successful attempt of using autogenerator for creating the framework of the game, including the predefined scenarios and corresponding payoffs. Autogenerator offers flexibility concerning the specification of game parameters, which consist of variations in the number of simultaneous players and their features and game objects and their attributes as well as some general game characteristics. In the proposed approach the model of autogenerator was upgraded so as to enable program specification updates. For the purpose of treatment of more complex strategic scenarios, we created the Rational Pigs Game Extended (RPGE), in which the introduction of a third glutton entails significant structural changes. In addition, due to the existence of particular attributes of the new player, "the tramp," one equilibrium point from the original game is destabilized which has an influence on the decision-making of rational players.

Autogenerator-Based Modelling Framework for Development of Strategic Games Simulations: Rational Pigs Game Extended

PubMed Central

Magdalenić, Ivan

2014-01-01

When considering strategic games from the conceptual perspective that focuses on the questions of participants' decision-making rationality, the very issues of modelling and simulation are rarely discussed. The well-known Rational Pigs matrix game has been relatively intensively analyzed in terms of reassessment of the logic of two players involved in asymmetric situations as gluttons that differ significantly by their attributes. This paper presents a successful attempt of using autogenerator for creating the framework of the game, including the predefined scenarios and corresponding payoffs. Autogenerator offers flexibility concerning the specification of game parameters, which consist of variations in the number of simultaneous players and their features and game objects and their attributes as well as some general game characteristics. In the proposed approach the model of autogenerator was upgraded so as to enable program specification updates. For the purpose of treatment of more complex strategic scenarios, we created the Rational Pigs Game Extended (RPGE), in which the introduction of a third glutton entails significant structural changes. In addition, due to the existence of particular attributes of the new player, “the tramp,” one equilibrium point from the original game is destabilized which has an influence on the decision-making of rational players. PMID:25254228

Defining and Leveraging Game Qualities for Serious Games

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, Michael W.; Shen, Yuzhong

2011-01-01

Serious games can and should leverage the unique qualities of video games to effectively deliver educational experiences for the learners. However, leveraging these qualities is incumbent upon understanding what these unique 'game' qualities are , and how they can facilitate the learning process. This paper presents an examination of the meaning of the term 'game' . as it applies to both serious games and digital entertainment games. Through the examination of counter examples, we derive three game characteristics; games are self contained, provide a variety of meaningful choices, and are intrinsically compelling. We also discuss the theoretical educational foundations which support the application of these 'game qualities' to educational endeavors. This paper concludes with a presentation of results achieved through the application of these qualities and the applicable educational theories to teach learners about the periodic table of elements via a serious game developed by the authors.

Using Instructional Pervasive Game for School Children's Cultural Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Cheng-Ping; Shih, Ju-Ling; Ma, Yi-Chun

2014-01-01

In the past ten years, mobile learning (m-learning) has created a new learning environment that enables learners, through active learning aids. Instructional pervasive gaming (IPG) seems to be an innovative way introduced to enhance m-learning. This study employed a theoretical IPG model to construct a cultural-based pervasive game. Individual and…

Unfavorable Individuals in Social Gaming Networks.

PubMed

Zhang, Yichao; Chen, Guanrong; Guan, Jihong; Zhang, Zhongzhi; Zhou, Shuigeng

2015-12-09

In social gaming networks, the current research focus has been on the origin of widespread reciprocal behaviors when individuals play non-cooperative games. In this paper, we investigate the topological properties of unfavorable individuals in evolutionary games. The unfavorable individuals are defined as the individuals gaining the lowest average payoff in a round of game. Since the average payoff is normally considered as a measure of fitness, the unfavorable individuals are very likely to be eliminated or change their strategy updating rules from a Darwinian perspective. Considering that humans can hardly adopt a unified strategy to play with their neighbors, we propose a divide-and-conquer game model, where individuals can interact with their neighbors in the network with appropriate strategies. We test and compare a series of highly rational strategy updating rules. In the tested scenarios, our analytical and simulation results surprisingly reveal that the less-connected individuals in degree-heterogeneous networks are more likely to become the unfavorable individuals. Our finding suggests that the connectivity of individuals as a social capital fundamentally changes the gaming environment. Our model, therefore, provides a theoretical framework for further understanding the social gaming networks.

Unfavorable Individuals in Social Gaming Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yichao; Chen, Guanrong; Guan, Jihong; Zhang, Zhongzhi; Zhou, Shuigeng

2015-12-01

In social gaming networks, the current research focus has been on the origin of widespread reciprocal behaviors when individuals play non-cooperative games. In this paper, we investigate the topological properties of unfavorable individuals in evolutionary games. The unfavorable individuals are defined as the individuals gaining the lowest average payoff in a round of game. Since the average payoff is normally considered as a measure of fitness, the unfavorable individuals are very likely to be eliminated or change their strategy updating rules from a Darwinian perspective. Considering that humans can hardly adopt a unified strategy to play with their neighbors, we propose a divide-and-conquer game model, where individuals can interact with their neighbors in the network with appropriate strategies. We test and compare a series of highly rational strategy updating rules. In the tested scenarios, our analytical and simulation results surprisingly reveal that the less-connected individuals in degree-heterogeneous networks are more likely to become the unfavorable individuals. Our finding suggests that the connectivity of individuals as a social capital fundamentally changes the gaming environment. Our model, therefore, provides a theoretical framework for further understanding the social gaming networks.

Electromagnetic game modeling through Tensor Analysis of Networks and Game Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maurice, Olivier; Reineix, Alain; Lalléchère, Sébastien

2014-10-01

A complex system involves events coming from natural behaviors. Whatever is the complicated face of machines, they are still far from the complexity of natural systems. Currently, economy is one of the rare science trying to find out some ways to model human behavior. These attempts involve game theory and psychology. Our purpose is to develop a formalism able to take in charge both game and hardware modeling. We first present the Tensorial Analysis of Networks, used for the material part of the system. Then, we detail the mathematical objects defined in order to describe the evolution of the system and its gaming side. To illustrate the discussion we consider the case of a drone whose electronic can be disturbed by a radar field, but this drone must fly as near as possible close to this radar.

A bargaining game analysis of international climate negotiations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smead, Rory; Sandler, Ronald L.; Forber, Patrick; Basl, John

2014-06-01

Climate negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have so far failed to achieve a robust international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Game theory has been used to investigate possible climate negotiation solutions and strategies for accomplishing them. Negotiations have been primarily modelled as public goods games such as the Prisoner's Dilemma, though coordination games or games of conflict have also been used. Many of these models have solutions, in the form of equilibria, corresponding to possible positive outcomes--that is, agreements with the requisite emissions reduction commitments. Other work on large-scale social dilemmas suggests that it should be possible to resolve the climate problem. It therefore seems that equilibrium selection may be a barrier to successful negotiations. Here we use an N-player bargaining game in an agent-based model with learning dynamics to examine the past failures of and future prospects for a robust international climate agreement. The model suggests reasons why the desirable solutions identified in previous game-theoretic models have not yet been accomplished in practice and what mechanisms might be used to achieve these solutions.

Prediction of stock markets by the evolutionary mix-game model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Fang; Gou, Chengling; Guo, Xiaoqian; Gao, Jieping

2008-06-01

This paper presents the efforts of using the evolutionary mix-game model, which is a modified form of the agent-based mix-game model, to predict financial time series. Here, we have carried out three methods to improve the original mix-game model by adding the abilities of strategy evolution to agents, and then applying the new model referred to as the evolutionary mix-game model to forecast the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index. The results show that these modifications can improve the accuracy of prediction greatly when proper parameters are chosen.

Ising model versus normal form game

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galam, Serge; Walliser, Bernard

2010-02-01

The 2-spin Ising model in statistical mechanics and the 2×2 normal form game in game theory are compared. All configurations allowed by the second are recovered by the first when the only concern is about Nash equilibria. But it holds no longer when Pareto optimum considerations are introduced as in the prisoner’s dilemma. This gap can nevertheless be filled by adding a new coupling term to the Ising model, even if that term has up to now no physical meaning. An individual complete bilinear objective function is thus found to be sufficient to reproduce all possible configurations of a 2×2 game. Using this one-to-one mapping new perspectives for future research in both fields can be envisioned.

Motivation Monitoring and Assessment Extension for Input-Process-Outcome Game Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghergulescu, Ioana; Muntean, Cristina Hava

2014-01-01

This article proposes a Motivation Assessment-oriented Input-Process-Outcome Game Model (MotIPO), which extends the Input-Process-Outcome game model with game-centred and player-centred motivation assessments performed right from the beginning of the game-play. A feasibility case-study involving 67 participants playing an educational game and…

Games and Diabetes

PubMed Central

Lazem, Shaimaa; Webster, Mary; Holmes, Wayne; Wolf, Motje

2015-01-01

Here we review 18 articles that describe the design and evaluation of 1 or more games for diabetes from technical, methodological, and theoretical perspectives. We undertook searches covering the period 2010 to May 2015 in the ACM, IEEE, Journal of Medical Internet Research, Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, and Google Scholar online databases using the keywords “children,” “computer games,” “diabetes,” “games,” “type 1,” and “type 2” in various Boolean combinations. The review sets out to establish, for future research, an understanding of the current landscape of digital games designed for children with diabetes. We briefly explored the use and impact of well-established learning theories in such games. The most frequently mentioned theoretical frameworks were social cognitive theory and social constructivism. Due to the limitations of the reported evaluation methodologies, little evidence was found to support the strong promise of games for diabetes. Furthermore, we could not establish a relation between design features and the game outcomes. We argue that an in-depth discussion about the extent to which learning theories could and should be manifested in the design decisions is required. PMID:26337753

How much inequality in income is fair? A microeconomic game theoretic perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venkatasubramanian, Venkat; Luo, Yu; Sethuraman, Jay

2015-10-01

The increasing inequality in income and wealth in recent years, and the associated excessive pay packages of CEOs in the US and elsewhere, is of growing concern among policy makers as well as the common person. However, there seems to be no satisfactory answer, in conventional economic theories and models, to the fundamental questions of what kind of income distribution we ought to see, at least under ideal conditions, in a free market environment, and whether this distribution is fair. We propose a novel microeconomic game theoretic framework that addresses these questions and proves that the lognormal distribution is the fairest inequality of pay in an organization comprising of homogeneous agents, under ideal free market conditions at equilibrium. We also show that for a population of two different classes of agents, the equilibrium distribution is a combination of two different lognormal distributions where one of them, corresponding to the top ˜3-5% of the population, can be misidentified as a Pareto distribution. We compare our predictions with empirical data on global income inequality trends provided by Piketty and others. Our analysis suggests that the Scandinavian countries, and to a lesser extent Switzerland, Netherlands and Australia, have managed to get close to the ideal distribution for the bottom ˜99% of the population, while the US and UK remain less fair at the other extreme. Other European countries such as France and Germany, and Japan and Canada, are in the middle. Our theory also shows the deep and direct connection between potential game theory and statistical mechanics through entropy, which we identify as a measure of fairness in a distribution. This leads us to propose the fair market hypothesis, that the self-organizing dynamics of the ideal free market, i.e., Adam Smith's "invisible hand", not only promotes efficiency but also maximizes fairness under the given constraints.

Emphasizing Saddle Points through Game Theory: A Classroom Activity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dorrington, Jenny; Jones, Michael A.

2000-01-01

Introduces the necessary game-theoretic background and explains how game-theoretic experiments of the Matching Pennies game can be used as a classroom activity to develop intuition about saddle points. (Author/ASK)

The MAGIC (Manually Assisted Gaming of Integrated Combat) Model,

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-05-01

IP -6 7 6 7 Zo - A O - ?G O 6 7 9 N L mhhhhh1h8I 1-I THE MAGIC (MANUALLY ASSISTED GAMING OF INTEGRATED COMBAT) MODEL Milton G. Weiner May 1982 L io...Corporation Santa Monica, California 90406 - - ~-. - - -i 77 THE MAGIC (MANUALLY ASSISTED GAMING OF INTEGRATED COMBAT) MODEL Milton G. Weiner May 1982 THE... MAGIC (MANUALLY ASSISTED GAMING OF INTEGRATED COMBAT) MODEL Milton G. Weiner The Rand Corporation, Santa Monica, California The MAGIC model isn’Vt

Models, Simulations, and Games: A Survey.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shubik, Martin; Brewer, Garry D.

A Rand evaluation of activity and products of gaming, model-building, and simulation carried out under the auspices of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency aimed not only to assess the usefulness of gaming in military-political policymaking, but also to contribute to the definition of common standards and the refinement of objectives for…

The world's biomes and primary production as a triple tragedy of the commons foraging game played among plants

PubMed Central

Gonzalez-Meler, Miquel A.; Lynch, Douglas J.; Baltzer, Jennifer L.

2016-01-01

Plants appear to produce an excess of leaves, stems and roots beyond what would provide the most efficient harvest of available resources. One way to understand this overproduction of tissues is that excess tissue production provides a competitive advantage. Game theoretic models predict overproduction of all tissues compared with non-game theoretic models because they explicitly account for this indirect competitive benefit. Here, we present a simple game theoretic model of plants simultaneously competing to harvest carbon and nitrogen. In the model, a plant's fitness is influenced by its own leaf, stem and root production, and the tissue production of others, which produces a triple tragedy of the commons. Our model predicts (i) absolute net primary production when compared with two independent global datasets; (ii) the allocation relationships to leaf, stem and root tissues in one dataset; (iii) the global distribution of biome types and the plant functional types found within each biome; and (iv) ecosystem responses to nitrogen or carbon fertilization. Our game theoretic approach removes the need to define allocation or vegetation type a priori but instead lets these emerge from the model as evolutionarily stable strategies. We believe this to be the simplest possible model that can describe plant production. PMID:28120794

The world's biomes and primary production as a triple tragedy of the commons foraging game played among plants.

PubMed

McNickle, Gordon G; Gonzalez-Meler, Miquel A; Lynch, Douglas J; Baltzer, Jennifer L; Brown, Joel S

2016-11-16

Plants appear to produce an excess of leaves, stems and roots beyond what would provide the most efficient harvest of available resources. One way to understand this overproduction of tissues is that excess tissue production provides a competitive advantage. Game theoretic models predict overproduction of all tissues compared with non-game theoretic models because they explicitly account for this indirect competitive benefit. Here, we present a simple game theoretic model of plants simultaneously competing to harvest carbon and nitrogen. In the model, a plant's fitness is influenced by its own leaf, stem and root production, and the tissue production of others, which produces a triple tragedy of the commons. Our model predicts (i) absolute net primary production when compared with two independent global datasets; (ii) the allocation relationships to leaf, stem and root tissues in one dataset; (iii) the global distribution of biome types and the plant functional types found within each biome; and (iv) ecosystem responses to nitrogen or carbon fertilization. Our game theoretic approach removes the need to define allocation or vegetation type a priori but instead lets these emerge from the model as evolutionarily stable strategies. We believe this to be the simplest possible model that can describe plant production. © 2016 The Author(s).

Power allocation for target detection in radar networks based on low probability of intercept: A cooperative game theoretical strategy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Chenguang; Salous, Sana; Wang, Fei; Zhou, Jianjiang

2017-08-01

Distributed radar network systems have been shown to have many unique features. Due to their advantage of signal and spatial diversities, radar networks are attractive for target detection. In practice, the netted radars in radar networks are supposed to maximize their transmit power to achieve better detection performance, which may be in contradiction with low probability of intercept (LPI). Therefore, this paper investigates the problem of adaptive power allocation for radar networks in a cooperative game-theoretic framework such that the LPI performance can be improved. Taking into consideration both the transmit power constraints and the minimum signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) requirement of each radar, a cooperative Nash bargaining power allocation game based on LPI is formulated, whose objective is to minimize the total transmit power by optimizing the power allocation in radar networks. First, a novel SINR-based network utility function is defined and utilized as a metric to evaluate power allocation. Then, with the well-designed network utility function, the existence and uniqueness of the Nash bargaining solution are proved analytically. Finally, an iterative Nash bargaining algorithm is developed that converges quickly to a Pareto optimal equilibrium for the cooperative game. Numerical simulations and theoretic analysis are provided to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Towards an Iterated Game Model with Multiple Adversaries in Smart-World Systems.

PubMed

He, Xiaofei; Yang, Xinyu; Yu, Wei; Lin, Jie; Yang, Qingyu

2018-02-24

Diverse and varied cyber-attacks challenge the operation of the smart-world system that is supported by Internet-of-Things (IoT) (smart cities, smart grid, smart transportation, etc.) and must be carefully and thoughtfully addressed before widespread adoption of the smart-world system can be fully realized. Although a number of research efforts have been devoted to defending against these threats, a majority of existing schemes focus on the development of a specific defensive strategy to deal with specific, often singular threats. In this paper, we address the issue of coalitional attacks, which can be launched by multiple adversaries cooperatively against the smart-world system such as smart cities. Particularly, we propose a game-theory based model to capture the interaction among multiple adversaries, and quantify the capacity of the defender based on the extended Iterated Public Goods Game (IPGG) model. In the formalized game model, in each round of the attack, a participant can either cooperate by participating in the coalitional attack, or defect by standing aside. In our work, we consider the generic defensive strategy that has a probability to detect the coalitional attack. When the coalitional attack is detected, all participating adversaries are penalized. The expected payoff of each participant is derived through the equalizer strategy that provides participants with competitive benefits. The multiple adversaries with the collusive strategy are also considered. Via a combination of theoretical analysis and experimentation, our results show that no matter which strategies the adversaries choose (random strategy, win-stay-lose-shift strategy, or even the adaptive equalizer strategy), our formalized game model is capable of enabling the defender to greatly reduce the maximum value of the expected average payoff to the adversaries via provisioning sufficient defensive resources, which is reflected by setting a proper penalty factor against the adversaries

Testability of evolutionary game dynamics based on experimental economics data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yijia; Chen, Xiaojie; Wang, Zhijian

In order to better understand the dynamic processes of a real game system, we need an appropriate dynamics model, so to evaluate the validity of a model is not a trivial task. Here, we demonstrate an approach, considering the dynamical macroscope patterns of angular momentum and speed as the measurement variables, to evaluate the validity of various dynamics models. Using the data in real time Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS) games experiments, we obtain the experimental dynamic patterns, and then derive the related theoretical dynamic patterns from a series of typical dynamics models respectively. By testing the goodness-of-fit between the experimental and theoretical patterns, the validity of the models can be evaluated. One of the results in our study case is that, among all the nonparametric models tested, the best-known Replicator dynamics model performs almost worst, while the Projection dynamics model performs best. Besides providing new empirical macroscope patterns of social dynamics, we demonstrate that the approach can be an effective and rigorous tool to test game dynamics models. Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (SSEYI2014Z) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No. 61503062).

Perceived game realism: a test of three alternative models.

PubMed

Ribbens, Wannes

2013-01-01

Perceived realism is considered a key concept in explaining the mental processing of media messages and the societal impact of media. Despite its importance, little is known about its conceptualization and dimensional structure, especially with regard to digital games. The aim of this study was to test a six-factor model of perceived game realism comprised of simulational realism, freedom of choice, perceptual pervasiveness, social realism, authenticity, and character involvement and to assess it against an alternative single- and five-factor model. Data were collected from 380 male digital game users who judged the realism of the first-person shooter Half-Life 2 based upon their previous experience with the game. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to investigate which model fits the data best. The results support the six-factor model over the single- and five-factor solutions. The study contributes to our knowledge of perceived game realism by further developing its conceptualization and measurement.

Transfer of conflict and cooperation from experienced games to new games: a connectionist model of learning

PubMed Central

Spiliopoulos, Leonidas

2015-01-01

The question of whether, and if so how, learning can be transfered from previously experienced games to novel games has recently attracted the attention of the experimental game theory literature. Existing research presumes that learning operates over actions, beliefs or decision rules. This study instead uses a connectionist approach that learns a direct mapping from game payoffs to a probability distribution over own actions. Learning is operationalized as a backpropagation rule that adjusts the weights of feedforward neural networks in the direction of increasing the probability of an agent playing a myopic best response to the last game played. One advantage of this approach is that it expands the scope of the model to any possible n × n normal-form game allowing for a comprehensive model of transfer of learning. Agents are exposed to games drawn from one of seven classes of games with significantly different strategic characteristics and then forced to play games from previously unseen classes. I find significant transfer of learning, i.e., behavior that is path-dependent, or conditional on the previously seen games. Cooperation is more pronounced in new games when agents are previously exposed to games where the incentive to cooperate is stronger than the incentive to compete, i.e., when individual incentives are aligned. Prior exposure to Prisoner's dilemma, zero-sum and discoordination games led to a significant decrease in realized payoffs for all the game classes under investigation. A distinction is made between superficial and deep transfer of learning both—the former is driven by superficial payoff similarities between games, the latter by differences in the incentive structures or strategic implications of the games. I examine whether agents learn to play the Nash equilibria of games, how they select amongst multiple equilibria, and whether they transfer Nash equilibrium behavior to unseen games. Sufficient exposure to a strategically heterogeneous

Use of game-theoretical methods in biochemistry and biophysics.

PubMed

Schuster, Stefan; Kreft, Jan-Ulrich; Schroeter, Anja; Pfeiffer, Thomas

2008-04-01

Evolutionary game theory can be considered as an extension of the theory of evolutionary optimisation in that two or more organisms (or more generally, units of replication) tend to optimise their properties in an interdependent way. Thus, the outcome of the strategy adopted by one species (e.g., as a result of mutation and selection) depends on the strategy adopted by the other species. In this review, the use of evolutionary game theory for analysing biochemical and biophysical systems is discussed. The presentation is illustrated by a number of instructive examples such as the competition between microorganisms using different metabolic pathways for adenosine triphosphate production, the secretion of extracellular enzymes, the growth of trees and photosynthesis. These examples show that, due to conflicts of interest, the global optimum (in the sense of being the best solution for the whole system) is not always obtained. For example, some yeast species use metabolic pathways that waste nutrients, and in a dense tree canopy, trees grow taller than would be optimal for biomass productivity. From the viewpoint of game theory, the examples considered can be described by the Prisoner's Dilemma, snowdrift game, Tragedy of the Commons and rock-scissors-paper game.

An Evolving Asymmetric Game for Modeling Interdictor-Smuggler Problems

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

ASYMMETRIC GAME FOR MODELING INTERDICTOR-SMUGGLER PROBLEMS by Richard J. Allain June 2016 Thesis Advisor: David L. Alderson Second Reader: W...DATES COVERED Master’s thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE AN EVOLVING ASYMMETRIC GAME FOR MODELING INTERDICTOR- SMUGGLER PROBLEMS 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 6...using incomplete feedback and allowing two-sided adaptive play. Combining these aspects in an evolving game , we use optimization, simulation, and

An Evolutionary Game Theory Model of Spontaneous Brain Functioning.

PubMed

Madeo, Dario; Talarico, Agostino; Pascual-Leone, Alvaro; Mocenni, Chiara; Santarnecchi, Emiliano

2017-11-22

Our brain is a complex system of interconnected regions spontaneously organized into distinct networks. The integration of information between and within these networks is a continuous process that can be observed even when the brain is at rest, i.e. not engaged in any particular task. Moreover, such spontaneous dynamics show predictive value over individual cognitive profile and constitute a potential marker in neurological and psychiatric conditions, making its understanding of fundamental importance in modern neuroscience. Here we present a theoretical and mathematical model based on an extension of evolutionary game theory on networks (EGN), able to capture brain's interregional dynamics by balancing emulative and non-emulative attitudes among brain regions. This results in the net behavior of nodes composing resting-state networks identified using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), determining their moment-to-moment level of activation and inhibition as expressed by positive and negative shifts in BOLD fMRI signal. By spontaneously generating low-frequency oscillatory behaviors, the EGN model is able to mimic functional connectivity dynamics, approximate fMRI time series on the basis of initial subset of available data, as well as simulate the impact of network lesions and provide evidence of compensation mechanisms across networks. Results suggest evolutionary game theory on networks as a new potential framework for the understanding of human brain network dynamics.

Should the model for risk-informed regulation be game theory rather than decision theory?

PubMed

Bier, Vicki M; Lin, Shi-Woei

2013-02-01

Risk analysts frequently view the regulation of risks as being largely a matter of decision theory. According to this view, risk analysis methods provide information on the likelihood and severity of various possible outcomes; this information should then be assessed using a decision-theoretic approach (such as cost/benefit analysis) to determine whether the risks are acceptable, and whether additional regulation is warranted. However, this view ignores the fact that in many industries (particularly industries that are technologically sophisticated and employ specialized risk and safety experts), risk analyses may be done by regulated firms, not by the regulator. Moreover, those firms may have more knowledge about the levels of safety at their own facilities than the regulator does. This creates a situation in which the regulated firm has both the opportunity-and often also the motive-to provide inaccurate (in particular, favorably biased) risk information to the regulator, and hence the regulator has reason to doubt the accuracy of the risk information provided by regulated parties. Researchers have argued that decision theory is capable of dealing with many such strategic interactions as well as game theory can. This is especially true in two-player, two-stage games in which the follower has a unique best strategy in response to the leader's strategy, as appears to be the case in the situation analyzed in this article. However, even in such cases, we agree with Cox that game-theoretic methods and concepts can still be useful. In particular, the tools of mechanism design, and especially the revelation principle, can simplify the analysis of such games because the revelation principle provides rigorous assurance that it is sufficient to analyze only games in which licensees truthfully report their risk levels, making the problem more manageable. Without that, it would generally be necessary to consider much more complicated forms of strategic behavior (including

Group decisions in biodiversity conservation: implications from game theory.

PubMed

Frank, David M; Sarkar, Sahotra

2010-05-27

Decision analysis and game theory have proved useful tools in various biodiversity conservation planning and modeling contexts. This paper shows how game theory may be used to inform group decisions in biodiversity conservation scenarios by modeling conflicts between stakeholders to identify Pareto-inefficient Nash equilibria. These are cases in which each agent pursuing individual self-interest leads to a worse outcome for all, relative to other feasible outcomes. Three case studies from biodiversity conservation contexts showing this feature are modeled to demonstrate how game-theoretical representation can inform group decision-making. The mathematical theory of games is used to model three biodiversity conservation scenarios with Pareto-inefficient Nash equilibria: (i) a two-agent case involving wild dogs in South Africa; (ii) a three-agent raptor and grouse conservation scenario from the United Kingdom; and (iii) an n-agent fish and coral conservation scenario from the Philippines. In each case there is reason to believe that traditional mechanism-design solutions that appeal to material incentives may be inadequate, and the game-theoretical analysis recommends a resumption of further deliberation between agents and the initiation of trust--and confidence--building measures. Game theory can and should be used as a normative tool in biodiversity conservation contexts: identifying scenarios with Pareto-inefficient Nash equilibria enables constructive action in order to achieve (closer to) optimal conservation outcomes, whether by policy solutions based on mechanism design or otherwise. However, there is mounting evidence that formal mechanism-design solutions may backfire in certain cases. Such scenarios demand a return to group deliberation and the creation of reciprocal relationships of trust.

Business Models for Successfully Maintaining Games for Health.

PubMed

Baranowski, Moderator Tom; Isaac, Participants Fikry; Ashford, Chris; Goldman, Ron; Lenihan, David J; Poole, Brent; Buday, Richard; van Rijswijk, Jurriaan

2013-04-01

Videogames for health provide innovative, exciting, and possibly highly effective new media for helping players change their behaviors or otherwise benefit their health. Getting the right videogames into the hands of players who can benefit most in a way that pays for the continued innovation and creation of such games is a current challenge. Entertainment videogame companies, which create games primarily to enhance players' enjoyment, have used the general business marketplace (e.g., online stores, walk-in stores, app stores) to deliver their products directly to consumers and earn enough capital to invest in making new products. No one believes, however, that enough kids or adults would use the general business marketplace to purchase games for health in sufficient volume to provide the down payment for the innovation and creation of new games for health. A successful business model is critical to the financial future of games for health. We asked members of our Editorial Board who are in health-related companies (Fikry Isaac, MD, MPH), in several game development companies (Chris Ashford, Ron Goldman, David J. Lenihan, Brent Poole, and Richard Buday, FAIA), and the head of the Games for Health Europe Foundation (Jurriaan van Rijswijk, MSc) to address questions in a roundtable about the current and possible future business models for games for health.

Game-theoretic approach for improving cooperation in wireless multihop networks.

PubMed

Ng, See-Kee; Seah, Winston K G

2010-06-01

Traditional networks are built on the assumption that network entities cooperate based on a mandatory network communication semantic to achieve desirable qualities such as efficiency and scalability. Over the years, this assumption has been eroded by the emergence of users that alter network behavior in a way to benefit themselves at the expense of others. At one extreme, a malicious user/node may eavesdrop on sensitive data or deliberately inject packets into the network to disrupt network operations. The solution to this generally lies in encryption and authentication. In contrast, a rational node acts only to achieve an outcome that he desires most. In such a case, cooperation is still achievable if the outcome is to the best interest of the node. The node misbehavior problem would be more pronounced in multihop wireless networks like mobile ad hoc and sensor networks, which are typically made up of wireless battery-powered devices that must cooperate to forward packets for one another. However, cooperation may be hard to maintain as it consumes scarce resources such as bandwidth, computational power, and battery power. This paper applies game theory to achieve collusive networking behavior in such network environments. In this paper, pricing, promiscuous listening, and mass punishments are avoided altogether. Our model builds on recent work in the field of Economics on the theory of imperfect private monitoring for the dynamic Bertrand oligopoly, and adapts it to the wireless multihop network. The model derives conditions for collusive packet forwarding, truthful routing broadcasts, and packet acknowledgments under a lossy wireless multihop environment, thus capturing many important characteristics of the network layer and link layer in one integrated analysis that has not been achieved previously. We also provide a proof of the viability of the model under a theoretical wireless environment. Finally, we show how the model can be applied to design a generic

Game Theoretic, Multi-agent Approach to Network Traffic Monitoring

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-16

cases. That is why the symmetrized form of Kullback - Leibler divergence is often used Dskl = Dkl(P‖Q) +Dkl(Q‖P ) (3.9) We use a similar metric. If both...as a sequence of single-stage games with no transfer of information between the stages. This model is used as a formalism for the regret minimization...content of the transmitted information , but use the statistics (Fig. 1.1) in the NetFlow/IPFIX format [15, 14] to build, maintain and combine behav

Strategic exploration of battery waste management: A game-theoretic approach.

PubMed

Kaushal, Rajendra Kumar; Nema, Arvind K; Chaudhary, Jyoti

2015-07-01

Electronic waste or e-waste is the fastest growing stream of solid waste today. It contains both toxic substances as well as valuable resources. The present study uses a non-cooperative game-theoretic approach for efficient management of e-waste, particularly batteries that contribute a major portion of any e-waste stream and further analyses the economic consequences of recycling of these obsolete, discarded batteries. Results suggest that the recycler would prefer to collect the obsolete batteries directly from the consumer rather than from the manufacturer, only if, the incentive return to the consumer is less than 33.92% of the price of the battery, the recycling fee is less than 6.46% of the price of the battery, and the price of the recycled material is more than 31.08% of the price of the battery. The manufacturer's preferred choice of charging a green tax from the consumer can be fruitful for the battery recycling chain. © The Author(s) 2015.

Game theoretic approach for cooperative feature extraction in camera networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Redondi, Alessandro E. C.; Baroffio, Luca; Cesana, Matteo; Tagliasacchi, Marco

2016-07-01

Visual sensor networks (VSNs) consist of several camera nodes with wireless communication capabilities that can perform visual analysis tasks such as object identification, recognition, and tracking. Often, VSN deployments result in many camera nodes with overlapping fields of view. In the past, such redundancy has been exploited in two different ways: (1) to improve the accuracy/quality of the visual analysis task by exploiting multiview information or (2) to reduce the energy consumed for performing the visual task, by applying temporal scheduling techniques among the cameras. We propose a game theoretic framework based on the Nash bargaining solution to bridge the gap between the two aforementioned approaches. The key tenet of the proposed framework is for cameras to reduce the consumed energy in the analysis process by exploiting the redundancy in the reciprocal fields of view. Experimental results in both simulated and real-life scenarios confirm that the proposed scheme is able to increase the network lifetime, with a negligible loss in terms of visual analysis accuracy.

Towards an Iterated Game Model with Multiple Adversaries in Smart-World Systems †

PubMed Central

Yang, Xinyu; Yu, Wei; Lin, Jie; Yang, Qingyu

2018-01-01

Diverse and varied cyber-attacks challenge the operation of the smart-world system that is supported by Internet-of-Things (IoT) (smart cities, smart grid, smart transportation, etc.) and must be carefully and thoughtfully addressed before widespread adoption of the smart-world system can be fully realized. Although a number of research efforts have been devoted to defending against these threats, a majority of existing schemes focus on the development of a specific defensive strategy to deal with specific, often singular threats. In this paper, we address the issue of coalitional attacks, which can be launched by multiple adversaries cooperatively against the smart-world system such as smart cities. Particularly, we propose a game-theory based model to capture the interaction among multiple adversaries, and quantify the capacity of the defender based on the extended Iterated Public Goods Game (IPGG) model. In the formalized game model, in each round of the attack, a participant can either cooperate by participating in the coalitional attack, or defect by standing aside. In our work, we consider the generic defensive strategy that has a probability to detect the coalitional attack. When the coalitional attack is detected, all participating adversaries are penalized. The expected payoff of each participant is derived through the equalizer strategy that provides participants with competitive benefits. The multiple adversaries with the collusive strategy are also considered. Via a combination of theoretical analysis and experimentation, our results show that no matter which strategies the adversaries choose (random strategy, win-stay-lose-shift strategy, or even the adaptive equalizer strategy), our formalized game model is capable of enabling the defender to greatly reduce the maximum value of the expected average payoff to the adversaries via provisioning sufficient defensive resources, which is reflected by setting a proper penalty factor against the adversaries

Visualizing and modelling complex rockfall slopes using game-engine hosted models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ondercin, Matthew; Hutchinson, D. Jean; Harrap, Rob

2015-04-01

Innovations in computing in the past few decades have resulted in entirely new ways to collect 3d geological data and visualize it. For example, new tools and techniques relying on high performance computing capabilities have become widely available, allowing us to model rockfalls with more attention to complexity of the rock slope geometry and rockfall path, with significantly higher quality base data, and with more analytical options. Model results are used to design mitigation solutions, considering the potential paths of the rockfall events and the energy they impart on impacted structures. Such models are currently implemented as general-purpose GIS tools and in specialized programs. These tools are used to inspect geometrical and geomechanical data, model rockfalls, and communicate results to researchers and the larger community. The research reported here explores the notion that 3D game engines provide a high speed, widely accessible platform on which to build rockfall modelling workflows and to provide a new and accessible outreach method. Taking advantage of the in-built physics capability of the 3D game codes, and ability to handle large terrains, these models are rapidly deployed and generate realistic visualizations of rockfall trajectories. Their utility in this area is as yet unproven, but preliminary research shows that they are capable of producing results that are comparable to existing approaches. Furthermore, modelling of case histories shows that the output matches the behaviour that is observed in the field. The key advantage of game-engine hosted models is their accessibility to the general public and to people with little to no knowledge of rockfall hazards. With much of the younger generation being very familiar with 3D environments such as Minecraft, the idea of a game-like simulation is intuitive and thus offers new ways to communicate to the general public. We present results from using the Unity game engine to develop 3D voxel worlds

A Study on Standard Competition with Network Effect Based on Evolutionary Game Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ye; Wang, Bingdong; Li, Kangning

Owing to networks widespread in modern society, standard competition with network effect is now endowed with new connotation. This paper aims to study the impact of network effect on standard competition; it is organized in the mode of "introduction-model setup-equilibrium analysis-conclusion". Starting from a well-structured model of evolutionary game, it is then extended to a dynamic analysis. This article proves both theoretically and empirically that whether or not a standard can lead the market trends depends on the utility it would bring, and the author also discusses some advisable strategies revolving around the two factors of initial position and border break.

Decentralized indirect methods for learning automata games.

PubMed

Tilak, Omkar; Martin, Ryan; Mukhopadhyay, Snehasis

2011-10-01

We discuss the application of indirect learning methods in zero-sum and identical payoff learning automata games. We propose a novel decentralized version of the well-known pursuit learning algorithm. Such a decentralized algorithm has significant computational advantages over its centralized counterpart. The theoretical study of such a decentralized algorithm requires the analysis to be carried out in a nonstationary environment. We use a novel bootstrapping argument to prove the convergence of the algorithm. To our knowledge, this is the first time that such analysis has been carried out for zero-sum and identical payoff games. Extensive simulation studies are reported, which demonstrate the proposed algorithm's fast and accurate convergence in a variety of game scenarios. We also introduce the framework of partial communication in the context of identical payoff games of learning automata. In such games, the automata may not communicate with each other or may communicate selectively. This comprehensive framework has the capability to model both centralized and decentralized games discussed in this paper.

An empirical investigation of theoretical loss and gambling intensity.

PubMed

Auer, Michael; Griffiths, Mark D

2014-12-01

Many recent studies of internet gambling-particularly those that have analysed behavioural tracking data-have used variables such 'bet size' and 'number of games played' as proxy measures for 'gambling intensity'. In this paper it is argued that the most stable and reliable measure for 'gambling intensity' is the 'theoretical loss' (a product of total bet size and house advantage). In the long run, the theoretical loss corresponds with the Gross Gaming Revenue generated by commercial gaming operators. For shorter periods of time, theoretical loss is the most stable measure of gambling intensity as it is not distorted by gamblers' occasional wins. Even for single bets, the theoretical loss reflects the amount a player is willing to risk. Using behavioural tracking data of 100,000 players who played online casino, lottery and/or poker games, this paper also demonstrates that bet size does not equate to or explain theoretical loss as it does not take into account the house advantage. This lack of accuracy is shown to be even more pronounced for gamblers who play a variety of games.

Improving Simulated Annealing by Replacing Its Variables with Game-Theoretic Utility Maximizers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolpert, David H.; Bandari, Esfandiar; Tumer, Kagan

2001-01-01

The game-theory field of Collective INtelligence (COIN) concerns the design of computer-based players engaged in a non-cooperative game so that as those players pursue their self-interests, a pre-specified global goal for the collective computational system is achieved as a side-effect. Previous implementations of COIN algorithms have outperformed conventional techniques by up to several orders of magnitude, on domains ranging from telecommunications control to optimization in congestion problems. Recent mathematical developments have revealed that these previously developed algorithms were based on only two of the three factors determining performance. Consideration of only the third factor would instead lead to conventional optimization techniques like simulated annealing that have little to do with non-cooperative games. In this paper we present an algorithm based on all three terms at once. This algorithm can be viewed as a way to modify simulated annealing by recasting it as a non-cooperative game, with each variable replaced by a player. This recasting allows us to leverage the intelligent behavior of the individual players to substantially improve the exploration step of the simulated annealing. Experiments are presented demonstrating that this recasting significantly improves simulated annealing for a model of an economic process run over an underlying small-worlds topology. Furthermore, these experiments reveal novel small-worlds phenomena, and highlight the shortcomings of conventional mechanism design in bounded rationality domains.

On entropy, financial markets and minority games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zapart, Christopher A.

2009-04-01

The paper builds upon an earlier statistical analysis of financial time series with Shannon information entropy, published in [L. Molgedey, W. Ebeling, Local order, entropy and predictability of financial time series, European Physical Journal B-Condensed Matter and Complex Systems 15/4 (2000) 733-737]. A novel generic procedure is proposed for making multistep-ahead predictions of time series by building a statistical model of entropy. The approach is first demonstrated on the chaotic Mackey-Glass time series and later applied to Japanese Yen/US dollar intraday currency data. The paper also reinterprets Minority Games [E. Moro, The minority game: An introductory guide, Advances in Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics (2004)] within the context of physical entropy, and uses models derived from minority game theory as a tool for measuring the entropy of a model in response to time series. This entropy conditional upon a model is subsequently used in place of information-theoretic entropy in the proposed multistep prediction algorithm.

Randomized Prediction Games for Adversarial Machine Learning.

PubMed

Rota Bulo, Samuel; Biggio, Battista; Pillai, Ignazio; Pelillo, Marcello; Roli, Fabio

In spam and malware detection, attackers exploit randomization to obfuscate malicious data and increase their chances of evading detection at test time, e.g., malware code is typically obfuscated using random strings or byte sequences to hide known exploits. Interestingly, randomization has also been proposed to improve security of learning algorithms against evasion attacks, as it results in hiding information about the classifier to the attacker. Recent work has proposed game-theoretical formulations to learn secure classifiers, by simulating different evasion attacks and modifying the classification function accordingly. However, both the classification function and the simulated data manipulations have been modeled in a deterministic manner, without accounting for any form of randomization. In this paper, we overcome this limitation by proposing a randomized prediction game, namely, a noncooperative game-theoretic formulation in which the classifier and the attacker make randomized strategy selections according to some probability distribution defined over the respective strategy set. We show that our approach allows one to improve the tradeoff between attack detection and false alarms with respect to the state-of-the-art secure classifiers, even against attacks that are different from those hypothesized during design, on application examples including handwritten digit recognition, spam, and malware detection.In spam and malware detection, attackers exploit randomization to obfuscate malicious data and increase their chances of evading detection at test time, e.g., malware code is typically obfuscated using random strings or byte sequences to hide known exploits. Interestingly, randomization has also been proposed to improve security of learning algorithms against evasion attacks, as it results in hiding information about the classifier to the attacker. Recent work has proposed game-theoretical formulations to learn secure classifiers, by simulating different

Game Theory and Technical Communication: Interpreting the Texas Two-Step through Harsanyi Transformation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Miriam F.

2012-01-01

The author uses game theoretical models to identify technical communication breakdowns encountered during the notoriously confusing Texas Two-Step voting and caucusing process. Specifically, the author uses narrative theory and game theory to highlight areas where caucus participants needed instructions to better understand the rules of the game…

Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of an Evolutionary Social-Learning Game

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-13

Nettle outlines the circumstances in which verbal communication is evolutionarily adaptive, and why few species have developed the ability to use...language despite its apparent advantages [28]. Nettle uses a significantly simpler model than the Cultaptation game, but provides insight that may be useful...provided by Kearns et al. was designed as an online algorithm, so it only returns the near-optimal action for the state at the root of the search tree

Modeling market mechanism with the minority game

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Challet, Damien; Marsili, Matteo; Zhang, Yi-Cheng

2000-01-01

Using the minority game model we study a broad spectrum of problems of market mechanism. We study the role of different types of agents: producers, speculators as well as noise traders. The central issue here is the information flow: producers feed in the information whereas speculators make it away. How well each agent fares in the common game depends on the market conditions, as well as their sophistication. Sometimes there is much to gain with little effort, sometimes great effort virtually brings no more incremental gain. Market impact is also shown to play an important role, a strategy should be judged when it is actually used in play for its quality. Though the minority game is an extremely simplified market model, it allows to ask, analyze and answer many questions which arise in real markets.

Exploiting Textured 3D Models for Developing Serious Games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kontogianni, G.; Georgopoulos, A.

2015-08-01

Digital technologies have affected significantly many fields of computer graphics such as Games and especially the field of the Serious Games. These games are usually used for educational proposes in many fields such as Health Care, Military applications, Education, Government etc. Especially Digital Cultural Heritage is a scientific area that Serious Games are applied and lately many applications appear in the related literature. Realistic 3D textured models which have been produced using different photogrammetric methods could be a useful tool for the creation of Serious Game applications in order to make the final result more realistic and close to the reality. The basic goal of this paper is how 3D textured models which are produced by photogrammetric methods can be useful for developing a more realistic environment of a Serious Game. The application of this project aims at the creation of an educational game for the Ancient Agora of Athens. The 3D models used vary not only as far as their production methods (i.e. Time of Flight laser scanner, Structure from Motion, Virtual historical reconstruction etc.) is concerned, but also as far as their era as some of them illustrated according to their existing situation and some others according to how these monuments looked like in the past. The Unity 3D® game developing environment was used for creating this application, in which all these models were inserted in the same file format. For the application two diachronic virtual tours of the Athenian Agora were produced. The first one illustrates the Agora as it is today and the second one at the 2nd century A.D. Finally the future perspective for the evolution of this game is presented which includes the addition of some questions that the user will be able to answer. Finally an evaluation is scheduled to be performed at the end of the project.

An Institutional Mechanism for Assortment in an Ecology of Games

PubMed Central

Smaldino, Paul E.; Lubell, Mark

2011-01-01

Recent research has revived Long's “ecology of games” model to analyze how social actors cooperate in the context of multiple political and social games. However, there is still a paucity of theoretical work that considers the mechanisms by which large-scale cooperation can be promoted in a dynamic institutional landscape, in which actors can join new games and leave old ones. This paper develops an agent-based model of an ecology of games where agents participate in multiple public goods games. In addition to contribution decisions, the agents can leave and join different games, and these processes are de-coupled. We show that the payoff for cooperation is greater than for defection when limits to the number of actors per game (“capacity constraints”) structure the population in ways that allow cooperators to cluster, independent of any complex individual-level mechanisms such as reputation or punishment. Our model suggests that capacity constraints are one effective mechanism for producing positive assortment and increasing cooperation in an ecology of games. The results suggest an important trade-off between the inclusiveness of policy processes and cooperation: Fully inclusive policy processes reduce the chances of cooperation. PMID:21850249

Ising game: Nonequilibrium steady states of resource-allocation systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xin, C.; Yang, G.; Huang, J. P.

2017-04-01

Resource-allocation systems are ubiquitous in the human society. But how external fields affect the state of such systems remains poorly explored due to the lack of a suitable model. Because the behavior of spins pursuing energy minimization required by physical laws is similar to that of humans chasing payoff maximization studied in game theory, here we combine the Ising model with the market-directed resource-allocation game, yielding an Ising game. Based on the Ising game, we show theoretical, simulative and experimental evidences for a formula, which offers a clear expression of nonequilibrium steady states (NESSs). Interestingly, the formula also reveals a convertible relationship between the external field (exogenous factor) and resource ratio (endogenous factor), and a class of saturation as the external field exceeds certain limits. This work suggests that the Ising game could be a suitable model for studying external-field effects on resource-allocation systems, and it could provide guidance both for seeking more relations between NESSs and equilibrium states and for regulating human systems by choosing NESSs appropriately.

Fusing visual and behavioral cues for modeling user experience in games.

PubMed

Shaker, Noor; Asteriadis, Stylianos; Yannakakis, Georgios N; Karpouzis, Kostas

2013-12-01

Estimating affective and cognitive states in conditions of rich human-computer interaction, such as in games, is a field of growing academic and commercial interest. Entertainment and serious games can benefit from recent advances in the field as, having access to predictors of the current state of the player (or learner) can provide useful information for feeding adaptation mechanisms that aim to maximize engagement or learning effects. In this paper, we introduce a large data corpus derived from 58 participants that play the popular Super Mario Bros platform game and attempt to create accurate models of player experience for this game genre. Within the view of the current research, features extracted both from player gameplay behavior and game levels, and player visual characteristics have been used as potential indicators of reported affect expressed as pairwise preferences between different game sessions. Using neuroevolutionary preference learning and automatic feature selection, highly accurate models of reported engagement, frustration, and challenge are constructed (model accuracies reach 91%, 92%, and 88% for engagement, frustration, and challenge, respectively). As a step further, the derived player experience models can be used to personalize the game level to desired levels of engagement, frustration, and challenge as game content is mapped to player experience through the behavioral and expressivity patterns of each player.

Introduction to Theoretical Modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, Matthew J.; Gardiner, Simon A.; Hanna, Thomas M.; Nygaard, Nicolai; Proukakis, Nick P.; Szymańska, Marzena H.

2013-02-01

We briefly overview commonly encountered theoretical notions arising in the modelling of quantum gases, intended to provide a unified background to the `language' and diverse theoretical models presented elsewhere in this book, and aimed particularly at researchers from outside the quantum gases community.

Game Theory Meets Wireless Sensor Networks Security Requirements and Threats Mitigation: A Survey

PubMed Central

Abdalzaher, Mohamed S.; Seddik, Karim; Elsabrouty, Maha; Muta, Osamu; Furukawa, Hiroshi; Abdel-Rahman, Adel

2016-01-01

We present a study of using game theory for protecting wireless sensor networks (WSNs) from selfish behavior or malicious nodes. Due to scalability, low complexity and disseminated nature of WSNs, malicious attacks can be modeled effectively using game theory. In this study, we survey the different game-theoretic defense strategies for WSNs. We present a taxonomy of the game theory approaches based on the nature of the attack, whether it is caused by an external attacker or it is the result of an internal node acting selfishly or maliciously. We also present a general trust model using game theory for decision making. We, finally, identify the significant role of evolutionary games for WSNs security against intelligent attacks; then, we list several prospect applications of game theory to enhance the data trustworthiness and node cooperation in different WSNs. PMID:27367700

Game Theory Meets Wireless Sensor Networks Security Requirements and Threats Mitigation: A Survey.

PubMed

Abdalzaher, Mohamed S; Seddik, Karim; Elsabrouty, Maha; Muta, Osamu; Furukawa, Hiroshi; Abdel-Rahman, Adel

2016-06-29

We present a study of using game theory for protecting wireless sensor networks (WSNs) from selfish behavior or malicious nodes. Due to scalability, low complexity and disseminated nature of WSNs, malicious attacks can be modeled effectively using game theory. In this study, we survey the different game-theoretic defense strategies for WSNs. We present a taxonomy of the game theory approaches based on the nature of the attack, whether it is caused by an external attacker or it is the result of an internal node acting selfishly or maliciously. We also present a general trust model using game theory for decision making. We, finally, identify the significant role of evolutionary games for WSNs security against intelligent attacks; then, we list several prospect applications of game theory to enhance the data trustworthiness and node cooperation in different WSNs.

Critical Games: Four Games To Help Develop Critical Perspectives on Economic and Social Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cumming, James A., Ed.

The four games in this booklet are designed to stimulate critical thinking about the effects of structural and cultural issues on society and on the process of social change. The first and original game, "The Growth Game," gives participants a hands-on experience with the basic theoretical constructs of a Marxian critique of the mainstream tenets…

Analyzing Interaction Patterns to Verify a Simulation/Game Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Myers, Rodney Dean

2012-01-01

In order for simulations and games to be effective for learning, instructional designers must verify that the underlying computational models being used have an appropriate degree of fidelity to the conceptual models of their real-world counterparts. A simulation/game that provides incorrect feedback is likely to promote misunderstanding and…

Kidnapping model: an extension of Selten's game.

PubMed

Iqbal, Azhar; Masson, Virginie; Abbott, Derek

2017-12-01

Selten's game is a kidnapping model where the probability of capturing the kidnapper is independent of whether the hostage has been released or executed. Most often, in view of the elevated sensitivities involved, authorities put greater effort and resources into capturing the kidnapper if the hostage has been executed, in contrast with the case when a ransom is paid to secure the hostage's release. In this paper, we study the asymmetric game when the probability of capturing the kidnapper depends on whether the hostage has been executed or not and find a new uniquely determined perfect equilibrium point in Selten's game.

Modeling intelligent agent beliefs in a card game scenario

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gołuński, Marcel; Tomanek, Roman; WÄ siewicz, Piotr

In this paper we explore the problem of intelligent agent beliefs. We model agent beliefs using multimodal logics of belief, KD45(m) system implemented as a directed graph depicting Kripke semantics, precisely. We present a card game engine application which allows multiple agents to connect to a given game session and play the card game. As an example simplified version of popular Saboteur card game is used. Implementation was done in Java language using following libraries and applications: Apache Mina, LWJGL.

Cognitive behavioral game design: a unified model for designing serious games

PubMed Central

Starks, Katryna

2014-01-01

Video games have a unique ability to engage, challenge, and motivate, which has led teachers, psychology specialists, political activists and health educators to find ways of using them to help people learn, grow and change. Serious games, as they are called, are defined as games that have a primary purpose other than entertainment. However, it is challenging to create games that both educate and entertain. While game designers have embraced some psychological concepts such as flow and mastery, understanding how these concepts work together within established psychological theory would assist them in creating effective serious games. Similarly, game design professionals have understood the propensity of video games to teach while lamenting that educators do not understand how to incorporate educational principles into game play in a way that preserves the entertainment. Bandura (2006) social cognitive theory (SCT) has been used successfully to create video games that create positive behavior outcomes, and teachers have successfully used Gardner’s (1983) theory of multiple intelligences (MIs) to create engaging, immersive learning experiences. Cognitive behavioral game design is a new framework that incorporates SCT and MI with game design principles to create a game design blueprint for serious games. PMID:24550858

Cognitive behavioral game design: a unified model for designing serious games.

PubMed

Starks, Katryna

2014-01-01

Video games have a unique ability to engage, challenge, and motivate, which has led teachers, psychology specialists, political activists and health educators to find ways of using them to help people learn, grow and change. Serious games, as they are called, are defined as games that have a primary purpose other than entertainment. However, it is challenging to create games that both educate and entertain. While game designers have embraced some psychological concepts such as flow and mastery, understanding how these concepts work together within established psychological theory would assist them in creating effective serious games. Similarly, game design professionals have understood the propensity of video games to teach while lamenting that educators do not understand how to incorporate educational principles into game play in a way that preserves the entertainment. Bandura (2006) social cognitive theory (SCT) has been used successfully to create video games that create positive behavior outcomes, and teachers have successfully used Gardner's (1983) theory of multiple intelligences (MIs) to create engaging, immersive learning experiences. Cognitive behavioral game design is a new framework that incorporates SCT and MI with game design principles to create a game design blueprint for serious games.

Physics of cancer propagation: A game theory perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cleveland, Chris; Liao, David; Austin, Robert

2012-03-01

This is a theoretical paper which examines at a game theoretical perspective the dynamics of cooperators and cheater cells under metabolic stress conditions and high spatial heterogeneity. Although the ultimate aim of this work is to understand the dynamics of cancer tumor evolution under stress, we use a simple bacterial model to gain fundamental insights into the progression of resistance to drugs under high competition and stress conditions.

On the preservation of cooperation in two-strategy games with nonlocal interactions.

PubMed

Aydogmus, Ozgur; Zhou, Wen; Kang, Yun

2017-03-01

Nonlocal interactions such as spatial interaction are ubiquitous in nature and may alter the equilibrium in evolutionary dynamics. Models including nonlocal spatial interactions can provide a further understanding on the preservation and emergence of cooperation in evolutionary dynamics. In this paper, we consider a variety of two-strategy evolutionary spatial games with nonlocal interactions based on an integro-differential replicator equation. By defining the invasion speed and minimal traveling wave speed for the derived model, we study the effects of the payoffs, the selection pressure and the spatial parameter on the preservation of cooperation. One of our most interesting findings is that, for the Prisoners Dilemma games in which the defection is the only evolutionary stable strategy for unstructured populations, analyses on its asymptotic speed of propagation suggest that, in contrast with spatially homogeneous games, the cooperators can invade the habitat under proper conditions. Other two-strategy evolutionary spatial games are also explored. Both our theoretical and numerical studies show that the nonlocal spatial interaction favors diversity in strategies in a population and is able to preserve cooperation in a competing environment. A real data application in a virus mutation study echoes our theoretical observations. In addition, we compare the results of our model to the partial differential equation approach to demonstrate the importance of including non-local interaction component in evolutionary game models. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Modelling Human Emotions for Tactical Decision-Making Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Visschedijk, Gillian C.; Lazonder, Ard W.; van der Hulst, Anja; Vink, Nathalie; Leemkuil, Henny

2013-01-01

The training of tactical decision making increasingly occurs through serious computer games. A challenging aspect of designing such games is the modelling of human emotions. Two studies were performed to investigate the relation between fidelity and human emotion recognition in virtual human characters. Study 1 compared five versions of a virtual…

Game-XP: Action Games as Experimental Paradigms for Cognitive Science.

PubMed

Gray, Wayne D

2017-04-01

Why games? How could anyone consider action games an experimental paradigm for Cognitive Science? In 1973, as one of three strategies he proposed for advancing Cognitive Science, Allen Newell exhorted us to "accept a single complex task and do all of it." More specifically, he told us that rather than taking an "experimental psychology as usual approach," we should "focus on a series of experimental and theoretical studies around a single complex task" so as to demonstrate that our theories of human cognition were powerful enough to explain "a genuine slab of human behavior" with the studies fitting into a detailed theoretical picture. Action games represent the type of experimental paradigm that Newell was advocating and the current state of programming expertise and laboratory equipment, along with the emergence of Big Data and naturally occurring datasets, provide the technologies and data needed to realize his vision. Action games enable us to escape from our field's regrettable focus on novice performance to develop theories that account for the full range of expertise through a twin focus on expertise sampling (across individuals) and longitudinal studies (within individuals) of simple and complex tasks. Copyright © 2017 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Game-Based Learning in Science Education: A Review of Relevant Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ming-Chaun; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2013-12-01

The purpose of this study is to review empirical research articles regarding game-based science learning (GBSL) published from 2000 to 2011. Thirty-one articles were identified through the Web of Science and SCOPUS databases. A qualitative content analysis technique was adopted to analyze the research purposes and designs, game design and implementation, theoretical backgrounds and learning foci of these reviewed studies. The theories and models employed by these studies were classified into four theoretical foundations including cognitivism, constructivism, the socio-cultural perspective, and enactivism. The results indicate that cognitivism and constructivism were the major theoretical foundations employed by the GBSL researchers and that the socio-cultural perspective and enactivism are two emerging theoretical paradigms that have started to draw attention from GBSL researchers in recent years. The analysis of the learning foci showed that most of the digital games were utilized to promote scientific knowledge/concept learning, while less than one-third were implemented to facilitate the students' problem-solving skills. Only a few studies explored the GBSL outcomes from the aspects of scientific processes, affect, engagement, and socio-contextual learning. Suggestions are made to extend the current GBSL research to address the affective and socio-contextual aspects of science learning. The roles of digital games as tutor, tool, and tutee for science education are discussed, while the potentials of digital games to bridge science learning between real and virtual worlds, to promote collaborative problem-solving, to provide affective learning environments, and to facilitate science learning for younger students are also addressed.

Modelling human problem solving with data from an online game.

PubMed

Rach, Tim; Kirsch, Alexandra

2016-11-01

Since the beginning of cognitive science, researchers have tried to understand human strategies in order to develop efficient and adequate computational methods. In the domain of problem solving, the travelling salesperson problem has been used for the investigation and modelling of human solutions. We propose to extend this effort with an online game, in which instances of the travelling salesperson problem have to be solved in the context of a game experience. We report on our effort to design and run such a game, present the data contained in the resulting openly available data set and provide an outlook on the use of games in general for cognitive science research. In addition, we present three geometrical models mapping the starting point preferences in the problems presented in the game as the result of an evaluation of the data set.

A simple rule of direct reciprocity leads to the stable coexistence of cooperation and defection in the Prisoner's Dilemma game.

PubMed

Zheng, Xiu-Deng; Li, Cong; Yu, Jie-Ru; Wang, Shi-Chang; Fan, Song-Jia; Zhang, Bo-Yu; Tao, Yi

2017-05-07

The long-term coexistence of cooperation and defection is a common phenomenon in nature and human society. However, none of the theoretical models based on the Prisoner's Dilemma (PD) game can provide a concise theoretical model to explain what leads to the stable coexistence of cooperation and defection in the long-term even though some rules for promoting cooperation have been summarized (Nowak, 2006, Science 314, 1560-1563). Here, based on the concept of direct reciprocity, we develop an elementary model to show why stable coexistence of cooperation and defection in the PD game is possible. The basic idea behind our theoretical model is that all players in a PD game prefer a cooperator as an opponent, and our results show that considering strategies allowing opting out against defection provide a general and concise way of understanding the fundamental importance of direct reciprocity in driving the evolution of cooperation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Testing a Model to Predict Problem Gambling in Speculative Game Users].

PubMed

Park, Hyangjin; Kim, Suk Sun

2018-04-01

The purpose of the study was to develop and test a model for predicting problem gambling in speculative game users based on Blaszczynski and Nower's pathways model of problem and pathological gambling. The participants were 262 speculative game users recruited from seven speculative gambling places located in Seoul, Gangwon, and Gyeonggi, Korea. They completed a structured self-report questionnaire comprising measures of problem gambling, negative emotions, attentional impulsivity, motor impulsivity, non-planning impulsivity, gambler's fallacy, and gambling self-efficacy. Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the hypothesized model and to examine the direct and indirect effects on problem gambling in speculative game users using SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 20.0 programs. The hypothetical research model provided a reasonable fit to the data. Negative emotions, motor impulsivity, gambler's fallacy, and gambling self-efficacy had direct effects on problem gambling in speculative game users, while indirect effects were reported for negative emotions, motor impulsivity, and gambler's fallacy. These predictors explained 75.2% problem gambling in speculative game users. The findings suggest that developing intervention programs to reduce negative emotions, motor impulsivity, and gambler's fallacy, and to increase gambling self-efficacy in speculative game users are needed to prevent their problem gambling. © 2018 Korean Society of Nursing Science.

Spectral-spatial classification of hyperspectral imagery with cooperative game

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Ji; Zhong, Yanfei; Jia, Tianyi; Wang, Xinyu; Xu, Yao; Shu, Hong; Zhang, Liangpei

2018-01-01

Spectral-spatial classification is known to be an effective way to improve classification performance by integrating spectral information and spatial cues for hyperspectral imagery. In this paper, a game-theoretic spectral-spatial classification algorithm (GTA) using a conditional random field (CRF) model is presented, in which CRF is used to model the image considering the spatial contextual information, and a cooperative game is designed to obtain the labels. The algorithm establishes a one-to-one correspondence between image classification and game theory. The pixels of the image are considered as the players, and the labels are considered as the strategies in a game. Similar to the idea of soft classification, the uncertainty is considered to build the expected energy model in the first step. The local expected energy can be quickly calculated, based on a mixed strategy for the pixels, to establish the foundation for a cooperative game. Coalitions can then be formed by the designed merge rule based on the local expected energy, so that a majority game can be performed to make a coalition decision to obtain the label of each pixel. The experimental results on three hyperspectral data sets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed classification algorithm.

Evolutionary game theory: cells as players.

PubMed

Hummert, Sabine; Bohl, Katrin; Basanta, David; Deutsch, Andreas; Werner, Sarah; Theissen, Günter; Schroeter, Anja; Schuster, Stefan

2014-12-01

In two papers we review game theory applications in biology below the level of cognitive living beings. It can be seen that evolution and natural selection replace the rationality of the actors appropriately. Even in these micro worlds, competing situations and cooperative relationships can be found and modeled by evolutionary game theory. Also those units of the lowest levels of life show different strategies for different environmental situations or different partners. We give a wide overview of evolutionary game theory applications to microscopic units. In this first review situations on the cellular level are tackled. In particular metabolic problems are discussed, such as ATP-producing pathways, secretion of public goods and cross-feeding. Further topics are cyclic competition among more than two partners, intra- and inter-cellular signalling, the struggle between pathogens and the immune system, and the interactions of cancer cells. Moreover, we introduce the theoretical basics to encourage scientists to investigate problems in cell biology and molecular biology by evolutionary game theory.

The impacts of gaming expansion on economic growth: a theoretical reconsideration.

PubMed

Li, Guoqiang; Gu, Xinhua; Siu, Ricardo Chi Sen

2010-06-01

This paper employs a general equilibrium framework to analyze the effects on economic growth of global expansions in casino gaming, which exports gambling services largely to non-residents. Both domestic and foreign investments in the gaming sector bring in not only substantial revenues but also positive spillover effects on related sectors and even on the entire local economy. However, an over-expansion of commercial gambling may lead to deterioration in the terms of trade with an adverse impact on real income. If this situation persists, it would not be impossible for immiserizing growth to occur. As a highly profitable sector, casino gaming may enable its operators to diversify out of this risk if they invest retained profits in non-gaming sectors to cash in on the spillover effects it has created. The gaming-dominant economy can then be directed on a more balanced and sustainable growth path, and will become less susceptible to business cycles. Indeed, economic experiences in the world's major casino resorts are consistent basically with this argument for diversification. We believe that after the current global crisis fades away, economic growth and resulting surges in global demand for gambling services can provide further opportunities for the expansion of existing casino resorts and the development of new gaming markets.

Learning "in" or "with" Games? Quality Criteria for Digital Learning Games from the Perspectives of Learning, Emotion, and Motivation Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hense, Jan; Mandl, Heinz

2012-01-01

This conceptual paper aims to clarify the theoretical underpinnings of game based learning (GBL) and learning with digital learning games (DLGs). To do so, it analyses learning of game related skills and contents, which occurs constantly during playing conventional entertainment games, from three perspectives: learning theory, emotion theory, and…

Competitive game theoretic optimal routing in optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yassine, Abdulsalam; Kabranov, Ognian; Makrakis, Dimitrios

2002-09-01

Optical transport service providers need control and optimization strategies for wavelength management, network provisioning, restoration and protection, allowing them to define and deploy new services and maintain competitiveness. In this paper, we investigate a game theory based model for wavelength and flow assignment in multi wavelength optical networks, consisting of several backbone long-haul optical network transport service providers (TSPs) who are offering their services -in terms of bandwidth- to Internet service providers (ISPs). The ISPs act as brokers or agents between the TSP and end user. The agent (ISP) buys services (bandwidth) from the TSP. The TSPs compete among themselves to sell their services and maintain profitability. We present a case study, demonstrating the impact of different bandwidth broker demands on the supplier's profit and the price paid by the network broker.

A game-theoretical pricing mechanism for multiuser rate allocation for video over WiMAX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Chao-An; Lo, Chi-Wen; Lin, Chia-Wen; Chen, Yung-Chang

2010-07-01

In multiuser rate allocation in a wireless network, strategic users can bias the rate allocation by misrepresenting their bandwidth demands to a base station, leading to an unfair allocation. Game-theoretical approaches have been proposed to address the unfair allocation problems caused by the strategic users. However, existing approaches rely on a timeconsuming iterative negotiation process. Besides, they cannot completely prevent unfair allocations caused by inconsistent strategic behaviors. To address these problems, we propose a Search Based Pricing Mechanism to reduce the communication time and to capture a user's strategic behavior. Our simulation results show that the proposed method significantly reduce the communication time as well as converges stably to an optimal allocation.

Digital Gaming and Pediatric Obesity: At the Intersection of Science and Social Policy.

PubMed

Staiano, Amanda E; Calvert, Sandra L

2012-03-01

Children and adolescents in developed countries are heavily immersed in digital media, creating an inexpensive, far-reaching marketing opportunity for the food industry and the gaming industry. However, exposure to nonnutritious food and beverage advertisements combined with the use of stationary media create a conflict between entertainment and public health. Using the popular digital gaming platforms advergames (online games that market branded products) and exergames (video games that involves gross motor activity for play) as exemplars, the following article provides an analysis of the negative and positive health impacts of digital gaming as they relate specifically to overweight and obesity outcomes for children and adolescents. Theoretical explanations including the food marketing defense model, persuasion knowledge model, and social cognitive theory are used to explain the influence of gaming on young players' health. Throughout the article, we discuss the role of public policy to encourage the development and use of health-promoting digital games as an innovative, effective tool to combat the pediatric obesity crisis.

Digital Gaming and Pediatric Obesity: At the Intersection of Science and Social Policy

PubMed Central

Staiano, Amanda E.; Calvert, Sandra L.

2012-01-01

Children and adolescents in developed countries are heavily immersed in digital media, creating an inexpensive, far-reaching marketing opportunity for the food industry and the gaming industry. However, exposure to nonnutritious food and beverage advertisements combined with the use of stationary media create a conflict between entertainment and public health. Using the popular digital gaming platforms advergames (online games that market branded products) and exergames (video games that involves gross motor activity for play) as exemplars, the following article provides an analysis of the negative and positive health impacts of digital gaming as they relate specifically to overweight and obesity outcomes for children and adolescents. Theoretical explanations including the food marketing defense model, persuasion knowledge model, and social cognitive theory are used to explain the influence of gaming on young players’ health. Throughout the article, we discuss the role of public policy to encourage the development and use of health-promoting digital games as an innovative, effective tool to combat the pediatric obesity crisis. PMID:22545068

Speedminton: Using the Tactical Games Model in Secondary Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oh, Hyun-Ju; Bullard, Susan; Hovatter, Rhonda

2011-01-01

Teaching and learning of sport and sports-related games dominates the curriculum in most secondary physical education programs in America. For many secondary school students, playing games can be exciting and lead to a lifetime of participation in sport-related activities. Using the Tactical Games Model (TGM) (Mitchell et al., 2006) to teach the…

Bacteria and game theory: the rise and fall of cooperation in spatially heterogeneous environments.

PubMed

Lambert, Guillaume; Vyawahare, Saurabh; Austin, Robert H

2014-08-06

One of the predictions of game theory is that cooperative behaviours are vulnerable to exploitation by selfish individuals, but this result seemingly contradicts the survival of cooperation observed in nature. In this review, we will introduce game theoretical concepts that lead to this conclusion and show how the spatial competition dynamics between microorganisms can be used to model the survival and maintenance of cooperation. In particular, we focus on how Escherichia coli bacteria with a growth advantage in stationary phase (GASP) phenotype maintain a proliferative phenotype when faced with overcrowding to gain a fitness advantage over wild-type populations. We review recent experimental approaches studying the growth dynamics of competing GASP and wild-type strains of E. coli inside interconnected microfabricated habitats and use a game theoretical approach to analyse the observed inter-species interactions. We describe how the use of evolutionary game theory and the ideal free distribution accurately models the spatial distribution of cooperative and selfish individuals in spatially heterogeneous environments. Using bacteria as a model system of cooperative and selfish behaviours may lead to a better understanding of the competition dynamics of other organisms-including tumour-host interactions during cancer development and metastasis.

Path synthesis of four-bar mechanisms using synergy of polynomial neural network and Stackelberg game theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmadi, Bahman; Nariman-zadeh, Nader; Jamali, Ali

2017-06-01

In this article, a novel approach based on game theory is presented for multi-objective optimal synthesis of four-bar mechanisms. The multi-objective optimization problem is modelled as a Stackelberg game. The more important objective function, tracking error, is considered as the leader, and the other objective function, deviation of the transmission angle from 90° (TA), is considered as the follower. In a new approach, a group method of data handling (GMDH)-type neural network is also utilized to construct an approximate model for the rational reaction set (RRS) of the follower. Using the proposed game-theoretic approach, the multi-objective optimal synthesis of a four-bar mechanism is then cast into a single-objective optimal synthesis using the leader variables and the obtained RRS of the follower. The superiority of using the synergy game-theoretic method of Stackelberg with a GMDH-type neural network is demonstrated for two case studies on the synthesis of four-bar mechanisms.

Recommendations for Model Driven Paradigms for Integrated Approaches to Cyber Defense

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-06

analogy (e.g., Susceptible, Infected, Recovered [SIR]) • Abstract wargaming: game -theoretic model of cyber conflict without modeling the underlying...malware. 3.7 Abstract Wargaming Here, a game -theoretic process is modeled with moves and effects inspired by cyber conflict but without modeling the...underlying processes of cyber attack and defense. Examples in literature include the following: • Cho J-H, Gao J. Cyber war game in temporal networks

Analytical model for minority games with evolutionary learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campos, Daniel; Méndez, Vicenç; Llebot, Josep E.; Hernández, Germán A.

2010-06-01

In a recent work [D. Campos, J.E. Llebot, V. Méndez, Theor. Popul. Biol. 74 (2009) 16] we have introduced a biological version of the Evolutionary Minority Game that tries to reproduce the intraspecific competition for limited resources in an ecosystem. In comparison with the complex decision-making mechanisms used in standard Minority Games, only two extremely simple strategies ( juveniles and adults) are accessible to the agents. Complexity is introduced instead through an evolutionary learning rule that allows younger agents to learn taking better decisions. We find that this game shows many of the typical properties found for Evolutionary Minority Games, like self-segregation behavior or the existence of an oscillation phase for a certain range of the parameter values. However, an analytical treatment becomes much easier in our case, taking advantage of the simple strategies considered. Using a model consisting of a simple dynamical system, the phase diagram of the game (which differentiates three phases: adults crowd, juveniles crowd and oscillations) is reproduced.

Bringing your a-game: Educational gaming for student success.

PubMed

Strickland, Haley P; Kaylor, Sara K

2016-05-01

The purpose of this article is to describe the theoretical basis for the integration of gaming in nursing education and discuss aspects related to the implementation of "The Race for Nursing Student Success" game. This game was designed for 112 junior-level baccalaureate nursing students enrolled in a fundamentals nursing course. Students were divided into groups of 5-8 and rotated through ten specific learning activities that took place in various locations throughout the nursing building. Student and faculty feedback indicated positive responses to this instructional strategy and also promoted a learner-centered teaching environment. This learning activity supports the use of educational gaming as a means to develop learner-centered environments that provide experiential experiences, enhance learning, and stimulate interest, and motivation for students to learn. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

GTA: a game theoretic approach to identifying cancer subnetwork markers.

PubMed

Farahmand, S; Goliaei, S; Ansari-Pour, N; Razaghi-Moghadam, Z

2016-03-01

The identification of genetic markers (e.g. genes, pathways and subnetworks) for cancer has been one of the most challenging research areas in recent years. A subset of these studies attempt to analyze genome-wide expression profiles to identify markers with high reliability and reusability across independent whole-transcriptome microarray datasets. Therefore, the functional relationships of genes are integrated with their expression data. However, for a more accurate representation of the functional relationships among genes, utilization of the protein-protein interaction network (PPIN) seems to be necessary. Herein, a novel game theoretic approach (GTA) is proposed for the identification of cancer subnetwork markers by integrating genome-wide expression profiles and PPIN. The GTA method was applied to three distinct whole-transcriptome breast cancer datasets to identify the subnetwork markers associated with metastasis. To evaluate the performance of our approach, the identified subnetwork markers were compared with gene-based, pathway-based and network-based markers. We show that GTA is not only capable of identifying robust metastatic markers, it also provides a higher classification performance. In addition, based on these GTA-based subnetworks, we identified a new bonafide candidate gene for breast cancer susceptibility.

Equilibria, information and frustration in heterogeneous network games with conflicting preferences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazzoli, M.; Sánchez, A.

2017-11-01

Interactions between people are the basis on which the structure of our society arises as a complex system and, at the same time, are the starting point of any physical description of it. In the last few years, much theoretical research has addressed this issue by combining the physics of complex networks with a description of interactions in terms of evolutionary game theory. We here take this research a step further by introducing a most salient societal factor such as the individuals’ preferences, a characteristic that is key to understanding much of the social phenomenology these days. We consider a heterogeneous, agent-based model in which agents interact strategically with their neighbors, but their preferences and payoffs for the possible actions differ. We study how such a heterogeneous network behaves under evolutionary dynamics and different strategic interactions, namely coordination games and best shot games. With this model we study the emergence of the equilibria predicted analytically in random graphs under best response dynamics, and we extend this test to unexplored contexts like proportional imitation and scale free networks. We show that some theoretically predicted equilibria do not arise in simulations with incomplete information, and we demonstrate the importance of the graph topology and the payoff function parameters for some games. Finally, we discuss our results with the available experimental evidence on coordination games, showing that our model agrees better with the experiment than standard economic theories, and draw hints as to how to maximize social efficiency in situations of conflicting preferences.

Sexuality Education in Video Games: Recommendations for the Use of Video Games to Teach Human Sexuality Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gross, M. Scott

2005-01-01

This article provides a review of some of the currently available literature surrounding the academic study of video games. Many of these theoretical methods have been used to study film and television and are discussed here in order to frame the need for further examination of video games. Suggestions for the use of video games in the classroom…

Gaming against medical errors: methods and results from a design game on CPOE.

PubMed

Kanstrup, Anne Marie; Nøhr, Christian

2009-01-01

The paper presents design game as a technique for participatory design for a Computerized Decision Support System (CDSS) for minimizing medical errors. Design game is used as a technique for working with the skills of users, the complexity of the use practice and the negotiation of design here within the challenging domain of medication. The paper presents a developed design game based on game inspiration from a computer game, theoretical inspiration on electronic decision support, and empirical grounding in scenarios of medical errors. The game has been played in a two-hour workshop with six clinicians. The result is presented as a list of central themes for design of CDSS and derived design principles from these themes. These principles are currently under further exploration in follow up prototype based activities.

Entropy and equilibrium via games of complexity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Topsøe, Flemming

2004-09-01

It is suggested that thermodynamical equilibrium equals game theoretical equilibrium. Aspects of this thesis are discussed. The philosophy is consistent with maximum entropy thinking of Jaynes, but goes one step deeper by deriving the maximum entropy principle from an underlying game theoretical principle. The games introduced are based on measures of complexity. Entropy is viewed as minimal complexity. It is demonstrated that Tsallis entropy ( q-entropy) and Kaniadakis entropy ( κ-entropy) can be obtained in this way, based on suitable complexity measures. A certain unifying effect is obtained by embedding these measures in a two-parameter family of entropy functions.

Evolutionary game theory: molecules as players.

PubMed

Bohl, Katrin; Hummert, Sabine; Werner, Sarah; Basanta, David; Deutsch, Andreas; Schuster, Stefan; Theissen, Günter; Schroeter, Anja

2014-12-01

In this and an accompanying paper we review the use of game theoretical concepts in cell biology and molecular biology. This review focuses on the subcellular level by considering viruses, genes, and molecules as players. We discuss in which way catalytic RNA can be treated by game theory. Moreover, genes can compete for success in replication and can have different strategies in interactions with other genetic elements. Also transposable elements, or "jumping genes", can act as players because they usually bear different traits or strategies. Viruses compete in the case of co-infecting a host cell. Proteins interact in a game theoretical sense when forming heterodimers. Finally, we describe how the Shapley value can be applied to enzymes in metabolic pathways. We show that game theory can be successfully applied to describe and analyse scenarios at the molecular level resulting in counterintuitive conclusions.

Schrödinger Approach to Mean Field Games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swiecicki, Igor; Gobron, Thierry; Ullmo, Denis

2016-03-01

Mean field games (MFG) provide a theoretical frame to model socioeconomic systems. In this Letter, we study a particular class of MFG that shows strong analogies with the nonlinear Schrödinger and Gross-Pitaevskii equations introduced in physics to describe a variety of physical phenomena. Using this bridge, many results and techniques developed along the years in the latter context can be transferred to the former, which provides both a new domain of application for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation and a new and fruitful approach in the study of mean field games. Utilizing this approach, we analyze in detail a population dynamics model in which the "players" are under a strong incentive to coordinate themselves.

The challenge of audience reception: a developmental model for educational game engagement.

PubMed

Sherry, John L

2013-01-01

According to educational gaming advocates, the engaging nature of games encourages sustained game play and enhanced attention to learning outcomes among players. Because children's and adolescents' play time varies by game genre, engagement with a game likely reflects the match between the genre and the player's preferences and needs. Youth learn which games are likely to promote satisfying psychological needs and yield positive experiences, which then informs their engagement with the games. A model is presented for research and development of educational games based on uses and gratifications theory from communication science, as well as developmental science and cognitive science findings. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company.

War-gaming application for future space systems acquisition: MATLAB implementation of war-gaming acquisition models and simulation results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vienhage, Paul; Barcomb, Heather; Marshall, Karel; Black, William A.; Coons, Amanda; Tran, Hien T.; Nguyen, Tien M.; Guillen, Andy T.; Yoh, James; Kizer, Justin; Rogers, Blake A.

2017-05-01

The paper describes the MATLAB (MathWorks) programs that were developed during the REU workshop1 to implement The Aerospace Corporation developed Unified Game-based Acquisition Framework and Advanced Game - based Mathematical Framework (UGAF-AGMF) and its associated War-Gaming Engine (WGE) models. Each game can be played from the perspectives of the Department of Defense Acquisition Authority (DAA) or of an individual contractor (KTR). The programs also implement Aerospace's optimum "Program and Technical Baseline (PTB) and associated acquisition" strategy that combines low Total Ownership Cost (TOC) with innovative designs while still meeting warfighter needs. The paper also describes the Bayesian Acquisition War-Gaming approach using Monte Carlo simulations, a numerical analysis technique to account for uncertainty in decision making, which simulate the PTB development and acquisition processes and will detail the procedure of the implementation and the interactions between the games.

Study on system dynamics of evolutionary mix-game models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gou, Chengling; Guo, Xiaoqian; Chen, Fang

2008-11-01

Mix-game model is ameliorated from an agent-based MG model, which is used to simulate the real financial market. Different from MG, there are two groups of agents in Mix-game: Group 1 plays a majority game and Group 2 plays a minority game. These two groups of agents have different bounded abilities to deal with historical information and to count their own performance. In this paper, we modify Mix-game model by assigning the evolution abilities to agents: if the winning rates of agents are smaller than a threshold, they will copy the best strategies the other agent has; and agents will repeat such evolution at certain time intervals. Through simulations this paper finds: (1) the average winning rates of agents in Group 1 and the mean volatilities increase with the increases of the thresholds of Group 1; (2) the average winning rates of both groups decrease but the mean volatilities of system increase with the increase of the thresholds of Group 2; (3) the thresholds of Group 2 have greater impact on system dynamics than the thresholds of Group 1; (4) the characteristics of system dynamics under different time intervals of strategy change are similar to each other qualitatively, but they are different quantitatively; (5) As the time interval of strategy change increases from 1 to 20, the system behaves more and more stable and the performances of agents in both groups become better also.

Playing with Process: Video Game Choice as a Model of Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waelchli, Paul

2010-01-01

Popular culture experience in video games creates avenues to practice information literacy skills and model research in a real-world setting. Video games create a unique popular culture experience where players can invest dozens of hours on one game, create characters to identify with, organize skill sets and plot points, collaborate with people…

Modelling the host-pathogen interactions of macrophages and Candida albicans using Game Theory and dynamic optimization.

PubMed

Dühring, Sybille; Ewald, Jan; Germerodt, Sebastian; Kaleta, Christoph; Dandekar, Thomas; Schuster, Stefan

2017-07-01

The release of fungal cells following macrophage phagocytosis, called non-lytic expulsion, is reported for several fungal pathogens. On one hand, non-lytic expulsion may benefit the fungus in escaping the microbicidal environment of the phagosome. On the other hand, the macrophage could profit in terms of avoiding its own lysis and being able to undergo proliferation. To analyse the causes of non-lytic expulsion and the relevance of macrophage proliferation in the macrophage- Candida albicans interaction, we employ Evolutionary Game Theory and dynamic optimization in a sequential manner. We establish a game-theoretical model describing the different strategies of the two players after phagocytosis. Depending on the parameter values, we find four different Nash equilibria and determine the influence of the systems state of the host upon the game. As our Nash equilibria are a direct consequence of the model parameterization, we can depict several biological scenarios. A parameter region, where the host response is robust against the fungal infection, is determined. We further apply dynamic optimization to analyse whether macrophage mitosis is relevant in the host-pathogen interaction of macrophages and C. albicans For this, we study the population dynamics of the macrophage- C. albicans interactions and the corresponding optimal controls for the macrophages, indicating the best macrophage strategy of switching from proliferation to attacking fungal cells. © 2017 The Author(s).

A game theoretic algorithm to detect overlapping community structure in networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Xu; Zhao, Xiaohui; Liu, Yanheng; Sun, Geng

2018-04-01

Community detection can be used as an important technique for product and personalized service recommendation. A game theory based approach to detect overlapping community structure is introduced in this paper. The process of the community formation is converted into a game, when all agents (nodes) cannot improve their own utility, the game process will be terminated. The utility function is composed of a gain and a loss function and we present a new gain function in this paper. In addition, different from choosing action randomly among join, quit and switch for each agent to get new label, two new strategies for each agent to update its label are designed during the game, and the strategies are also evaluated and compared for each agent in order to find its best result. The overlapping community structure is naturally presented when the stop criterion is satisfied. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms other similar algorithms for detecting overlapping communities in networks.

Concurrent Transmission Based on Channel Quality in Ad Hoc Networks: A Game Theoretic Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Chen; Gao, Xinbo; Li, Xiaoji; Pei, Qingqi

In this paper, a decentralized concurrent transmission strategy in shared channel in Ad Hoc networks is proposed based on game theory. Firstly, a static concurrent transmissions game is used to determine the candidates for transmitting by channel quality threshold and to maximize the overall throughput with consideration of channel quality variation. To achieve NES (Nash Equilibrium Solution), the selfish behaviors of node to attempt to improve the channel gain unilaterally are evaluated. Therefore, this game allows each node to be distributed and to decide whether to transmit concurrently with others or not depending on NES. Secondly, as there are always some nodes with lower channel gain than NES, which are defined as hunger nodes in this paper, a hunger suppression scheme is proposed by adjusting the price function with interferences reservation and forward relay, to fairly give hunger nodes transmission opportunities. Finally, inspired by stock trading, a dynamic concurrent transmission threshold determination scheme is implemented to make the static game practical. Numerical results show that the proposed scheme is feasible to increase concurrent transmission opportunities for active nodes, and at the same time, the number of hunger nodes is greatly reduced with the least increase of threshold by interferences reservation. Also, the good performance on network goodput of the proposed model can be seen from the results.

Asymmetric public goods game cooperation through pest control.

PubMed

Reeves, T; Ohtsuki, H; Fukui, S

2017-12-21

Cooperation in a public goods game has been studied extensively to find the conditions for sustaining the commons, yet the effect of asymmetry between agents has been explored very little. Here we study a game theoretic model of cooperation for pest control among farmers. In our simple model, each farmer has a paddy of the same size arranged adjacently on a line. A pest outbreak occurs at an abandoned paddy at one end of the line, directly threatening the frontier farmer adjacent to it. Each farmer pays a cost of his or her choice to an agricultural collective, and the total sum held by the collective is used for pest control, with success probability increasing with the sum. Because the farmers' incentives depend on their distance from the pest outbreak, our model is an asymmetric public goods game. We derive each farmer's cost strategy at the Nash equilibrium. We find that asymmetry among farmers leads to a few unexpected outcomes. The individual costs at the equilibrium do not necessarily increase with how much the future is valued but rather show threshold behavior. Moreover, an increase in the number of farmers can sometimes paradoxically undermine pest prevention. A comparison with a symmetric public goods game model reveals that the farmer at the greatest risk pays a disproportionate amount of cost in the asymmetric game, making the use of agricultural lands less sustainable. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Geometry of ‘standoffs’ in lattice models of the spatial Prisoner’s Dilemma and Snowdrift games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laird, Robert A.; Goyal, Dipankar; Yazdani, Soroosh

2013-09-01

The Prisoner’s Dilemma and Snowdrift games are the main theoretical constructs used to study the evolutionary dynamics of cooperation. In large, well-mixed populations, mean-field models predict a stable equilibrium abundance of all defectors in the Prisoner’s Dilemma and a stable mixed-equilibrium of cooperators and defectors in the Snowdrift game. In the spatial extensions of these games, which can greatly modify the fates of populations (including allowing cooperators to persist in the Prisoner’s Dilemma, for example), lattice models are typically used to represent space, individuals play only with their nearest neighbours, and strategy replacement is a function of the differences in payoffs between neighbours. Interestingly, certain values of the cost-benefit ratio of cooperation, coupled with particular spatial configurations of cooperators and defectors, can lead to ‘global standoffs’, a situation in which all cooperator-defector neighbours have identical payoffs, leading to the development of static spatial patterns. We start by investigating the conditions that can lead to ‘local standoffs’ (i.e., in which isolated pairs of neighbouring cooperators and defectors cannot overtake one another), and then use exhaustive searches of small square lattices (4×4 and 6×6) of degree k=3,k=4, and k=6, to show that two main types of global standoff patterns-‘periodic’ and ‘aperiodic’-are possible by tiling local standoffs across entire spatially structured populations. Of these two types, we argue that only aperiodic global standoffs are likely to be potentially attracting, i.e., capable of emerging spontaneously from non-standoff conditions. Finally, we use stochastic simulation models with comparatively large lattices (100×100) to show that global standoffs in the Prisoner’s Dilemma and Snowdrift games do indeed only (but not always) emerge under the conditions predicted by the small-lattice analysis.

The (De-)Evolution of Evolution Games: A Content Analysis of the Representation of Evolution through Natural Selection in Digital Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leith, Alex P.; Ratan, Rabindra A.; Wohn, Donghee Yvette

2016-01-01

Given the diversity and complexity of education game mechanisms and topics, this article contributes to a theoretical understanding of how game mechanisms "map" to educational topics through inquiry-based learning. Namely, the article examines the presence of evolution through natural selection (ENS) in digital games. ENS is a…

Modeling Multiple Human-Automation Distributed Systems using Network-form Games

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brat, Guillaume

2012-01-01

The paper describes at a high-level the network-form game framework (based on Bayes net and game theory), which can be used to model and analyze safety issues in large, distributed, mixed human-automation systems such as NextGen.

Why people continue to play online games: in search of critical design factors to increase customer loyalty to online contents.

PubMed

Choi, Dongseong; Kim, Jinwoo

2004-02-01

As people increasingly play online games, numerous new features have been proposed to increase players' log-on time at online gaming sites. However, few studies have investigated why people continue to play certain online games or which design features are most closely related to the amount of time spent by players at particular online gaming sites. This study proposes a theoretical model using the concepts of customer loyalty, flow, personal interaction, and social interaction to explain why people continue to play online network games. The study then conducts a large-scale survey to validate the model. Finally, it analyzes current online games to identify design features that are closely related to the theoretical concepts. The results indicate that people continue to play online games if they have optimal experiences while playing the games. This optimal experience can be attained if the player has effective personal interaction with the system or pleasant social interactions with other people connected to the Internet. Personal interaction can be facilitated by providing appropriate goals, operators and feedback; social interaction can be facilitated through appropriate communication places and tools. This paper ends with the implications of applying the study results to other domains such as e-commerce and cyber communities.

System dynamics of behaviour-evolutionary mix-game models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gou, Cheng-Ling; Gao, Jie-Ping; Chen, Fang

2010-11-01

In real financial markets there are two kinds of traders: one is fundamentalist, and the other is a trend-follower. The mix-game model is proposed to mimic such phenomena. In a mix-game model there are two groups of agents: Group 1 plays the majority game and Group 2 plays the minority game. In this paper, we investigate such a case that some traders in real financial markets could change their investment behaviours by assigning the evolutionary abilities to agents: if the winning rates of agents are smaller than a threshold, they will join the other group; and agents will repeat such an evolution at certain time intervals. Through the simulations, we obtain the following findings: (i) the volatilities of systems increase with the increase of the number of agents in Group 1 and the times of behavioural changes of all agents; (ii) the performances of agents in both groups and the stabilities of systems become better if all agents take more time to observe their new investment behaviours; (iii) there are two-phase zones of market and non-market and two-phase zones of evolution and non-evolution; (iv) parameter configurations located within the cross areas between the zones of markets and the zones of evolution are suited for simulating the financial markets.

Review of game theory applications for situation awareness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blasch, Erik; Shen, Dan; Pham, Khanh D.; Chen, Genshe

2015-05-01

Game theoretical methods have been used for spectral awareness, space situational awareness (SSA), cyber situational awareness (CSA), and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance situation awareness (ISA). Each of these cases, awareness is supported by sensor estimation for assessment and the situation is determined from the actions of multiple players. Game theory assumes rational actors in a defined scenario; however, variations in social, cultural and behavioral factors include the dynamic nature of the context. In a dynamic data-driven application system (DDDAS), modeling must include both the measurements but also how models are used by different actors with different priorities. In this paper, we highlight the applications of game theory by reviewing the literature to determine the current state of the art and future needs. Future developments would include building towards knowledge awareness with information technology (e.g., data aggregation, access, indexing); multiscale analysis (e.g., space, time, and frequency), and software methods (e.g., architectures, cloud computing, protocols).

Social decision-making: insights from game theory and neuroscience.

PubMed

Sanfey, Alan G

2007-10-26

By combining the models and tasks of Game Theory with modern psychological and neuroscientific methods, the neuroeconomic approach to the study of social decision-making has the potential to extend our knowledge of brain mechanisms involved in social decisions and to advance theoretical models of how we make decisions in a rich, interactive environment. Research has already begun to illustrate how social exchange can act directly on the brain's reward system, how affective factors play an important role in bargaining and competitive games, and how the ability to assess another's intentions is related to strategic play. These findings provide a fruitful starting point for improved models of social decision-making, informed by the formal mathematical approach of economics and constrained by known neural mechanisms.

A Platform Independent Game Technology Model for Model Driven Serious Games Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tang, Stephen; Hanneghan, Martin; Carter, Christopher

2013-01-01

Game-based learning (GBL) combines pedagogy and interactive entertainment to create a virtual learning environment in an effort to motivate and regain the interest of a new generation of "digital native" learners. However, this approach is impeded by the limited availability of suitable "serious" games and high-level design…

Quantum game theory and open access publishing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanauske, Matthias; Bernius, Steffen; Dugall, Berndt

2007-08-01

The digital revolution of the information age and in particular the sweeping changes of scientific communication brought about by computing and novel communication technology, potentiate global, high grade scientific information for free. The arXiv, for example, is the leading scientific communication platform, mainly for mathematics and physics, where everyone in the world has free access on. While in some scientific disciplines the open access way is successfully realized, other disciplines (e.g. humanities and social sciences) dwell on the traditional path, even though many scientists belonging to these communities approve the open access principle. In this paper we try to explain these different publication patterns by using a game theoretical approach. Based on the assumption, that the main goal of scientists is the maximization of their reputation, we model different possible game settings, namely a zero sum game, the prisoners’ dilemma case and a version of the stag hunt game, that show the dilemma of scientists belonging to “non-open access communities”. From an individual perspective, they have no incentive to deviate from the Nash equilibrium of traditional publishing. By extending the model using the quantum game theory approach it can be shown, that if the strength of entanglement exceeds a certain value, the scientists will overcome the dilemma and terminate to publish only traditionally in all three settings.

A Literature Review of Gaming in Education. Research Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McClarty, Katie Larsen; Orr, Aline; Frey, Peter M.; Dolan, Robert P.; Vassileva, Victoria; McVay, Aaron

2012-01-01

The use of simulations and digital games in learning and assessment is expected to increase over the next several years. Although there is much theoretical support for the benefits of digital games in learning and education, there is mixed empirical support. This research report provides an overview of the theoretical and empirical evidence behind…

A Tutoring and Student Modelling Paradigm for Gaming Environments.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burton, Richard R.; Brown, John Seely

This paper describes a paradigm for tutorial systems capable of automatically providing feedback and hints in a game environment. The paradigm is illustrated by a tutoring system for the PLATO game "How the West Was Won." The system uses a computer-based "Expert" player to evaluate a student's moves and construct a "differential model" of the…

Video game addiction test: validity and psychometric characteristics.

PubMed

van Rooij, Antonius J; Schoenmakers, Tim M; van den Eijnden, Regina J J M; Vermulst, Ad A; van de Mheen, Dike

2012-09-01

The study explores the reliability, validity, and measurement invariance of the Video game Addiction Test (VAT). Game-addiction problems are often linked to Internet enabled online games; the VAT has the unique benefit that it is theoretically and empirically linked to Internet addiction. The study used data (n=2,894) from a large-sample paper-and-pencil questionnaire study, conducted in 2009 on secondary schools in Netherlands. Thus, the main source of data was a large sample of schoolchildren (aged 13-16 years). Measurements included the proposed VAT, the Compulsive Internet Use Scale, weekly hours spent on various game types, and several psychosocial variables. The VAT demonstrated excellent reliability, excellent construct validity, a one-factor model fit, and a high degree of measurement invariance across gender, ethnicity, and learning year, indicating that the scale outcomes can be compared across different subgroups with little bias. In summary, the VAT can be helpful in the further study of video game addiction, and it contributes to the debate on possible inclusion of behavioral addictions in the upcoming DSM-V.

Social cycling and conditional responses in the Rock-Paper-Scissors game

PubMed Central

Wang, Zhijian; Xu, Bin; Zhou, Hai-Jun

2014-01-01

How humans make decisions in non-cooperative strategic interactions is a big question. For the fundamental Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS) model game system, classic Nash equilibrium (NE) theory predicts that players randomize completely their action choices to avoid being exploited, while evolutionary game theory of bounded rationality in general predicts persistent cyclic motions, especially in finite populations. However as empirical studies have been relatively sparse, it is still a controversial issue as to which theoretical framework is more appropriate to describe decision-making of human subjects. Here we observe population-level persistent cyclic motions in a laboratory experiment of the discrete-time iterated RPS game under the traditional random pairwise-matching protocol. This collective behavior contradicts with the NE theory but is quantitatively explained, without any adjustable parameter, by a microscopic model of win-lose-tie conditional response. Theoretical calculations suggest that if all players adopt the same optimized conditional response strategy, their accumulated payoff will be much higher than the reference value of the NE mixed strategy. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of understanding human competition behaviors from the angle of non-equilibrium statistical physics. PMID:25060115

An Application of Evolutionary Game Theory to Social Dilemmas: The Traveler's Dilemma and the Minimum Effort Coordination Game

PubMed Central

Iyer, Swami; Reyes, Joshua; Killingback, Timothy

2014-01-01

The Traveler's Dilemma game and the Minimum Effort Coordination game are two social dilemmas that have attracted considerable attention due to the fact that the predictions of classical game theory are at odds with the results found when the games are studied experimentally. Moreover, a direct application of deterministic evolutionary game theory, as embodied in the replicator dynamics, to these games does not explain the observed behavior. In this work, we formulate natural variants of these two games as smoothed continuous-strategy games. We study the evolutionary dynamics of these continuous-strategy games, both analytically and through agent-based simulations, and show that the behavior predicted theoretically is in accord with that observed experimentally. Thus, these variants of the Traveler's Dilemma and the Minimum Effort Coordination games provide a simple resolution of the paradoxical behavior associated with the original games. PMID:24709851

An application of evolutionary game theory to social dilemmas: the traveler's dilemma and the minimum effort coordination game.

PubMed

Iyer, Swami; Reyes, Joshua; Killingback, Timothy

2014-01-01

The Traveler's Dilemma game and the Minimum Effort Coordination game are two social dilemmas that have attracted considerable attention due to the fact that the predictions of classical game theory are at odds with the results found when the games are studied experimentally. Moreover, a direct application of deterministic evolutionary game theory, as embodied in the replicator dynamics, to these games does not explain the observed behavior. In this work, we formulate natural variants of these two games as smoothed continuous-strategy games. We study the evolutionary dynamics of these continuous-strategy games, both analytically and through agent-based simulations, and show that the behavior predicted theoretically is in accord with that observed experimentally. Thus, these variants of the Traveler's Dilemma and the Minimum Effort Coordination games provide a simple resolution of the paradoxical behavior associated with the original games.

A game-theoretic approach to optimize ad hoc networks inspired by small-world network topology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Mian; Yang, Tinghong; Chen, Xing; Yang, Gang; Zhu, Guoqing; Holme, Petter; Zhao, Jing

2018-03-01

Nodes in ad hoc networks are connected in a self-organized manner. Limited communication radius makes information transmit in multi-hop mode, and each forwarding needs to consume the energy of nodes. Insufficient communication radius or exhaustion of energy may cause the absence of some relay nodes and links, further breaking network connectivity. On the other hand, nodes in the network may refuse to cooperate due to objective faulty or personal selfish, hindering regular communication in the network. This paper proposes a model called Repeated Game in Small World Networks (RGSWN). In this model, we first construct ad hoc networks with small-world feature by forming "communication shortcuts" between multiple-radio nodes. Small characteristic path length reduces average forwarding times in networks; meanwhile high clustering coefficient enhances network robustness. Such networks still maintain relative low global power consumption, which is beneficial to extend the network survival time. Then we use MTTFT strategy (Mend-Tolerance Tit-for-Tat) for repeated game as a rule for the interactions between neighbors in the small-world networks. Compared with other five strategies of repeated game, this strategy not only punishes the nodes' selfishness more reasonably, but also has the best tolerance to the network failure. This work is insightful for designing an efficient and robust ad hoc network.

Adaptive categorization of ART networks in robot behavior learning using game-theoretic formulation.

PubMed

Fung, Wai-keung; Liu, Yun-hui

2003-12-01

Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) networks are employed in robot behavior learning. Two of the difficulties in online robot behavior learning, namely, (1) exponential memory increases with time, (2) difficulty for operators to specify learning tasks accuracy and control learning attention before learning. In order to remedy the aforementioned difficulties, an adaptive categorization mechanism is introduced in ART networks for perceptual and action patterns categorization in this paper. A game-theoretic formulation of adaptive categorization for ART networks is proposed for vigilance parameter adaptation for category size control on the categories formed. The proposed vigilance parameter update rule can help improving categorization performance in the aspect of category number stability and solve the problem of selecting initial vigilance parameter prior to pattern categorization in traditional ART networks. Behavior learning using physical robot is conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive categorization mechanism in ART networks.

Global optimization of minority game by intelligent agents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Yan-Bo; Wang, Bing-Hong; Hu, Chin-Kun; Zhou, Tao

2005-10-01

We propose a new model of minority game with intelligent agents who use trail and error method to make a choice such that the standard deviation σ2 and the total loss in this model reach the theoretical minimum values in the long time limit and the global optimization of the system is reached. This suggests that the economic systems can self-organize into a highly optimized state by agents who make decisions based on inductive thinking, limited knowledge, and capabilities. When other kinds of agents are also present, the simulation results and analytic calculations show that the intelligent agent can gain profits from producers and are much more competent than the noise traders and conventional agents in original minority games proposed by Challet and Zhang.

War-gaming application for future space systems acquisition part 1: program and technical baseline war-gaming modeling and simulation approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Tien M.; Guillen, Andy T.

2017-05-01

This paper describes static Bayesian game models with "Pure" and "Mixed" games for the development of an optimum Program and Technical Baseline (PTB) solution for affordable acquisition of future space systems. The paper discusses System Engineering (SE) frameworks and analytical and simulation modeling approaches for developing the optimum PTB solutions from both the government and contractor perspectives.

Investigating risk factors for Internet gaming disorder: a comparison of patients with addictive gaming, pathological gamblers and healthy controls regarding the big five personality traits.

PubMed

Müller, K W; Beutel, M E; Egloff, B; Wölfling, K

2014-01-01

Engaging in online games has become increasingly important as a part of leisure activity in adolescents and adults. While the majority of people use these games in a healthy way, epidemiological studies show that some develop excessive use and symptoms that are related to those of substance-related addictions. Despite increasing research concerning the epidemiology of internet gaming disorder (IGD), predisposing factors have been examined to a lesser extent. Knowing about specific risk factors would help clarify the nosological features of IGD and enhance prevention and intervention. This study aimed to evaluate the relationships between personality traits and IGD. A total of 115 patients meeting the criteria for IGD were compared to 167 control subjects displaying either regular or intense use of online games. Additionally, 115 patients meeting diagnostic criteria for pathological gambling were included. IGD was associated with higher neuroticism, decreased conscientiousness and low extraversion. The comparisons to pathological gamblers indicate that low conscientiousness and low extraversion in particular are characteristic of IGD. An integration of personality variables into an etiopathological model describing presumable mechanisms fostering and maintaining addictive online gaming is proposed. This model could be helpful for the theoretical understanding of addictive gaming, public health campaigns and psychoeducation within therapeutic settings. © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Symmetric Decomposition of Asymmetric Games.

PubMed

Tuyls, Karl; Pérolat, Julien; Lanctot, Marc; Ostrovski, Georg; Savani, Rahul; Leibo, Joel Z; Ord, Toby; Graepel, Thore; Legg, Shane

2018-01-17

We introduce new theoretical insights into two-population asymmetric games allowing for an elegant symmetric decomposition into two single population symmetric games. Specifically, we show how an asymmetric bimatrix game (A,B) can be decomposed into its symmetric counterparts by envisioning and investigating the payoff tables (A and B) that constitute the asymmetric game, as two independent, single population, symmetric games. We reveal several surprising formal relationships between an asymmetric two-population game and its symmetric single population counterparts, which facilitate a convenient analysis of the original asymmetric game due to the dimensionality reduction of the decomposition. The main finding reveals that if (x,y) is a Nash equilibrium of an asymmetric game (A,B), this implies that y is a Nash equilibrium of the symmetric counterpart game determined by payoff table A, and x is a Nash equilibrium of the symmetric counterpart game determined by payoff table B. Also the reverse holds and combinations of Nash equilibria of the counterpart games form Nash equilibria of the asymmetric game. We illustrate how these formal relationships aid in identifying and analysing the Nash structure of asymmetric games, by examining the evolutionary dynamics of the simpler counterpart games in several canonical examples.

Teaching Tip: Using Rapid Game Prototyping for Exploring Requirements Discovery and Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dalal, Nikunj

2012-01-01

We describe the use of rapid game prototyping as a pedagogic technique to experientially explore and learn requirements discovery, modeling, and specification in systems analysis and design courses. Students have a natural interest in gaming that transcends age, gender, and background. Rapid digital game creation is used to build computer games…

Use of Game Theory to model patient engagement after surgery: a qualitative analysis.

PubMed

Castellanos, Stephen A; Buentello, Gerardo; Gutierrez-Meza, Diana; Forgues, Angela; Haubert, Lisa; Artinyan, Avo; Macdonald, Cameron L; Suliburk, James W

2018-01-01

Patient engagement is challenging to define and operationalize. Qualitative analysis allows us to explore patient perspectives on this topic and establish themes. A game theoretic signaling model also provides a framework through which to further explore engagement. Over a 6-mo period, thirty-eight interviews were conducted within 6 wk of discharge in patients undergoing thyroid, parathyroid, or colorectal surgery. Interviews were transcribed, anonymized, and analyzed using the NVivo 11 platform. A signaling model was then developed depicting the doctor-patient interaction surrounding the patient's choice to reach out to their physician with postoperative concerns based upon the patient's perspective of the doctor's availability. This was defined as "engagement". We applied the model to the qualitative data to determine possible causations for a patient's engagement or lack thereof. A private hospital's and a safety net hospital's populations were contrasted. The private patient population was more likely to engage than their safety-net counterparts. Using our model in conjunction with patient data, we determined possible etiologies for this engagement to be due to the private patient's perceived probability of dealing with an available doctor and apparent signals from the doctor indicating so. For the safety-net population, decreased access to care caused them to be less willing to engage with a doctor perceived as possibly unavailable. A physician who understands these Game Theory concepts may be able to alter their interactions with their patients, tailoring responses and demeanor to fit the patient's circumstances and possible barriers to engagement. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dynamic Bayesian Network Modeling of Game Based Diagnostic Assessments. CRESST Report 837

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levy, Roy

2014-01-01

Digital games offer an appealing environment for assessing student proficiencies, including skills and misconceptions in a diagnostic setting. This paper proposes a dynamic Bayesian network modeling approach for observations of student performance from an educational video game. A Bayesian approach to model construction, calibration, and use in…

Modeling the Player: Predictability of the Models of Bartle and Kolb Based on NEO-FFI (Big5) and the Implications for Game Based Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Konert, Johannes; Gutjahr, Michael; Göbel, Stefan; Steinmetz, Ralf

2014-01-01

For adaptation and personalization of game play sophisticated player models and learner models are used in game-based learning environments. Thus, the game flow can be optimized to increase efficiency and effectiveness of gaming and learning in parallel. In the field of gaming still the Bartle model is commonly used due to its simplicity and good…

An Introduction to Multi-player, Multi-choice Quantum Games: Quantum Minority Games & Kolkata Restaurant Problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharif, Puya; Heydari, Hoshang

We give a self contained introduction to a few quantum game protocols, starting with the quantum version of the two-player two-choice game of Prisoners dilemma, followed by an n-player generalization trough the quantum minority games, and finishing with a contribution towards an n-player m-choice generalization with a quantum version of a three-player Kolkata restaurant problem. We have omitted some technical details accompanying these protocols, and instead laid the focus on presenting some general aspects of the field as a whole. This review contains an introduction to the formalism of quantum information theory, as well as to important game theoretical concepts, and is aimed to work as a review suiting economists and game theorists with limited knowledge of quantum physics as well as to physicists with limited knowledge of game theory.

Game management, context effects, and calibration: the case of yellow cards in soccer.

PubMed

Unkelbach, Christian; Memmert, Daniel

2008-02-01

Referees in German first-league soccer games do not award as many yellow cards in the beginning of a game as should be statistically expected. One explanation for this effect is the concept of game management (Mascarenhas, Collins, & Mortimer, 2002). Alternatively, the consistency model (Haubensak, 1992) explains the effect as a necessity of the judgment situation: Referees need to calibrate a judgment scale, and, to preserve degrees of freedom in that scale, they need to avoid extreme category judgments in the beginning (i.e., yellow cards). Experiment 1 shows that referees who judge scenes in the context of a game award fewer yellow cards than referees who see the same scenes in random order. Experiment 2 shows the combined influence of game management (by explicitly providing information about the game situation) and calibration (early vs. late scenes in the time course of a game). Theoretical implications for expert refereeing and referee training are discussed.

Game Theory Paradigm: A New Tool for Investigating Social Dysfunction in Major Depressive Disorders

PubMed Central

Wang, Yun; Yang, Liu-Qing; Li, Shu; Zhou, Yuan

2015-01-01

Social dysfunction is a prominent source of distress and disability in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) but is commonly omitted from current clinical studies, although some researchers propose an evolutionary strategy to understand these negative outcomes. Limited knowledge about the neural basis of social dysfunction in MDD results from traditional paradigms, which lack insights into social interactions. Game theoretical modeling offers a new tool for investigating social-interaction impairments in neuropsychiatric disorders. This review first introduces three widely used games from game theory and the major behavioral and neuroimaging findings obtained using these games in healthy populations. We also address the factors that modulate behaviors in games and their neural bases. We then summarize the current findings obtained by using these games in depressed patients and discuss the clinical implications of these abnormal game behaviors. Finally, we briefly discuss future prospects that may further elucidate the clinical use of a game theory paradigm in MDD. PMID:26441689

Game Theory Paradigm: A New Tool for Investigating Social Dysfunction in Major Depressive Disorders.

PubMed

Wang, Yun; Yang, Liu-Qing; Li, Shu; Zhou, Yuan

2015-01-01

Social dysfunction is a prominent source of distress and disability in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) but is commonly omitted from current clinical studies, although some researchers propose an evolutionary strategy to understand these negative outcomes. Limited knowledge about the neural basis of social dysfunction in MDD results from traditional paradigms, which lack insights into social interactions. Game theoretical modeling offers a new tool for investigating social-interaction impairments in neuropsychiatric disorders. This review first introduces three widely used games from game theory and the major behavioral and neuroimaging findings obtained using these games in healthy populations. We also address the factors that modulate behaviors in games and their neural bases. We then summarize the current findings obtained by using these games in depressed patients and discuss the clinical implications of these abnormal game behaviors. Finally, we briefly discuss future prospects that may further elucidate the clinical use of a game theory paradigm in MDD.

Life-Game, with Glass Beads and Molecules, on the Principles of the Origin of Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eigen, Manfred; Haglund, Herman

1976-01-01

Discusses a theoretical model that uses a game as a base for studying processes of a stochastic nature, which involve chemical reactions, molecular systems, biological processes, cells, or people in a population. (MLH)

Quantum games of opinion formation based on the Marinatto-Weber quantum game scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Xinyang; Deng, Yong; Liu, Qi; Shi, Lei; Wang, Zhen

2016-06-01

Quantization has become a new way to investigate classical game theory since quantum strategies and quantum games were proposed. In the existing studies, many typical game models, such as the prisoner's dilemma, battle of the sexes, Hawk-Dove game, have been extensively explored by using quantization approach. Along a similar method, here several game models of opinion formations will be quantized on the basis of the Marinatto-Weber quantum game scheme, a frequently used scheme of converting classical games to quantum versions. Our results show that the quantization can fascinatingly change the properties of some classical opinion formation game models so as to generate win-win outcomes.

Behavioural studies of strategic thinking in games.

PubMed

Camerer, Colin F.

2003-05-01

Game theory is a mathematical language for describing strategic interactions, in which each player's choice affects the payoff of other players (where players can be genes, people, companies, nation-states, etc.). The impact of game theory in psychology has been limited by the lack of cognitive mechanisms underlying game-theoretic predictions. 'Behavioural game theory' is a recent approach linking game theory to cognitive science by adding cognitive details about 'social utility functions', theories of limits on iterated thinking, and statistical theories of how players learn and influence others. New directions include the effects of game descriptions on choice ('framing'), strategic heuristics, and mental representation. These ideas will help root game theory more deeply in cognitive science and extend the scope of both enterprises.

A Game Theoretic Framework for Analyzing Re-Identification Risk

PubMed Central

Wan, Zhiyu; Vorobeychik, Yevgeniy; Xia, Weiyi; Clayton, Ellen Wright; Kantarcioglu, Murat; Ganta, Ranjit; Heatherly, Raymond; Malin, Bradley A.

2015-01-01

Given the potential wealth of insights in personal data the big databases can provide, many organizations aim to share data while protecting privacy by sharing de-identified data, but are concerned because various demonstrations show such data can be re-identified. Yet these investigations focus on how attacks can be perpetrated, not the likelihood they will be realized. This paper introduces a game theoretic framework that enables a publisher to balance re-identification risk with the value of sharing data, leveraging a natural assumption that a recipient only attempts re-identification if its potential gains outweigh the costs. We apply the framework to a real case study, where the value of the data to the publisher is the actual grant funding dollar amounts from a national sponsor and the re-identification gain of the recipient is the fine paid to a regulator for violation of federal privacy rules. There are three notable findings: 1) it is possible to achieve zero risk, in that the recipient never gains from re-identification, while sharing almost as much data as the optimal solution that allows for a small amount of risk; 2) the zero-risk solution enables sharing much more data than a commonly invoked de-identification policy of the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); and 3) a sensitivity analysis demonstrates these findings are robust to order-of-magnitude changes in player losses and gains. In combination, these findings provide support that such a framework can enable pragmatic policy decisions about de-identified data sharing. PMID:25807380

Multiplayer games and HIV transmission via casual encounters.

PubMed

Tully, Stephen; Cojocaru, Monica-Gabriela; Bauch, Chris T

2017-04-01

Population transmission models have been helpful in studying the spread of HIV. They assess changes made at the population level for different intervention strategies. To further understand how individual changes affect the population as a whole, game-theoretical models are used to quantify the decision-making process. Investigating multiplayer nonlinear games that model HIV transmission represents a unique approach in epidemiological research. We present here 2-player and multiplayer noncooperative games where players are defined by HIV status and age and may engage in casual (sexual) encounters. The games are modelled as generalized Nash games with shared constraints, which is completely novel in the context of our applied problem. Each player's HIV status is known to potential partners, and players have personal preferences ranked via utility values of unprotected and protected sex outcomes. We model a player's strategy as their probability of being engaged in a casual unprotected sex encounter (USE), which may lead to HIV transmission; however, we do not incorporate a transmission model here. We study the sensitivity of Nash strategies with respect to varying preference rankings, and the impact of a prophylactic vaccine introduced in players of youngest age groups. We also study the effect of these changes on the overall increase in infection level, as well as the effects that a potential prophylactic treatment may have on age-stratified groups of players. We conclude that the biggest impacts on increasing the infection levels in the overall population are given by the variation in the utilities assigned to individuals for unprotected sex with others of opposite HIV status, while the introduction of a prophylactic vaccine in youngest age group (15-20 yr olds) slows down the increase in HIV infection.

A Model for Ubiquitous Serious Games Development Focused on Problem Based Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dorneles, Sandro Oliveira; da Costa, Cristiano André; Rigo, Sandro José

2015-01-01

The possibility of using serious games with problem-based learning opens up huge opportunities to connect the experiences of daily life of students with learning. In this context, this article presents a model for serious and ubiquitous games development, focusing on problem based learning methodology. The model allows teachers to create games…

Local Voltage Control in Distribution Networks: A Game-Theoretic Perspective

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, Xinyang; Tian, Jie; Chen, Lijun

Inverter-based voltage regulation is gaining importance to alleviate emerging reliability and power-quality concerns related to distribution systems with high penetration of photovoltaic (PV) systems. This paper seeks contribution in the domain of reactive power compensation by establishing stability of local Volt/VAr controllers. In lieu of the approximate linear surrogate used in the existing work, the paper establishes existence and uniqueness of an equilibrium point using nonlinear AC power flow model. Key to this end is to consider a nonlinear dynamical system with non-incremental local Volt/VAr control, cast the Volt/VAr dynamics as a game, and leverage the fixed-point theorem as wellmore » as pertinent contraction mapping argument. Numerical examples are provided to complement the analytical results.« less

Simulating Serious Games: A Discrete-Time Computational Model Based on Cognitive Flow Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Westera, Wim

2018-01-01

This paper presents a computational model for simulating how people learn from serious games. While avoiding the combinatorial explosion of a games micro-states, the model offers a meso-level pathfinding approach, which is guided by cognitive flow theory and various concepts from learning sciences. It extends a basic, existing model by exposing…

Bipartite graphs as models of population structures in evolutionary multiplayer games.

PubMed

Peña, Jorge; Rochat, Yannick

2012-01-01

By combining evolutionary game theory and graph theory, "games on graphs" study the evolutionary dynamics of frequency-dependent selection in population structures modeled as geographical or social networks. Networks are usually represented by means of unipartite graphs, and social interactions by two-person games such as the famous prisoner's dilemma. Unipartite graphs have also been used for modeling interactions going beyond pairwise interactions. In this paper, we argue that bipartite graphs are a better alternative to unipartite graphs for describing population structures in evolutionary multiplayer games. To illustrate this point, we make use of bipartite graphs to investigate, by means of computer simulations, the evolution of cooperation under the conventional and the distributed N-person prisoner's dilemma. We show that several implicit assumptions arising from the standard approach based on unipartite graphs (such as the definition of replacement neighborhoods, the intertwining of individual and group diversity, and the large overlap of interaction neighborhoods) can have a large impact on the resulting evolutionary dynamics. Our work provides a clear example of the importance of construction procedures in games on graphs, of the suitability of bigraphs and hypergraphs for computational modeling, and of the importance of concepts from social network analysis such as centrality, centralization and bipartite clustering for the understanding of dynamical processes occurring on networked population structures.

Bipartite Graphs as Models of Population Structures in Evolutionary Multiplayer Games

PubMed Central

Peña, Jorge; Rochat, Yannick

2012-01-01

By combining evolutionary game theory and graph theory, “games on graphs” study the evolutionary dynamics of frequency-dependent selection in population structures modeled as geographical or social networks. Networks are usually represented by means of unipartite graphs, and social interactions by two-person games such as the famous prisoner’s dilemma. Unipartite graphs have also been used for modeling interactions going beyond pairwise interactions. In this paper, we argue that bipartite graphs are a better alternative to unipartite graphs for describing population structures in evolutionary multiplayer games. To illustrate this point, we make use of bipartite graphs to investigate, by means of computer simulations, the evolution of cooperation under the conventional and the distributed N-person prisoner’s dilemma. We show that several implicit assumptions arising from the standard approach based on unipartite graphs (such as the definition of replacement neighborhoods, the intertwining of individual and group diversity, and the large overlap of interaction neighborhoods) can have a large impact on the resulting evolutionary dynamics. Our work provides a clear example of the importance of construction procedures in games on graphs, of the suitability of bigraphs and hypergraphs for computational modeling, and of the importance of concepts from social network analysis such as centrality, centralization and bipartite clustering for the understanding of dynamical processes occurring on networked population structures. PMID:22970237

Model-based video segmentation for vision-augmented interactive games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Lurng-Kuo

2000-04-01

This paper presents an architecture and algorithms for model based video object segmentation and its applications to vision augmented interactive game. We are especially interested in real time low cost vision based applications that can be implemented in software in a PC. We use different models for background and a player object. The object segmentation algorithm is performed in two different levels: pixel level and object level. At pixel level, the segmentation algorithm is formulated as a maximizing a posteriori probability (MAP) problem. The statistical likelihood of each pixel is calculated and used in the MAP problem. Object level segmentation is used to improve segmentation quality by utilizing the information about the spatial and temporal extent of the object. The concept of an active region, which is defined based on motion histogram and trajectory prediction, is introduced to indicate the possibility of a video object region for both background and foreground modeling. It also reduces the overall computation complexity. In contrast with other applications, the proposed video object segmentation system is able to create background and foreground models on the fly even without introductory background frames. Furthermore, we apply different rate of self-tuning on the scene model so that the system can adapt to the environment when there is a scene change. We applied the proposed video object segmentation algorithms to several prototype virtual interactive games. In our prototype vision augmented interactive games, a player can immerse himself/herself inside a game and can virtually interact with other animated characters in a real time manner without being constrained by helmets, gloves, special sensing devices, or background environment. The potential applications of the proposed algorithms including human computer gesture interface and object based video coding such as MPEG-4 video coding.

Teaching Using Computer Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Lee Dee; Shell, Duane; Khandaker, Nobel; Soh, Leen-Kiat

2011-01-01

Computer games have long been used for teaching. Current reviews lack categorization and analysis using learning models which would help instructors assess the usefulness of computer games. We divide the use of games into two classes: game playing and game development. We discuss the Input-Process-Outcome (IPO) model for the learning process when…

Examining human behavior in video games: The development of a computational model to measure aggression.

PubMed

Lamb, Richard; Annetta, Leonard; Hoston, Douglas; Shapiro, Marina; Matthews, Benjamin

2018-06-01

Video games with violent content have raised considerable concern in popular media and within academia. Recently, there has been considerable attention regarding the claim of the relationship between aggression and video game play. The authors of this study propose the use of a new class of tools developed via computational models to allow examination of the question of whether there is a relationship between violent video games and aggression. The purpose of this study is to computationally model and compare the General Aggression Model with the Diathesis Mode of Aggression related to the play of violent content in video games. A secondary purpose is to provide a method of measuring and examining individual aggression arising from video game play. Total participants examined for this study are N = 1065. This study occurs in three phases. Phase 1 is the development and quantification of the profile combination of traits via latent class profile analysis. Phase 2 is the training of the artificial neural network. Phase 3 is the comparison of each model as a computational model with and without the presence of video game violence. Results suggest that a combination of environmental factors and genetic predispositions trigger aggression related to video games.

"The Academic Game" as a Frame Game.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bredemeier, Mary E.; And Others

1981-01-01

Describes a frame game which focuses on problems of sex, status, and organizational development. "The Academic Game" is a specific model of a generic game that has differential consequences for men and women, and is easily adaptable to other organizational settings, including public administration and industry. Six references are listed.…

Game Intelligence in Team Sports

PubMed Central

Lennartsson, Jan; Lidström, Nicklas; Lindberg, Carl

2015-01-01

We set up a game theoretic framework to analyze a wide range of situations from team sports. A fundamental idea is the concept of potential; the probability of the offense scoring the next goal minus the probability that the next goal is made by the defense. We develop categorical as well as continuous models, and obtain optimal strategies for both offense and defense. A main result is that the optimal defensive strategy is to minimize the maximum potential of all offensive strategies. PMID:25970581

Categorization of Digital Games in English Language Learning Studies: Introducing the SSI Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sundqvist, Pia

2013-01-01

The main aim of the present paper is to introduce a model for digital game categorization suitable for use in English language learning studies: the Scale of Social Interaction (SSI) Model (original idea published as Sundqvist, 2013). The SSI Model proposes a classification of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) digital games into three categories:…

An Instructional Model for the Use of Simulation Games in the Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kidder, Steven J.; And Others

The use of simulation games in the classroom has greatly increased over the past decade. However, little attention has been given to the need for a set of programs -- an instructional model -- that will enable teachers to use these games in a consistent and effective manner. This paper describes such an instructional model and provides a classroom…

Evolutionary games with self-questioning adaptive mechanism and the Ising model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, J.; Xu, C.; Hui, P. M.

2017-09-01

A class of evolutionary games using a self-questioning strategy switching mechanism played in a population of connected agents is shown to behave as an Ising model Hamiltonian of spins connected in the same way. The payoff parameters combine to give the coupling between spins and an external magnetic field. The mapping covers the prisoner's dilemma, snowdrift and stag hunt games in structured populations. A well-mixed system is used to illustrate the equivalence. In a chain of agents/spins, the mapping to Ising model leads to an exact solution to the games effortlessly. The accuracy of standard approximations on the games can then be quantified. The site approximation is found to show varied accuracies depending on the payoff parameters, and the link approximation is shown to give the exact result in a chain but not in a closed form. The mapping established here connects two research areas, with each having much to offer to the other.

Establishing an Educational Game Development Model: From the Experience of Teaching Search Engine Optimization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lui, Richard W. C.; Au, Cheuk Hang

2018-01-01

This article describes how different literatures have suggested the positive role of educational games in students' learning, but it can be hard to find an existing game for student learning. Some lecturers may try to develop a game for their courses, but there were not many effective models for educational board game development. The authors have…

Video Game Acceptance: A Meta-Analysis of the Extended Technology Acceptance Model.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaohui; Goh, Dion Hoe-Lian

2017-11-01

The current study systematically reviews and summarizes the existing literature of game acceptance, identifies the core determinants, and evaluates the strength of the relationships in the extended technology acceptance model. Moreover, this study segments video games into two categories: hedonic and utilitarian and examines player acceptance of these two types separately. Through a meta-analysis of 50 articles, we find that perceived ease of use (PEOU), perceived usefulness (PU), and perceived enjoyment (PE) significantly associate with attitude and behavioral intention. PE is the dominant predictor of hedonic game acceptance, while PEOU and PU are the main determinants of utilitarian game acceptance. Furthermore, we find that respondent type and game platform are significant moderators. Findings of this study provide critical insights into the phenomenon of game acceptance and suggest directions for future research.

Sworn testimony of the model evidence: Gaussian Mixture Importance (GAME) sampling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volpi, Elena; Schoups, Gerrit; Firmani, Giovanni; Vrugt, Jasper A.

2017-07-01

What is the "best" model? The answer to this question lies in part in the eyes of the beholder, nevertheless a good model must blend rigorous theory with redeeming qualities such as parsimony and quality of fit. Model selection is used to make inferences, via weighted averaging, from a set of K candidate models, Mk; k=>(1,…,K>), and help identify which model is most supported by the observed data, Y>˜=>(y˜1,…,y˜n>). Here, we introduce a new and robust estimator of the model evidence, p>(Y>˜|Mk>), which acts as normalizing constant in the denominator of Bayes' theorem and provides a single quantitative measure of relative support for each hypothesis that integrates model accuracy, uncertainty, and complexity. However, p>(Y>˜|Mk>) is analytically intractable for most practical modeling problems. Our method, coined GAussian Mixture importancE (GAME) sampling, uses bridge sampling of a mixture distribution fitted to samples of the posterior model parameter distribution derived from MCMC simulation. We benchmark the accuracy and reliability of GAME sampling by application to a diverse set of multivariate target distributions (up to 100 dimensions) with known values of p>(Y>˜|Mk>) and to hypothesis testing using numerical modeling of the rainfall-runoff transformation of the Leaf River watershed in Mississippi, USA. These case studies demonstrate that GAME sampling provides robust and unbiased estimates of the evidence at a relatively small computational cost outperforming commonly used estimators. The GAME sampler is implemented in the MATLAB package of DREAM and simplifies considerably scientific inquiry through hypothesis testing and model selection.

An Authoring Tool for Educational Adventure Games: Concept, Game Models and Authoring Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mehm, Florian; Göbel, Stefan; Steinmetz, Ralf

2013-01-01

The genre of educational adventure games is a common and successful choice in game-based learning. The games combine captivating narratives that motivate players to continue playing with game mechanics that are conductive to learning: the gameplay is slow-paced, allowing players to learn at their own pace, and focused on puzzles that can be…

An IUR evolutionary game model on the patent cooperate of Shandong China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Mengmeng; Ma, Yinghong; Liu, Zhiyuan; You, Xuemei

2017-06-01

Organizations of industries and university & research institutes cooperate to meet their respective needs based on social contacts, trust and share complementary resources. From the perspective of complex network together with the patent data of Shandong province in China, a novel evolutionary game model on patent cooperation network is presented. Two sides in the game model are industries and universities & research institutes respectively. The cooperation is represented by a connection when a new patent is developed together by the two sides. The optimal strategy of the evolutionary game model is quantified by the average positive cooperation probability p ¯ and the average payoff U ¯ . The feasibility of this game model is simulated on the parameters such as the knowledge spillover, the punishment, the development cost and the distribution coefficient of the benefit. The numerical simulations show that the cooperative behaviors are affected by the variation of parameters. The knowledge spillover displays different behaviors when the punishment is larger than the development cost or less than it. Those results indicate that reasonable punishment would improve the positive cooperation. The appropriate punishment will be useful to enhance the big degree nodes positively cooperate with industries and universities & research institutes. And an equitable plan for the distribution of cooperative profits is half-and-half distribution strategy for the two sides in game.

Expanding Access to Large-Scale Genomic Data While Promoting Privacy: A Game Theoretic Approach.

PubMed

Wan, Zhiyu; Vorobeychik, Yevgeniy; Xia, Weiyi; Clayton, Ellen Wright; Kantarcioglu, Murat; Malin, Bradley

2017-02-02

Emerging scientific endeavors are creating big data repositories of data from millions of individuals. Sharing data in a privacy-respecting manner could lead to important discoveries, but high-profile demonstrations show that links between de-identified genomic data and named persons can sometimes be reestablished. Such re-identification attacks have focused on worst-case scenarios and spurred the adoption of data-sharing practices that unnecessarily impede research. To mitigate concerns, organizations have traditionally relied upon legal deterrents, like data use agreements, and are considering suppressing or adding noise to genomic variants. In this report, we use a game theoretic lens to develop more effective, quantifiable protections for genomic data sharing. This is a fundamentally different approach because it accounts for adversarial behavior and capabilities and tailors protections to anticipated recipients with reasonable resources, not adversaries with unlimited means. We demonstrate this approach via a new public resource with genomic summary data from over 8,000 individuals-the Sequence and Phenotype Integration Exchange (SPHINX)-and show that risks can be balanced against utility more effectively than with traditional approaches. We further show the generalizability of this framework by applying it to other genomic data collection and sharing endeavors. Recognizing that such models are dependent on a variety of parameters, we perform extensive sensitivity analyses to show that our findings are robust to their fluctuations. Copyright © 2017 American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A cooperative game-theoretic framework for negotiating marine spatial allocation agreements among heterogeneous players.

PubMed

Kyriazi, Zacharoula; Lejano, Raul; Maes, Frank; Degraer, Steven

2017-02-01

Marine spatial allocation has become, in recent decades, a political flashpoint, fuelled by political power struggles, as well as the continuously increasing demand for marine space by both traditional and emerging marine uses. To effectively address this issue, we develop a decision-making procedure, that facilitates the distribution of disputed areas of specific size among heterogeneous players in a transparent and ethical way, while considering coalitional formations through coexistence. To do this, we model players' alternative strategies and payoffs within a cooperative game-theoretic framework. Depending on whether transferable utility (TU) or non-transferable utility (NTU) is the more appropriate assumption, we illustrate the use of the TU Shapley value and the Lejano's fixed point NTU Shapley value to solve for the ideal allocations. The applicability and effectiveness of the process has been tested in a case study area, the Dogger Bank Special Area of Conservation in the North Sea, which involves three totally or partially conflicting activities, i.e. fishing, nature conservation and wind farm development. The findings demonstrate that the process is capable of providing a unique, fair and equitable division of space Finally, among the two solution concepts proposed the fixed point NTU Shapley value manages to better address the heterogeneity of the players and thus to provide a more socially acceptable allocation that favours the weaker player, while demonstrating the importance of the monetary valuation attributed by each use to the area. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Punishment in the form of shared cost promotes altruism in the cooperative dilemma games.

PubMed

Zhang, Chunyan; Zhu, Yuying; Chen, Zengqiang; Zhang, Jianlei

2017-05-07

One phenomenon or social institution often observed in multi-agent interactions is the altruistic punishment, i.e. the punishment of unfair behavior by others at a personal cost. Inspired by the works focusing on punishment and the intricate mechanism behind it, we theoretically study the strategy evolution in the framework of two-strategy game models with the punishment on defectors, moreover, the cost of punishing will be evenly shared among the cooperators. Theoretical computations suggest that larger punishment on defectors or smaller punishment cost incurred by cooperators will enhance the fixation of altruistic cooperation in the population. Through the replicate dynamics, the group size of the randomly selected individuals from the sufficiently large population will notably affect the strategy evolution in populations nested within a dilemma. By theoretical modeling the concept of shared cost for punishment from one point of view, our findings underscore the importance of punishment with shared cost as a factor in real-life decisions in an evolutionary game context. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evolutionary game theory for physical and biological scientists. I. Training and validating population dynamics equations.

PubMed

Liao, David; Tlsty, Thea D

2014-08-06

Failure to understand evolutionary dynamics has been hypothesized as limiting our ability to control biological systems. An increasing awareness of similarities between macroscopic ecosystems and cellular tissues has inspired optimism that game theory will provide insights into the progression and control of cancer. To realize this potential, the ability to compare game theoretic models and experimental measurements of population dynamics should be broadly disseminated. In this tutorial, we present an analysis method that can be used to train parameters in game theoretic dynamics equations, used to validate the resulting equations, and used to make predictions to challenge these equations and to design treatment strategies. The data analysis techniques in this tutorial are adapted from the analysis of reaction kinetics using the method of initial rates taught in undergraduate general chemistry courses. Reliance on computer programming is avoided to encourage the adoption of these methods as routine bench activities.

Asymmetric Evolutionary Games.

PubMed

McAvoy, Alex; Hauert, Christoph

2015-08-01

Evolutionary game theory is a powerful framework for studying evolution in populations of interacting individuals. A common assumption in evolutionary game theory is that interactions are symmetric, which means that the players are distinguished by only their strategies. In nature, however, the microscopic interactions between players are nearly always asymmetric due to environmental effects, differing baseline characteristics, and other possible sources of heterogeneity. To model these phenomena, we introduce into evolutionary game theory two broad classes of asymmetric interactions: ecological and genotypic. Ecological asymmetry results from variation in the environments of the players, while genotypic asymmetry is a consequence of the players having differing baseline genotypes. We develop a theory of these forms of asymmetry for games in structured populations and use the classical social dilemmas, the Prisoner's Dilemma and the Snowdrift Game, for illustrations. Interestingly, asymmetric games reveal essential differences between models of genetic evolution based on reproduction and models of cultural evolution based on imitation that are not apparent in symmetric games.

Asymmetric Evolutionary Games

PubMed Central

McAvoy, Alex; Hauert, Christoph

2015-01-01

Evolutionary game theory is a powerful framework for studying evolution in populations of interacting individuals. A common assumption in evolutionary game theory is that interactions are symmetric, which means that the players are distinguished by only their strategies. In nature, however, the microscopic interactions between players are nearly always asymmetric due to environmental effects, differing baseline characteristics, and other possible sources of heterogeneity. To model these phenomena, we introduce into evolutionary game theory two broad classes of asymmetric interactions: ecological and genotypic. Ecological asymmetry results from variation in the environments of the players, while genotypic asymmetry is a consequence of the players having differing baseline genotypes. We develop a theory of these forms of asymmetry for games in structured populations and use the classical social dilemmas, the Prisoner’s Dilemma and the Snowdrift Game, for illustrations. Interestingly, asymmetric games reveal essential differences between models of genetic evolution based on reproduction and models of cultural evolution based on imitation that are not apparent in symmetric games. PMID:26308326

The Use of Computer Games as an Educational Tool: Identification of Appropriate Game Types and Game Elements.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amory, Alan; Naicker, Kevin; Vincent, Jacky; Adams, Claudia

1999-01-01

Describes research with college students that investigated commercial game types and game elements to determine what would be suitable for education. Students rated logic, memory, visualization, and problem solving as important game elements that are used to develop a model that links pedagogical issues with game elements. (Author/LRW)

Access point selection game with mobile users using correlated equilibrium.

PubMed

Sohn, Insoo

2015-01-01

One of the most important issues in wireless local area network (WLAN) systems with multiple access points (APs) is the AP selection problem. Game theory is a mathematical tool used to analyze the interactions in multiplayer systems and has been applied to various problems in wireless networks. Correlated equilibrium (CE) is one of the powerful game theory solution concepts, which is more general than the Nash equilibrium for analyzing the interactions in multiplayer mixed strategy games. A game-theoretic formulation of the AP selection problem with mobile users is presented using a novel scheme based on a regret-based learning procedure. Through convergence analysis, we show that the joint actions based on the proposed algorithm achieve CE. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed algorithm is effective in a realistic WLAN environment with user mobility and achieves maximum system throughput based on the game-theoretic formulation.

Access Point Selection Game with Mobile Users Using Correlated Equilibrium

PubMed Central

Sohn, Insoo

2015-01-01

One of the most important issues in wireless local area network (WLAN) systems with multiple access points (APs) is the AP selection problem. Game theory is a mathematical tool used to analyze the interactions in multiplayer systems and has been applied to various problems in wireless networks. Correlated equilibrium (CE) is one of the powerful game theory solution concepts, which is more general than the Nash equilibrium for analyzing the interactions in multiplayer mixed strategy games. A game-theoretic formulation of the AP selection problem with mobile users is presented using a novel scheme based on a regret-based learning procedure. Through convergence analysis, we show that the joint actions based on the proposed algorithm achieve CE. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed algorithm is effective in a realistic WLAN environment with user mobility and achieves maximum system throughput based on the game-theoretic formulation. PMID:25785726

The effects of prosocial video games on prosocial behaviors: international evidence from correlational, longitudinal, and experimental studies.

PubMed

Gentile, Douglas A; Anderson, Craig A; Yukawa, Shintaro; Ihori, Nobuko; Saleem, Muniba; Ming, Lim Kam; Shibuya, Akiko; Liau, Albert K; Khoo, Angeline; Bushman, Brad J; Rowell Huesmann, L; Sakamoto, Akira

2009-06-01

Although dozens of studies have documented a relationship between violent video games and aggressive behaviors, very little attention has been paid to potential effects of prosocial games. Theoretically, games in which game characters help and support each other in nonviolent ways should increase both short-term and long-term prosocial behaviors. We report three studies conducted in three countries with three age groups to test this hypothesis. In the correlational study, Singaporean middle-school students who played more prosocial games behaved more prosocially. In the two longitudinal samples of Japanese children and adolescents, prosocial game play predicted later increases in prosocial behavior. In the experimental study, U.S. undergraduates randomly assigned to play prosocial games behaved more prosocially toward another student. These similar results across different methodologies, ages, and cultures provide robust evidence of a prosocial game content effect, and they provide support for the General Learning Model.

The Effects of Prosocial Video Games on Prosocial Behaviors: International Evidence from Correlational, Longitudinal, and Experimental Studies

PubMed Central

Gentile, Douglas A.; Anderson, Craig A.; Yukawa, Shintaro; Ihori, Nobuko; Saleem, Muniba; Ming, Lim Kam; Shibuya, Akiko; Liau, Albert K.; Khoo, Angeline; Bushman, Brad J.; Huesmann, L. Rowell; Sakamoto, Akira

2009-01-01

Although dozens of studies have documented a relation between violent video games and aggressive behaviors, very little attention has been paid to potential effects of prosocial games. Theoretically, games in which game characters help and support each other in nonviolent ways should increase both short-term and long-term prosocial behaviors. We report three studies conducted in three countries with three age groups to test this hypothesis. In the correlational study, Singaporean middle-school students who played more prosocial games behaved more prosocially. In the two longitudinal samples of Japanese children and adolescents, prosocial game play predicted later increases in prosocial behavior. In the experimental study, U.S. undergraduates randomly assigned to play prosocial games behaved more prosocially toward another student. These similar results across different methodologies, ages, and cultures provide robust evidence a prosocial game content effect, and provide support for the General Learning Model. PMID:19321812

A cognitive approach to game usability and design: mental model development in novice real-time strategy gamers.

PubMed

Graham, John; Zheng, Liya; Gonzalez, Cleotilde

2006-06-01

We developed a technique to observe and characterize a novice real-time-strategy (RTS) player's mental model as it shifts with experience. We then tested this technique using an off-the-shelf RTS game, EA Games Generals. Norman defined mental models as, "an internal representation of a target system that provides predictive and explanatory power to the operator." In the case of RTS games, the operator is the player and the target system is expressed by the relationships within the game. We studied five novice participants in laboratory-controlled conditions playing a RTS game. They played Command and Conquer Generals for 2 h per day over the course of 5 days. A mental model analysis was generated using player dissimilarity-ratings of the game's artificial intelligence (AI) agents analyzed using multidimensional scaling (MDS) statistical methods. We hypothesized that novices would begin with an impoverished model based on the visible physical characteristics of the game system. As they gained experience and insight, their mental models would shift and accommodate the functional characteristics of the AI agents. We found that all five of the novice participants began with the predicted physical-based mental model. However, while their models did qualitatively shift with experience, they did not necessarily change to the predicted functional-based model. This research presents an opportunity for the design of games that are guided by shifts in a player's mental model as opposed to the typical progression through successive performance levels.

The (De-)evolution of Evolution Games: A Content Analysis of the Representation of Evolution Through Natural Selection in Digital Games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leith, Alex P.; Ratan, Rabindra A.; Wohn, Donghee Yvette

2016-08-01

Given the diversity and complexity of education game mechanisms and topics, this article contributes to a theoretical understanding of how game mechanisms "map" to educational topics through inquiry-based learning. Namely, the article examines the presence of evolution through natural selection (ENS) in digital games. ENS is a fundamentally important and widely misunderstood theory. This analysis of ENS portrayal in digital games provides insight into the use of games in teaching ENS. Systematic database search results were coded for the three principles of ENS: phenotypic variation, differential fitness, and fitness heritability. Though thousands of games use the term evolution, few presented elements of evolution, and even fewer contained all principles of ENS. Games developed to specifically teach evolution were difficult to find through Web searches. These overall deficiencies in ENS games reflect the inherent incompatibility between game control elements and the automatic process of ENS.

Historical Perspectives on Games and Education from the Learning Sciences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shelton, Brett E.; Satwicz, Tom; Caswell, Tom

2011-01-01

This paper reviews three classic theorists' writing on games, learning, and development. Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bruner all wrote about games and play as important to thinking and learning. This review attempts to synthesize their perspectives as a means to revisit underused theoretical perspectives on the role of games in education. The views of…

Continuous model for the rock-scissors-paper game between bacteriocin producing bacteria.

PubMed

Neumann, Gunter; Schuster, Stefan

2007-06-01

In this work, important aspects of bacteriocin producing bacteria and their interplay are elucidated. Various attempts to model the resistant, producer and sensitive Escherichia coli strains in the so-called rock-scissors-paper (RSP) game had been made in the literature. The question arose whether there is a continuous model with a cyclic structure and admitting an oscillatory dynamics as observed in various experiments. The May-Leonard system admits a Hopf bifurcation, which is, however, degenerate and hence inadequate. The traditional differential equation model of the RSP-game cannot be applied either to the bacteriocin system because it involves positive interaction terms. In this paper, a plausible competitive Lotka-Volterra system model of the RSP game is presented and the dynamics generated by that model is analyzed. For the first time, a continuous, spatially homogeneous model that describes the competitive interaction between bacteriocin-producing, resistant and sensitive bacteria is established. The interaction terms have negative coefficients. In some experiments, for example, in mice cultures, migration seemed to be essential for the reinfection in the RSP cycle. Often statistical and spatial effects such as migration and mutation are regarded to be essential for periodicity. Our model gives rise to oscillatory dynamics in the RSP game without such effects. Here, a normal form description of the limit cycle and conditions for its stability are derived. The toxicity of the bacteriocin is used as a bifurcation parameter. Exact parameter ranges are obtained for which a stable (robust) limit cycle and a stable heteroclinic cycle exist in the three-species game. These parameters are in good accordance with the observed relations for the E. coli strains. The roles of growth rate and growth yield of the three strains are discussed. Numerical calculations show that the sensitive, which might be regarded as the weakest, can have the longest sojourn times.

A Praxeological Perspective for the Design and Implementation of a Digital Role-Play Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanchez, Eric; Monod-Ansaldi, Réjane; Vincent, Caroline; Safadi-Katouzian, Sina

2017-01-01

This paper draws on an empirical work dedicated to discussing a theoretical model for design-based research. The context of our study is a research project for the design, the implementation and the analysis of Insectophagia, a digital role-play game implemented in secondary schools. The model presented in this paper aims at conceptualizing…

Modelling home advantage in the Summer Olympic Games.

PubMed

Balmer, N J; Nevill, A M; Williams, A M

2003-06-01

Home advantage in team games is well proven and the influence of the crowd upon officials' decisions has been identified as a plausible cause. The aim of this study was to assess the significance of home advantage for five event groups selected from the Summer Olympic Games between 1896 and 1996, and put home advantage in team games in context with other sports. The five event groups were athletics and weightlifting (predominantly objectively judged), boxing and gymnastics (predominantly subjectively judged) and team games (involving subjective decisions). The proportion of points won was analysed as a binomial response variable using generalized linear interactive modelling. Preliminary exploration of the data highlighted the need to control for the proportion of competitors entered and to split the analysis pre- and post-war. Highly significant home advantage was found in event groups that were either subjectively judged or rely on subjective decisions. In contrast, little or no home advantage (and even away advantage) was observed for the two objectively judged groups. Officiating system was vital to both the existence and extent of home advantage. Our findings suggest that crowd noise has a greater influence upon officials' decisions than players' performances, as events with greater officiating input enjoyed significantly greater home advantage.

Sensitivities in a game theoretic approach to analyze allocation of water resources in the Nagobo basin, Ghana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hossler, T. H. H. H.; Caers, J.; Lakshmi, V.; Harris, J. M.

2016-12-01

Changing weather patterns, such as shorter duration of rainfall have made water sourcesunreliable for local farmers in the Nagbo basin located in Northern Ghana. Farmers are thereforestarting to use groundwater as a secondary source (and sometimes primary source) of water fortheir needs. Groundwater will therefore be most likely subject to considerable stress in the nearfuture with longer dry spells and increasing water demand from users with different interests.Strategies must be adopted to optimally allocate water between the various stakeholders in anuncertain environment. Game Theory (GT) provides a framework for analyzing watermanagement in the Nagobo Basin. GT has recently gained attention in analyzing the impact androle of stakeholders in water resources management but the hydrological and hydrogeologicalmodels fail to account for the numerous data sources and leading uncertainties of thehydrogeological cycle. In this work, we describe by means of a synthetic model a situation in theNagobo basin with a 2-players game, considering both cooperation and non-cooperation. Ahydrological model of the basin is built using the different data available (surface and subsurface).We are interested in quantifying the impact of the uncertainty of the model parameters on thegame, affecting both player's strategies and the equilibrium. In particular, the stochastic nature insupply (recharge of the aquifer) and the uncertain nature of the subsurface (externalities) are areaof focus. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out and these results will be presented as well asthe outcome of the different games.

Sensation Seeking and Online Gaming Addiction in Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Model of Positive Affective Associations and Impulsivity

PubMed Central

Hu, Jianping; Zhen, Shuangju; Yu, Chengfu; Zhang, Qiuyan; Zhang, Wei

2017-01-01

Based on the Dual Systems Model (Somerville et al., 2010; Steinberg, 2010a) and the biosocial-affect model (Romer and Hennessy, 2007) of adolescent sensation seeking and problem behaviors, the present study examined how (affective associations with online games as a mediator) and when (impulsivity as a moderator) did sensation seeking influence online gaming addiction in adolescence. A total of 375 Chinese male adolescents (mean age = 16.02 years, SD = 0.85) from southern China completed anonymous questionnaires regarding sensation seeking, positive affective associations with online games, impulsivity, and online gaming addiction. Our findings revealed that sensation seeking, positive affective associations with online games and impulsivity were each significantly and positively associated with online gaming addiction in adolescents. Positive affective associations mediated the relationship between sensation seeking and online gaming addiction. Further, impulsivity moderated the relationship between positive affective associations and online gaming addiction, such that the association between positive affective association and online gaming addiction was stronger for high than for low impulsivity adolescents. These findings underscore the importance of integrating the biosocial-affect model and the Dual Systems Model to understand how and when sensation seeking impacts adolescent online gaming addiction. PMID:28529494

Sensation Seeking and Online Gaming Addiction in Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Model of Positive Affective Associations and Impulsivity.

PubMed

Hu, Jianping; Zhen, Shuangju; Yu, Chengfu; Zhang, Qiuyan; Zhang, Wei

2017-01-01

Based on the Dual Systems Model (Somerville et al., 2010; Steinberg, 2010a) and the biosocial-affect model (Romer and Hennessy, 2007) of adolescent sensation seeking and problem behaviors, the present study examined how (affective associations with online games as a mediator) and when (impulsivity as a moderator) did sensation seeking influence online gaming addiction in adolescence. A total of 375 Chinese male adolescents (mean age = 16.02 years, SD = 0.85) from southern China completed anonymous questionnaires regarding sensation seeking, positive affective associations with online games, impulsivity, and online gaming addiction. Our findings revealed that sensation seeking, positive affective associations with online games and impulsivity were each significantly and positively associated with online gaming addiction in adolescents. Positive affective associations mediated the relationship between sensation seeking and online gaming addiction. Further, impulsivity moderated the relationship between positive affective associations and online gaming addiction, such that the association between positive affective association and online gaming addiction was stronger for high than for low impulsivity adolescents. These findings underscore the importance of integrating the biosocial-affect model and the Dual Systems Model to understand how and when sensation seeking impacts adolescent online gaming addiction.

Integrating Health Behavior Theory and Design Elements in Serious Games.

PubMed

Cheek, Colleen; Fleming, Theresa; Lucassen, Mathijs Fg; Bridgman, Heather; Stasiak, Karolina; Shepherd, Matthew; Orpin, Peter

2015-01-01

Internet interventions for improving health and well-being have the potential to reach many people and fill gaps in service provision. Serious gaming interfaces provide opportunities to optimize user adherence and impact. Health interventions based in theory and evidence and tailored to psychological constructs have been found to be more effective to promote behavior change. Defining the design elements which engage users and help them to meet their goals can contribute to better informed serious games. To elucidate design elements important in SPARX, a serious game for adolescents with depression, from a user-centered perspective. We proposed a model based on an established theory of health behavior change and practical features of serious game design to organize ideas and rationale. We analyzed data from 5 studies comprising a total of 22 focus groups and 66 semistructured interviews conducted with youth and families in New Zealand and Australia who had viewed or used SPARX. User perceptions of the game were applied to this framework. A coherent framework was established using the three constructs of self-determination theory (SDT), autonomy, competence, and relatedness, to organize user perceptions and design elements within four areas important in design: computer game, accessibility, working alliance, and learning in immersion. User perceptions mapped well to the framework, which may assist developers in understanding the context of user needs. By mapping these elements against the constructs of SDT, we were able to propose a sound theoretical base for the model. This study's method allowed for the articulation of design elements in a serious game from a user-centered perspective within a coherent overarching framework. The framework can be used to deliberately incorporate serious game design elements that support a user's sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, key constructs which have been found to mediate motivation at all stages of the change

Integrating Health Behavior Theory and Design Elements in Serious Games

PubMed Central

Fleming, Theresa; Lucassen, Mathijs FG; Bridgman, Heather; Stasiak, Karolina; Shepherd, Matthew; Orpin, Peter

2015-01-01

Background Internet interventions for improving health and well-being have the potential to reach many people and fill gaps in service provision. Serious gaming interfaces provide opportunities to optimize user adherence and impact. Health interventions based in theory and evidence and tailored to psychological constructs have been found to be more effective to promote behavior change. Defining the design elements which engage users and help them to meet their goals can contribute to better informed serious games. Objective To elucidate design elements important in SPARX, a serious game for adolescents with depression, from a user-centered perspective. Methods We proposed a model based on an established theory of health behavior change and practical features of serious game design to organize ideas and rationale. We analyzed data from 5 studies comprising a total of 22 focus groups and 66 semistructured interviews conducted with youth and families in New Zealand and Australia who had viewed or used SPARX. User perceptions of the game were applied to this framework. Results A coherent framework was established using the three constructs of self-determination theory (SDT), autonomy, competence, and relatedness, to organize user perceptions and design elements within four areas important in design: computer game, accessibility, working alliance, and learning in immersion. User perceptions mapped well to the framework, which may assist developers in understanding the context of user needs. By mapping these elements against the constructs of SDT, we were able to propose a sound theoretical base for the model. Conclusions This study’s method allowed for the articulation of design elements in a serious game from a user-centered perspective within a coherent overarching framework. The framework can be used to deliberately incorporate serious game design elements that support a user’s sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, key constructs which have been found

A dynamic game-theoretic model of parental care.

PubMed

Mcnamara, J M; Székely, T; Webb, J N; Houston, A I

2000-08-21

We present a model in which members of a mated pair decide whether to care for their offspring or desert them. There is a breeding season of finite length during which it is possible to produce and raise several batches of offspring. On deserting its offspring, an individual can search for a new mate. The probability of finding a mate depends on the number of individuals of each sex that are searching, which in turn depends upon the previous care and desertion decisions of all population members. We find the evolutionarily stable pattern of care over the breeding season. The feedback between behaviour and mating opportunity can result in a pattern of stable oscillations between different forms of care over the breeding season. Oscillations can also arise because the best thing for an individual to do at a particular time in the season depends on future behaviour of all population members. In the baseline model, a pair splits up after a breeding attempt, even if they both care for the offspring. In a version of the model in which a pair stays together if they both care, the feedback between behaviour and mating opportunity can lead to more than one evolutionarily stable form of care. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

On the Lulejian-I Combat Model

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-08-01

possible initial massing of the attacking side’s resources, the model tries to represent in a game -theoretic context the adversary nature of the...sequential game , as outlined in [A]. In principle, it is necessary to run the combat simulation once for each possible set of sequentially chosen...sequential game , in which the evaluative portion of the model (i.e., the combat assessment) serves to compute intermediate and terminal payoffs for the

A game theory-based trust measurement model for social networks.

PubMed

Wang, Yingjie; Cai, Zhipeng; Yin, Guisheng; Gao, Yang; Tong, Xiangrong; Han, Qilong

2016-01-01

In social networks, trust is a complex social network. Participants in online social networks want to share information and experiences with as many reliable users as possible. However, the modeling of trust is complicated and application dependent. Modeling trust needs to consider interaction history, recommendation, user behaviors and so on. Therefore, modeling trust is an important focus for online social networks. We propose a game theory-based trust measurement model for social networks. The trust degree is calculated from three aspects, service reliability, feedback effectiveness, recommendation credibility, to get more accurate result. In addition, to alleviate the free-riding problem, we propose a game theory-based punishment mechanism for specific trust and global trust, respectively. We prove that the proposed trust measurement model is effective. The free-riding problem can be resolved effectively through adding the proposed punishment mechanism.

Ecological theatre and the evolutionary game: how environmental and demographic factors determine payoffs in evolutionary games.

PubMed

Argasinski, K; Broom, M

2013-10-01

In the standard approach to evolutionary games and replicator dynamics, differences in fitness can be interpreted as an excess from the mean Malthusian growth rate in the population. In the underlying reasoning, related to an analysis of "costs" and "benefits", there is a silent assumption that fitness can be described in some type of units. However, in most cases these units of measure are not explicitly specified. Then the question arises: are these theories testable? How can we measure "benefit" or "cost"? A natural language, useful for describing and justifying comparisons of strategic "cost" versus "benefits", is the terminology of demography, because the basic events that shape the outcome of natural selection are births and deaths. In this paper, we present the consequences of an explicit analysis of births and deaths in an evolutionary game theoretic framework. We will investigate different types of mortality pressures, their combinations and the possibility of trade-offs between mortality and fertility. We will show that within this new approach it is possible to model how strictly ecological factors such as density dependence and additive background fitness, which seem neutral in classical theory, can affect the outcomes of the game. We consider the example of the Hawk-Dove game, and show that when reformulated in terms of our new approach new details and new biological predictions are produced.

Training basic laparoscopic skills using a custom-made video game.

PubMed

Goris, Jetse; Jalink, Maarten B; Ten Cate Hoedemaker, Henk O

2014-09-01

Video games are accepted and used for a wide variety of applications. In the medical world, research on the positive effects of playing games on basic laparoscopic skills is rapidly increasing. Although these benefits have been proven several times, no institution actually uses video games for surgical training. This Short Communication describes some of the theoretical backgrounds, development and underlying educational foundations of a specifically designed video game and custom-made hardware that takes advantage of the positive effects of games on basic laparoscopic skills.

Game theoretic wireless resource allocation for H.264 MGS video transmission over cognitive radio networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fragkoulis, Alexandros; Kondi, Lisimachos P.; Parsopoulos, Konstantinos E.

2015-03-01

We propose a method for the fair and efficient allocation of wireless resources over a cognitive radio system network to transmit multiple scalable video streams to multiple users. The method exploits the dynamic architecture of the Scalable Video Coding extension of the H.264 standard, along with the diversity that OFDMA networks provide. We use a game-theoretic Nash Bargaining Solution (NBS) framework to ensure that each user receives the minimum video quality requirements, while maintaining fairness over the cognitive radio system. An optimization problem is formulated, where the objective is the maximization of the Nash product while minimizing the waste of resources. The problem is solved by using a Swarm Intelligence optimizer, namely Particle Swarm Optimization. Due to the high dimensionality of the problem, we also introduce a dimension-reduction technique. Our experimental results demonstrate the fairness imposed by the employed NBS framework.

Gaming across different consoles: exploring the influence of control scheme on game-player enjoyment.

PubMed

Limperos, Anthony M; Schmierbach, Michael G; Kegerise, Andrew D; Dardis, Frank E

2011-06-01

Many studies have investigated how different technological features impact the experience of playing video games, yet few have focused on how control schemes may affect the play experience. This research employed a between-subjects design to explore the relationship between the type of console played (Nintendo Wii, Playstation 2) and feelings of flow and enjoyment during the game-play experience. Results indicated that participants reported greater feelings of control and enjoyment with a traditional control scheme (Playstation 2) than with the more technologically advanced control scheme (Nintendo Wii). Further mediation analysis showed that enjoyment was driven by the sense of control that participants experienced and not simply by whether they won the game. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

A meta-analysis of serious digital games for healthy lifestyle promotion.

PubMed

DeSmet, Ann; Van Ryckeghem, Dimitri; Compernolle, Sofie; Baranowski, Tom; Thompson, Debbe; Crombez, Geert; Poels, Karolien; Van Lippevelde, Wendy; Bastiaensens, Sara; Van Cleemput, Katrien; Vandebosch, Heidi; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse

2014-12-01

Several systematic reviews have described health-promoting effects of serious games but so far no meta-analysis has been reported. This paper presents a meta-analysis of 54 serious digital game studies for healthy lifestyle promotion, in which we investigated the overall effectiveness of serious digital games on healthy lifestyle promotion outcomes and the role of theoretically and clinically important moderators. Findings showed that serious games have small positive effects on healthy lifestyles (g=0.260, 95% CI 0.148; 0.373) and their determinants (g=0.334, 95% CI 0.260; 0.407), especially for knowledge. Effects on clinical outcomes were significant, but much smaller (g=0.079, 95% CI 0.038; 0.120). Long-term effects were maintained for all outcomes except for behavior. Serious games are best individually tailored to both socio-demographic and change need information, and benefit from a strong focus on game theories or a dual theoretical foundation in both behavioral prediction and game theories. They can be effective either as a stand-alone or multi-component programs, and appeal to populations regardless of age and gender. Given that effects of games remain heterogeneous, further explorations of which game features create larger effects are needed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Meta-Analysis of Serious Digital Games for Healthy Lifestyle Promotion

PubMed Central

DeSmet, Ann; Van Ryckeghem, Dimitri; Compernolle, Sofie; Baranowski, Tom; Thompson, Debbe; Crombez, Geert; Poels, Karolien; Van Lippevelde, Wendy; Bastiaensens, Sara; Van Cleemput, Katrien; Vandebosch, Heidi; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse

2015-01-01

Several systematic reviews have described health-promoting effects of serious games but so far no meta-analysis has been reported. This paper presents a meta-analysis of 54 serious digital game studies for healthy lifestyle promotion, in which we investigated the overall effectiveness of serious digital games on healthy lifestyle promotion outcomes and the role of theoretically and clinically important moderators. Findings showed serious games have small positive effects on healthy lifestyles (g=0.260, 95% CI 0.148; 0.373) and their determinants (g=0.334, 95% CI 0.260; 0.407), especially for knowledge. Effects on clinical outcomes were significant, but much smaller (g=0.079, 95% CI 0.038; 0.120). Long-term effects were maintained for all outcomes except for behavior. Serious games are best individually tailored to both socio-demographic and change need information, and benefit from a strong focus on game theories or a dual theoretical foundation in both behavioral prediction and game theories. They can be effective either as a stand-alone or multi-component programs, and appeal to populations regardless of age and gender. Given that effects of games remain heterogeneous, further exploration of which game features create larger effects are needed. PMID:25172024

Stochastic game theory: for playing games, not just for doing theory.

PubMed

Goeree, J K; Holt, C A

1999-09-14

Recent theoretical advances have dramatically increased the relevance of game theory for predicting human behavior in interactive situations. By relaxing the classical assumptions of perfect rationality and perfect foresight, we obtain much improved explanations of initial decisions, dynamic patterns of learning and adjustment, and equilibrium steady-state distributions.

Health Behavior Theory in Physical Activity Game Apps: A Content Analysis.

PubMed

Payne, Hannah E; Moxley, Victor Ba; MacDonald, Elizabeth

2015-07-13

Physical activity games developed for a mobile phone platform are becoming increasingly popular, yet little is known about their content or inclusion of health behavior theory (HBT). The objective of our study was to quantify elements of HBT in physical activity games developed for mobile phones and to assess the relationship between theoretical constructs and various app features. We conducted an analysis of exercise and physical activity game apps in the Apple App Store in the fall of 2014. A total of 52 apps were identified and rated for inclusion of health behavior theoretical constructs using an established theory-based rubric. Each app was coded for 100 theoretical items, containing 5 questions for 20 different constructs. Possible total theory scores ranged from 0 to 100. Descriptive statistics and Spearman correlations were used to describe the HBT score and association with selected app features, respectively. The average HBT score in the sample was 14.98 out of 100. One outlier, SuperBetter, scored higher than the other apps with a score of 76. Goal setting, self-monitoring, and self-reward were the most-reported constructs found in the sample. There was no association between either app price and theory score (P=.5074), or number of gamification elements and theory score (P=.5010). However, Superbetter, with the highest HBT score, was also the most expensive app. There are few content analyses of serious games for health, but a comparison between these findings and previous content analyses of non-game health apps indicates that physical activity mobile phone games demonstrate higher levels of behavior theory. The most common theoretical constructs found in this sample are known to be efficacious elements in physical activity interventions. It is unclear, however, whether app designers consciously design physical activity mobile phone games with specific constructs in mind; it may be that games lend themselves well to inclusion of theory and any

A Multi-User Game-Theoretical Multipath Routing Protocol to Send Video-Warning Messages over Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

PubMed Central

Mezher, Ahmad Mohamad; Igartua, Mónica Aguilar; de la Cruz Llopis, Luis J.; Segarra, Esteve Pallarès; Tripp-Barba, Carolina; Urquiza-Aguiar, Luis; Forné, Jordi; Gargallo, Emilio Sanvicente

2015-01-01

The prevention of accidents is one of the most important goals of ad hoc networks in smart cities. When an accident happens, dynamic sensors (e.g., citizens with smart phones or tablets, smart vehicles and buses, etc.) could shoot a video clip of the accident and send it through the ad hoc network. With a video message, the level of seriousness of the accident could be much better evaluated by the authorities (e.g., health care units, police and ambulance drivers) rather than with just a simple text message. Besides, other citizens would be rapidly aware of the incident. In this way, smart dynamic sensors could participate in reporting a situation in the city using the ad hoc network so it would be possible to have a quick reaction warning citizens and emergency units. The deployment of an efficient routing protocol to manage video-warning messages in mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs) has important benefits by allowing a fast warning of the incident, which potentially can save lives. To contribute with this goal, we propose a multipath routing protocol to provide video-warning messages in MANETs using a novel game-theoretical approach. As a base for our work, we start from our previous work, where a 2-players game-theoretical routing protocol was proposed to provide video-streaming services over MANETs. In this article, we further generalize the analysis made for a general number of N players in the MANET. Simulations have been carried out to show the benefits of our proposal, taking into account the mobility of the nodes and the presence of interfering traffic.Finally, we also have tested our approach in a vehicular ad hoc network as an incipient start point to develop a novel proposal specifically designed for VANETs. PMID:25897496

A Multi-User Game-Theoretical Multipath Routing Protocol to Send Video-Warning Messages over Mobile Ad Hoc Networks.

PubMed

Mezher, Ahmad Mohamad; Igartua, Mónica Aguilar; de la Cruz Llopis, Luis J; Pallarès Segarra, Esteve; Tripp-Barba, Carolina; Urquiza-Aguiar, Luis; Forné, Jordi; Sanvicente Gargallo, Emilio

2015-04-17

The prevention of accidents is one of the most important goals of ad hoc networks in smart cities. When an accident happens, dynamic sensors (e.g., citizens with smart phones or tablets, smart vehicles and buses, etc.) could shoot a video clip of the accident and send it through the ad hoc network. With a video message, the level of seriousness of the accident could be much better evaluated by the authorities (e.g., health care units, police and ambulance drivers) rather than with just a simple text message. Besides, other citizens would be rapidly aware of the incident. In this way, smart dynamic sensors could participate in reporting a situation in the city using the ad hoc network so it would be possible to have a quick reaction warning citizens and emergency units. The deployment of an efficient routing protocol to manage video-warning messages in mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs) has important benefits by allowing a fast warning of the incident, which potentially can save lives. To contribute with this goal, we propose a multipath routing protocol to provide video-warning messages in MANETs using a novel game-theoretical approach. As a base for our work, we start from our previous work, where a 2-players game-theoretical routing protocol was proposed to provide video-streaming services over MANETs. In this article, we further generalize the analysis made for a general number of N players in the MANET. Simulations have been carried out to show the benefits of our proposal, taking into account the mobility of the nodes and the presence of interfering traffic. Finally, we also have tested our approach in a vehicular ad hoc network as an incipient start point to develop a novel proposal specifically designed for VANETs.

Local Voltage Control in Distribution Networks: A Game-Theoretic Perspective: Preprint

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, Xinyang; Tian, Jie; Chen, Lijun

Inverter-based voltage regulation is gaining importance to alleviate emerging reliability and power-quality concerns related to distribution systems with high penetration of photovoltaic (PV) systems. This paper seeks contribution in the domain of reactive power compensation by establishing stability of local Volt/VAr controllers. In lieu of the approximate linear surrogate used in the existing work, the paper establishes existence and uniqueness of an equilibrium point using nonlinear AC power flow model. Key to this end is to consider a nonlinear dynamical system with non-incremental local Volt/VAr control, cast the Volt/VAr dynamics as a game, and leverage the fixed-point theorem as wellmore » as pertinent contraction mapping argument. Numerical examples are provided to complement the analytical results.« less

Violent video game effects on children and adolescents. A review of the literature.

PubMed

Gentile, D A; Stone, W

2005-12-01

Studies of violent video games on children and adolescents were reviewed to: 1) determine the multiple effects; 2) to offer critical observations about common strengths and weaknesses in the literature; 3) to provide a broader perspective to understand the research on the effects of video games. The review includes general theoretical and methodological considerations of media violence, and description of the general aggression model (GAM). The literature was evaluated in relation to the GAM. Published literature, including meta-analyses, are reviewed, as well as relevant unpublished material, such as conference papers and dissertations. Overall, the evidence supports hypotheses that violent video game play is related to aggressive affect, physiological arousal, aggressive cognitions, and aggressive behaviours. The effects of video game play on school performance are also evaluated, and the review concludes with a dimensional approach to video game effects. The dimensional approach evaluates video game effects in terms of amount, content, form, and mechanics, and appears to have many advantages for understanding and predicting the multiple types of effects demonstrated in the literature.

The Linear Quadratic Gaussian Multistage Game with Nonclassical Information Pattern Using a Direct Solution Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clemens, Joshua William

Game theory has application across multiple fields, spanning from economic strategy to optimal control of an aircraft and missile on an intercept trajectory. The idea of game theory is fascinating in that we can actually mathematically model real-world scenarios and determine optimal decision making. It may not always be easy to mathematically model certain real-world scenarios, nonetheless, game theory gives us an appreciation for the complexity involved in decision making. This complexity is especially apparent when the players involved have access to different information upon which to base their decision making (a nonclassical information pattern). Here we will focus on the class of adversarial two-player games (sometimes referred to as pursuit-evasion games) with nonclassical information pattern. We present a two-sided (simultaneous) optimization solution method for the two-player linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) multistage game. This direct solution method allows for further interpretation of each player's decision making (strategy) as compared to previously used formal solution methods. In addition to the optimal control strategies, we present a saddle point proof and we derive an expression for the optimal performance index value. We provide some numerical results in order to further interpret the optimal control strategies and to highlight real-world application of this game-theoretic optimal solution.

An evolutionary game model for behavioral gambit of loyalists: Global awareness and risk-aversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alfinito, E.; Barra, A.; Beccaria, M.; Fachechi, A.; Macorini, G.

2018-02-01

We study the phase diagram of a minority game where three classes of agents are present. Two types of agents play a risk-loving game that we model by the standard Snowdrift Game. The behaviour of the third type of agents is coded by indifference with respect to the game at all: their dynamics is designed to account for risk-aversion as an innovative behavioral gambit. From this point of view, the choice of this solitary strategy is enhanced when innovation starts, while is depressed when it becomes the majority option. This implies that the payoff matrix of the game becomes dependent on the global awareness of the agents measured by the relevance of the population of the indifferent players. The resulting dynamics is nontrivial with different kinds of phase transition depending on a few model parameters. The phase diagram is studied on regular as well as complex networks.

Theoretical models of parental HIV disclosure: a critical review.

PubMed

Qiao, Shan; Li, Xiaoming; Stanton, Bonita

2013-01-01

This study critically examined three major theoretical models related to parental HIV disclosure (i.e., the Four-Phase Model [FPM], the Disclosure Decision Making Model [DDMM], and the Disclosure Process Model [DPM]), and the existing studies that could provide empirical support to these models or their components. For each model, we briefly reviewed its theoretical background, described its components and/or mechanisms, and discussed its strengths and limitations. The existing empirical studies supported most theoretical components in these models. However, hypotheses related to the mechanisms proposed in the models have not yet tested due to a lack of empirical evidence. This study also synthesized alternative theoretical perspectives and new issues in disclosure research and clinical practice that may challenge the existing models. The current study underscores the importance of including components related to social and cultural contexts in theoretical frameworks, and calls for more adequately designed empirical studies in order to test and refine existing theories and to develop new ones.

Sport Education as a Curriculum Approach to Student Learning of Invasion Games: Effects on Game Performance and Game Involvement

PubMed Central

Farias, Cláudio; Valério, Carla; Mesquita, Isabel

2018-01-01

The teaching and learning of games and sport-based activities has historically been the dominant form of the physical education curricula. With an interest in providing to students meaningful and culturally situated sporting experiences, Sport Education is probably the most implemented and researched pedagogical model worldwide. However, although there is considerable evidence that the model as a curriculum approach can benefit the development of social goals and healthy sport behaviors, not a single study as to date examined students’ game-play development beyond participation in single and isolated teaching units. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine students’ development of Game Performance and Game Involvement during participation in three consecutive Sport Education seasons of invasion games. The participants were an experienced physical education teacher and one seventh-grade class totaling 26 students (10 girls and 16 boys). Using the Game Performance Assessment Instrument (Oslin et al., 1998), pre-test to post-tests measures of students’ Game Performance and Game Involvement were collected during their participation in basketball (20 lessons), handball (16 lessons), and football (18 lessons) units. Inter-group differences and pre-test to post-test improvements within each season were analyzed through 2 (time) x group (sport) repeated measures ANOVA tests. There were found significant pre-test to post-test improvements in Game Performance and Game Involvement in the second (handball) and third (football) seasons, but not in the first season (basketball). Students’ Game Performance and Involvement scores of handball and football were significantly higher than their scores while playing basketball. The opportunity for an extended engagement in game-play activities and prolonged membership of students in the same teams throughout three consecutive seasons of Sport Education were key to the outcomes found. The specific configurations of

Designing a Health-Game Intervention Supporting Health Literacy and a Tobacco-Free Life in Early Adolescence.

PubMed

Parisod, Heidi; Pakarinen, Anni; Axelin, Anna; Danielsson-Ojala, Riitta; Smed, Jouni; Salanterä, Sanna

2017-08-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the design of a health game that aims to both support tobacco-related health literacy and a tobacco-free life in early adolescence and to meet adolescents' expectations. Data were collected from adolescents using an open-ended questionnaire (n = 83) and focus groups (n = 39) to obtain their view of a health game used for tobacco-related health education. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. A group of experts combined the adolescents' views with theoretical information on health literacy and designed and produced the first version of the game. Adolescents (session 1, n = 16; session 3, n = 10; and session 4, n = 44) and health promotion professionals (session 2, n = 3) participated in testing the game. Feedback from testing sessions 3 and 4 was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Adolescents pointed out that the health game needs to approach the topic of tobacco delicately and focus on the adolescents' perspective and on the positive sides of a tobacco-free life rather than only on the negative consequences of tobacco. The adolescents expected the game to be of high quality, stimulating, and intellectually challenging and to offer possibilities for individualization. Elements from the adolescents' view and theoretical modelling were embedded into the design of a game called Fume. Feedback on the game was promising, but some points were highlighted for further development. Investing especially in high-quality design features, such as graphics and versatile content, using humoristic or otherwise stimulating elements, and maintaining sufficiently challenging gameplay would promote the acceptability of theory-based health games among adolescents.

Deduction of initial strategy distributions of agents in mix-game models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gou, Chengling

2006-11-01

This paper reports the effort of deducing the initial strategy distributions (ISDs) of agents in mix-game models that is used to predict a real financial time series generated from a target financial market. Using mix-games to predict Shanghai Index, we find that the time series of prediction accurate rates is sensitive to the ISDs of agents in group 2 who play a minority game, but less sensitive to the ISDs of agents in group 1 who play a majority game. And agents in group 2 tend to cluster in full strategy space (FSS) if the real financial time series has obvious tendency (upward or downward), otherwise they tend to scatter in FSS. We also find that the ISDs and the number of agents in group 1 influence the level of prediction accurate rates. Finally, this paper gives suggestion about further research.

Learning with touchscreen devices: game strategies to improve geometric thinking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soldano, Carlotta; Arzarello, Ferdinando

2016-03-01

The aim of this paper is to reflect on the importance of the students' game-strategic thinking during the development of mathematical activities. In particular, we hypothesise that this type of thinking helps students in the construction of logical links between concepts during the "argumentation phase" of the proving process. The theoretical background of our study lies in the works of J. Hintikka, a Finnish logician, who developed a new type of logic, based on game theory, called the logic of inquiry. In order to experiment with this new approach to the teaching and learning of mathematics, we have prepared five game-activities based on geometric theorems in which two players play against each other in a multi-touch dynamic geometric environment (DGE). In this paper, we present the design of the first game-activity and the relationship between it and the logic of inquiry. Then, adopting the theoretical framework of the instrumental genesis by Vérillon and Rabardel (EJPE 10: 77-101, 1995), we will present and analyse significant actions and dialogues developed by students while they are solving the game. We focus on the presence of a particular way of playing the game introduced by the students, the "reflected game", and highlight its functions for the development of the task.

Modeling infectious diseases dissemination through online role-playing games.

PubMed

Balicer, Ran D

2007-03-01

As mathematical modeling of infectious diseases becomes increasingly important for developing public health policies, a novel platform for such studies might be considered. Millions of people worldwide play interactive online role-playing games, forming complex and rich networks among their virtual characters. An unexpected outbreak of an infective communicable disease (unplanned by the game creators) recently occurred in this virtual world. This outbreak holds surprising similarities to real-world epidemics. It is possible that these virtual environments could serve as a platform for studying the dissemination of infectious diseases, and as a testing ground for novel interventions to control emerging communicable diseases.

Improving physics instruction by analyzing video games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beatty, Ian D.

2013-01-01

Video games can be very powerful teaching systems, and game designers have become adept at optimizing player engagement while scaffolding development of complex skills and situated knowledge. One implication is that we might create games to teach physics. Another, which I explore here, is that we might learn to improve classroom physics instruction by studying effective games. James Gee, in his book What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (2007), articulates 36 principles that make good video games highly effective as learning environments. In this theoretical work, I identify 16 themes running through Gee's principles, and explore how these themes and Gee's principles could be applied to the design of an on-campus physics course. I argue that the process pushes us to confront aspects of learning that physics instructors and even physics education researchers generally neglect, and suggest some novel ideas for course design.

Joint Real-Time Energy and Demand-Response Management using a Hybrid Coalitional-Noncooperative Game

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

He, Fulin; Gu, Yi; Hao, Jun

In order to model the interactions among utility companies, building demands and renewable energy generators (REGs), a hybrid coalitional-noncooperative game framework has been proposed. We formulate a dynamic non-cooperative game to study the energy dispatch within multiple utility companies, while we take a coalitional perspective on REGs and buildings demands through a hedonic coalition formation game approach. In this case, building demands request different power supply from REGs, then the building demands can be organized into an ultimate coalition structure through a distributed hedonic shift algorithm. At the same time, utility companies can also obtain a stable power generation profile.more » In addition, the interactive progress among the utility companies and building demands which cannot be supplied by REGs is implemented by distributed game theoretic algorithms. Numerical results illustrate that the proposed hybrid coalitional-noncooperative game scheme reduces the cost of both building demands and utility companies compared with the initial scene.« less

A Communities of Practice Perspective on Educational Computer Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reese, Curt

2008-01-01

Educational computer games provide an environment in which interactions among students, teachers, and texts differ non-trivially from those of the traditional classroom. In order to build and research computer games effectively, it is important to provide a theoretical background that adequately describes and explains learning and interactions in…

Imitation dynamics of vaccine decision-making behaviours based on the game theory.

PubMed

Yang, Junyuan; Martcheva, Maia; Chen, Yuming

2016-01-01

Based on game theory, we propose an age-structured model to investigate the imitation dynamics of vaccine uptake. We first obtain the existence and local stability of equilibria. We show that Hopf bifurcation can occur. We also establish the global stability of the boundary equilibria and persistence of the disease. The theoretical results are supported by numerical simulations.

Introduction to Special Issue on Games + Learning + Society

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Squire, Kurt; Gaydos, Matthew; DeVane, Ben

2016-01-01

Digital games for learning have quickly transitioned from a theoretical possibility, to a hyped technology, to an idea that almost seems quaint compared to advances in Biochips, Smart Robots, and self-driving cars. As a field, it is now better understand what games are good for, what they are not, and in what kinds of situations they can be…

A hybrid fuzzy logic/constraint satisfaction problem approach to automatic decision making in simulation game models.

PubMed

Braathen, Sverre; Sendstad, Ole Jakob

2004-08-01

Possible techniques for representing automatic decision-making behavior approximating human experts in complex simulation model experiments are of interest. Here, fuzzy logic (FL) and constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) methods are applied in a hybrid design of automatic decision making in simulation game models. The decision processes of a military headquarters are used as a model for the FL/CSP decision agents choice of variables and rulebases. The hybrid decision agent design is applied in two different types of simulation games to test the general applicability of the design. The first application is a two-sided zero-sum sequential resource allocation game with imperfect information interpreted as an air campaign game. The second example is a network flow stochastic board game designed to capture important aspects of land manoeuvre operations. The proposed design is shown to perform well also in this complex game with a very large (billionsize) action set. Training of the automatic FL/CSP decision agents against selected performance measures is also shown and results are presented together with directions for future research.

Physical Activity Levels and Motivational Responses of Boys and Girls: A Comparison of Direct Instruction and Tactical Games Models of Games Teaching in Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Lindsey; Harvey, Stephen; Savory, Louise; Fairclough, Stuart; Kozub, Stephen; Kerr, Catherine

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to independently determine the levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and self-determined motivation of both boys and girls as they participated in prolonged units of invasion games (i.e. 6-12 lessons) through two pedagogical models: direct instruction and the tactical games model (TGM). It was…

Considerations for Adaptive Tutoring Within Serious Games: Authoring Cognitive Models and game Interfaces

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-06-01

character skills correspond to real- world player skills (transfer). In games such as World of Warcraft , "grinding" behaviors are popular (boring...reflecting on a recent emphasis on self-directed learning using game-based simulations and virtual worlds , the authors considered key challenges in...transforming serious games and virtual worlds into adaptive training tools. This article reflects specifically on the challenges and potential of cognitive

We Are the Game Changers: An Open Gaming Literacy Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arnab, Sylvester; Morini, Luca; Green, Kate; Masters, Alex; Bellamy-Woods, Tyrone

2017-01-01

This paper discusses the first iteration of Game Changers Programme hosted by Coventry University's Disruptive Media Learning Lab (DMLL), an open game design initiative. The Programme had the goal of facilitating new models of teaching and learning, new practices in cross-faculty learning/ collaboration to make game design and development more…

Modeling Misbehavior in Cooperative Diversity: A Dynamic Game Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dehnie, Sintayehu; Memon, Nasir

2009-12-01

Cooperative diversity protocols are designed with the assumption that terminals always help each other in a socially efficient manner. This assumption may not be valid in commercial wireless networks where terminals may misbehave for selfish or malicious intentions. The presence of misbehaving terminals creates a social-dilemma where terminals exhibit uncertainty about the cooperative behavior of other terminals in the network. Cooperation in social-dilemma is characterized by a suboptimal Nash equilibrium where wireless terminals opt out of cooperation. Hence, without establishing a mechanism to detect and mitigate effects of misbehavior, it is difficult to maintain a socially optimal cooperation. In this paper, we first examine effects of misbehavior assuming static game model and show that cooperation under existing cooperative protocols is characterized by a noncooperative Nash equilibrium. Using evolutionary game dynamics we show that a small number of mutants can successfully invade a population of cooperators, which indicates that misbehavior is an evolutionary stable strategy (ESS). Our main goal is to design a mechanism that would enable wireless terminals to select reliable partners in the presence of uncertainty. To this end, we formulate cooperative diversity as a dynamic game with incomplete information. We show that the proposed dynamic game formulation satisfied the conditions for the existence of perfect Bayesian equilibrium.

Health Behavior Theory in Physical Activity Game Apps: A Content Analysis

PubMed Central

Moxley, Victor BA; MacDonald, Elizabeth

2015-01-01

Background Physical activity games developed for a mobile phone platform are becoming increasingly popular, yet little is known about their content or inclusion of health behavior theory (HBT). Objective The objective of our study was to quantify elements of HBT in physical activity games developed for mobile phones and to assess the relationship between theoretical constructs and various app features. Methods We conducted an analysis of exercise and physical activity game apps in the Apple App Store in the fall of 2014. A total of 52 apps were identified and rated for inclusion of health behavior theoretical constructs using an established theory-based rubric. Each app was coded for 100 theoretical items, containing 5 questions for 20 different constructs. Possible total theory scores ranged from 0 to 100. Descriptive statistics and Spearman correlations were used to describe the HBT score and association with selected app features, respectively. Results The average HBT score in the sample was 14.98 out of 100. One outlier, SuperBetter, scored higher than the other apps with a score of 76. Goal setting, self-monitoring, and self-reward were the most-reported constructs found in the sample. There was no association between either app price and theory score (P=.5074), or number of gamification elements and theory score (P=.5010). However, Superbetter, with the highest HBT score, was also the most expensive app. Conclusions There are few content analyses of serious games for health, but a comparison between these findings and previous content analyses of non-game health apps indicates that physical activity mobile phone games demonstrate higher levels of behavior theory. The most common theoretical constructs found in this sample are known to be efficacious elements in physical activity interventions. It is unclear, however, whether app designers consciously design physical activity mobile phone games with specific constructs in mind; it may be that games lend

Cognitive Model of Trust Dynamics Predicts Human Behavior within and between Two Games of Strategic Interaction with Computerized Confederate Agents

PubMed Central

Collins, Michael G.; Juvina, Ion; Gluck, Kevin A.

2016-01-01

When playing games of strategic interaction, such as iterated Prisoner's Dilemma and iterated Chicken Game, people exhibit specific within-game learning (e.g., learning a game's optimal outcome) as well as transfer of learning between games (e.g., a game's optimal outcome occurring at a higher proportion when played after another game). The reciprocal trust players develop during the first game is thought to mediate transfer of learning effects. Recently, a computational cognitive model using a novel trust mechanism has been shown to account for human behavior in both games, including the transfer between games. We present the results of a study in which we evaluate the model's a priori predictions of human learning and transfer in 16 different conditions. The model's predictive validity is compared against five model variants that lacked a trust mechanism. The results suggest that a trust mechanism is necessary to explain human behavior across multiple conditions, even when a human plays against a non-human agent. The addition of a trust mechanism to the other learning mechanisms within the cognitive architecture, such as sequence learning, instance-based learning, and utility learning, leads to better prediction of the empirical data. It is argued that computational cognitive modeling is a useful tool for studying trust development, calibration, and repair. PMID:26903892

Violent and nonviolent video games differentially affect physical aggression for individuals high vs. low in dispositional anger.

PubMed

Engelhardt, Christopher R; Bartholow, Bruce D; Saults, J Scott

2011-01-01

Although numerous experiments have shown that exposure to violent video games (VVG) causes increases in aggression, relatively few studies have investigated the extent to which this effect differs as a function of theoretically relevant individual difference factors. This study investigated whether video game content differentially influences aggression as a function of individual differences in trait anger. Participants were randomly assigned to play a violent or nonviolent video game before completing a task in which they could behave aggressively. Results showed that participants high in trait anger were the most aggressive, but only if they first played a VVG. This relationship held while statistically controlling for dimensions other than violent content on which game conditions differed (e.g. frustration, arousal). Implications of these findings for models explaining the effects of video games on behavior are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cooperative Trust Games

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

the more widely recognized competitive (non-cooperative) game theory. Cooperative game theory focuses on what groups of self-interested agents can...provides immediate justification for using non-cooperative game theory as the basis for modeling the purely competitive agents. 2.4. Superadditive...the competitive and altruistic contributions of the subset team. Definition: Given a payoff function ( ) in a subset team game , the total marginal

Digital gaming for HIV prevention with young adolescents.

PubMed

Enah, Comfort; Moneyham, Linda; Vance, David E; Childs, Gwendolyn

2013-01-01

The search for intervention strategies appropriate for young adolescents has recently led to the use of digital games. Digital gaming interventions are promising because they may be developmentally appropriate for adolescent populations. The gaming approach also capitalizes on an inherent interest to adolescents and circumvents traditional barriers to access to prevention interventions faced in some geographical areas. Notwithstanding, research on gaming in HIV prevention is quite limited. In this review article, we examine the need for contextually relevant HIV prevention interventions among young adolescents. From this, we provide a theoretical framework for exploring contextually relevant HIV risk factors and a foundation for gathering and using input from the target population to adapt an existing game or to create a developmentally appropriate and contextually relevant HIV prevention game. Copyright © 2013 Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A preliminary theoretical line-blanketed model solar photosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kurucz, R. L.

1974-01-01

In the theoretical approach to model-atmosphere construction, all opacities are computed theoretically and the temperature-pressure structure is determined by conservation of energy. Until recently, this has not been a very useful method for later type stars, because the line opacity was both poorly known and difficult to calculate. However, methods have now been developed that are capable of representing the line opacity well enough for construction of realistic models. A preliminary theoretical solar model is presented that produces closer agreement with observation than has been heretofore possible. The qualitative advantages and shortcomings of this model are discussued and projected improvements are outlined.

Interdependent Network Recovery Games.

PubMed

Smith, Andrew M; González, Andrés D; Dueñas-Osorio, Leonardo; D'Souza, Raissa M

2017-10-30

Recovery of interdependent infrastructure networks in the presence of catastrophic failure is crucial to the economy and welfare of society. Recently, centralized methods have been developed to address optimal resource allocation in postdisaster recovery scenarios of interdependent infrastructure systems that minimize total cost. In real-world systems, however, multiple independent, possibly noncooperative, utility network controllers are responsible for making recovery decisions, resulting in suboptimal decentralized processes. With the goal of minimizing recovery cost, a best-case decentralized model allows controllers to develop a full recovery plan and negotiate until all parties are satisfied (an equilibrium is reached). Such a model is computationally intensive for planning and negotiating, and time is a crucial resource in postdisaster recovery scenarios. Furthermore, in this work, we prove this best-case decentralized negotiation process could continue indefinitely under certain conditions. Accounting for network controllers' urgency in repairing their system, we propose an ad hoc sequential game-theoretic model of interdependent infrastructure network recovery represented as a discrete time noncooperative game between network controllers that is guaranteed to converge to an equilibrium. We further reduce the computation time needed to find a solution by applying a best-response heuristic and prove bounds on ε-Nash equilibrium, where ε depends on problem inputs. We compare best-case and ad hoc models on an empirical interdependent infrastructure network in the presence of simulated earthquakes to demonstrate the extent of the tradeoff between optimality and computational efficiency. Our method provides a foundation for modeling sociotechnical systems in a way that mirrors restoration processes in practice. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

Security Games Applied to Real-World: Research Contributions and Challenges

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

Marecki, J.: GUARDS and PROTECT: Next Generation Applications of Security Games . SIGECOM 10 (March 2011) 31–34 4. Shieh, E ., An, B., Yang, R., Tambe...Steigerwald, E .: GUARDS - Game Theoretic Security Allocation on a National Scale. In: Proc. of The 10th International Conference on Autonomous Agents...Shieh, E ., Kiekintveld, C.: Refinement of Strong Stackelberg Equilibria in Security Games . In: Proc. of the 25th Conference on Artificial Intelligence

Perceiving intergroup conflict: from game models to mental templates.

PubMed

Halevy, Nir; Sagiv, Lilach; Roccas, Sonia; Bornstein, Gary

2006-12-01

This article puts forward a parsimonious framework for studying subjective perceptions of real-life intergroup conflicts. Four studies were conducted to explore how individuals perceive the strategic properties of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Studies 1 and 2 found theory-driven associations between people's subjective perception of the conflict's structure as a Chicken, Assurance, or Prisoner's Dilemma game and their ingroup/outgroup perceptions, national identification, religiosity, political partisanship, voting behavior, and right-wing authoritarianism. Studies 3 and 4 manipulated the saliency of the needs for cognitive closure and security, respectively, demonstrating that these needs affect people's endorsement of the game models as descriptions of the conflict.

Smoking, ADHD, and Problematic Video Game Use: A Structural Modeling Approach.

PubMed

Lee, Hyo Jin; Tran, Denise D; Morrell, Holly E R

2018-05-01

Problematic video game use (PVGU), or addiction-like use of video games, is associated with physical and mental health problems and problems in social and occupational functioning. Possible correlates of PVGU include frequency of play, cigarette smoking, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The aim of the current study was to explore simultaneously the relationships among these variables as well as test whether two separate measures of PVGU measure the same construct, using a structural modeling approach. Secondary data analysis was conducted on 2,801 video game users (M age  = 22.43 years, standard deviation [SD] age  = 4.7; 93 percent male) who completed an online survey. The full model fit the data well: χ 2 (2) = 2.017, p > 0.05; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.002 (90% CI [0.000-0.038]); comparative fit index (CFI) = 1.000; standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) = 0.004; and all standardized residuals <|0.1|. All freely estimated paths were statistically significant. ADHD symptomatology, smoking behavior, and hours of video game use explained 41.8 percent of variance in PVGU. Tracking these variables may be useful for PVGU prevention and assessment. Young's Internet Addiction Scale, adapted for video game use, and the Problem Videogame Playing Scale both loaded strongly onto a PVGU factor, suggesting that they measure the same construct, that studies using either measure may be compared to each other, and that both measures may be used as a screener of PVGU.

Using Games Invention with Elementary Children--Teaching for Understanding: Tactical Approaches to Teaching Games.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curtner-Smith, Matthew D.

1996-01-01

Explains how teachers of students in grades four through six can use the Teaching Games for Understanding Approach and incorporate games invention into the physical education curriculum. A three-step model is proposed: selection and modification of games; teaching games with an understanding approach; and student invention of games. Summaries of…

Evolution of fairness and coalition formation in three-person ultimatum games.

PubMed

Nishimura, Takeshi; Okada, Akira; Shirata, Yasuhiro

2017-05-07

We consider the evolution of fairness and coalition formation in a three-person ultimatum game in which the coalition value depends on its size. Traditional game theory, which assumes selfish and rational players, predicts the largest and efficient coalition with a proposer exploiting most of the total value. In a stochastic evolutionary model (the frequency-dependent Moran process with mutations) where players make errors in estimating the payoffs and strategies of others, evolutionary selection favors the formation of a two-person subcoalition under weak selection and in the low mutation limit if and only if its coalition value exceeds a high proportion (0.7) of that of the largest coalition. Proposers offer 30-35% of the subcoalition value to a coalition member, excluding a non-member. Multilateral bargaining is critically different from the bilateral one. Coalition-forming behavior may cause economic inefficiency and social exclusion. Stochastic evolutionary game theory thus provides theoretical support to explain the behavior of human subjects in economic experiments of a three-person ultimatum game. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sport Education as a Curriculum Approach to Student Learning of Invasion Games: Effects on Game Performance and Game Involvement.

PubMed

Farias, Cláudio; Valério, Carla; Mesquita, Isabel

2018-03-01

The teaching and learning of games and sport-based activities has historically been the dominant form of the physical education curricula. With an interest in providing to students meaningful and culturally situated sporting experiences, Sport Education is probably the most implemented and researched pedagogical model worldwide. However, although there is considerable evidence that the model as a curriculum approach can benefit the development of social goals and healthy sport behaviors, not a single study as to date examined students' game-play development beyond participation in single and isolated teaching units. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine students' development of Game Performance and Game Involvement during participation in three consecutive Sport Education seasons of invasion games. The participants were an experienced physical education teacher and one seventh-grade class totaling 26 students (10 girls and 16 boys). Using the Game Performance Assessment Instrument (Oslin et al., 1998), pre-test to post-tests measures of students' Game Performance and Game Involvement were collected during their participation in basketball (20 lessons), handball (16 lessons), and football (18 lessons) units. Inter-group differences and pre-test to post-test improvements within each season were analyzed through 2 (time) x group (sport) repeated measures ANOVA tests. There were found significant pre-test to post-test improvements in Game Performance and Game Involvement in the second (handball) and third (football) seasons, but not in the first season (basketball). Students' Game Performance and Involvement scores of handball and football were significantly higher than their scores while playing basketball. The opportunity for an extended engagement in game-play activities and prolonged membership of students in the same teams throughout three consecutive seasons of Sport Education were key to the outcomes found. The specific configurations of the game

The Impact of a Hybrid Sport Education-Invasion Games Competence Model Soccer Unit on Students' Decision Making, Skill Execution and Overall Game Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mesquita, Isabel; Farias, Claudio; Hastie, Peter

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a hybrid Sport Education-Invasion Games Competence Model (SE-IGCM) unit application on students' improvements in decision making, skill execution and overall game performance, during a soccer season. Twenty-six fifth-grade students from a Portuguese public elementary school participated in a…

Game Literacy, Gaming Cultures and Media Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Partington, Anthony

2010-01-01

This article presents an overview of how the popular "3-Cs" model (creative, critical and cultural) for literacy and media literacy can be applied to the study of computer games in the English and Media classroom. Focusing on the development of an existing computer games course that encompasses many opportunities for critical activity…

MapReduce SVM Game

DOE PAGES

Vineyard, Craig M.; Verzi, Stephen J.; James, Conrad D.; ...

2015-08-10

Despite technological advances making computing devices faster, smaller, and more prevalent in today's age, data generation and collection has outpaced data processing capabilities. Simply having more compute platforms does not provide a means of addressing challenging problems in the big data era. Rather, alternative processing approaches are needed and the application of machine learning to big data is hugely important. The MapReduce programming paradigm is an alternative to conventional supercomputing approaches, and requires less stringent data passing constrained problem decompositions. Rather, MapReduce relies upon defining a means of partitioning the desired problem so that subsets may be computed independently andmore » recom- bined to yield the net desired result. However, not all machine learning algorithms are amenable to such an approach. Game-theoretic algorithms are often innately distributed, consisting of local interactions between players without requiring a central authority and are iterative by nature rather than requiring extensive retraining. Effectively, a game-theoretic approach to machine learning is well suited for the MapReduce paradigm and provides a novel, alternative new perspective to addressing the big data problem. In this paper we present a variant of our Support Vector Machine (SVM) Game classifier which may be used in a distributed manner, and show an illustrative example of applying this algorithm.« less

MapReduce SVM Game

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vineyard, Craig M.; Verzi, Stephen J.; James, Conrad D.

Despite technological advances making computing devices faster, smaller, and more prevalent in today's age, data generation and collection has outpaced data processing capabilities. Simply having more compute platforms does not provide a means of addressing challenging problems in the big data era. Rather, alternative processing approaches are needed and the application of machine learning to big data is hugely important. The MapReduce programming paradigm is an alternative to conventional supercomputing approaches, and requires less stringent data passing constrained problem decompositions. Rather, MapReduce relies upon defining a means of partitioning the desired problem so that subsets may be computed independently andmore » recom- bined to yield the net desired result. However, not all machine learning algorithms are amenable to such an approach. Game-theoretic algorithms are often innately distributed, consisting of local interactions between players without requiring a central authority and are iterative by nature rather than requiring extensive retraining. Effectively, a game-theoretic approach to machine learning is well suited for the MapReduce paradigm and provides a novel, alternative new perspective to addressing the big data problem. In this paper we present a variant of our Support Vector Machine (SVM) Game classifier which may be used in a distributed manner, and show an illustrative example of applying this algorithm.« less

Goal-based dictator game

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaibidi, Nerda Zura; Ibrahim, Adyda; Abidin, Norhaslinda Zainal

2014-12-01

A considerable number of studies have been conducted to study fairness issues using two-player game. Dictator Game is one of the two-player games that receive much attention. In this paper, we develop an evolutionary approach to the Dictator Game by using Goal programming to build a model of human decision-making for cooperation. The model is formulated based on the theories of cognitive neuroscience that is capable in capturing a more realistic fairness concerns between players in the games. We show that fairness will evolve by taking into account players' aspirations and preferences explicitly in terms of profit and fairness concerns. The model is then simulated to investigate any possible effective strategy for people in economics to deal with fairness coalition. Parallels are drawn between the approach and concepts of human decision making from the field of cognitive neuroscience and psychology. The proposed model is also able to help decision makers to plan or enhance the effective strategies for business purposes.

Towards understanding the guessing game: a dynamical systems’ perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reimann, Stefan

2004-08-01

The so-called “Guessing Game” or α-Beauty Contest serves as a paradigmatic conceptual framework for competitive price formation on financial markets beyond traditional equilibrium finance. It highlights features that are reasonable to consider when dealing with price formation on real markets. Nonetheless this game is still poorly understood. We propose a model which is essentially based on two assumptions: (1) players consider intervals rather than exact numbers to cope with incomplete knowledge and (2) players iteratively update their recent guesses. It provides an explanation for typical patterns observed in real data, such as the strict positivity of outcomes in the 1-shot setting, the skew background distribution of guessed numbers, as well as the polynomial convergence towards the game-theoretic Nash equilibrium in the iterative setting.

How can we model selectively neutral density dependence in evolutionary games.

PubMed

Argasinski, Krzysztof; Kozłowski, Jan

2008-03-01

The problem of density dependence appears in all approaches to the modelling of population dynamics. It is pertinent to classic models (i.e., Lotka-Volterra's), and also population genetics and game theoretical models related to the replicator dynamics. There is no density dependence in the classic formulation of replicator dynamics, which means that population size may grow to infinity. Therefore the question arises: How is unlimited population growth suppressed in frequency-dependent models? Two categories of solutions can be found in the literature. In the first, replicator dynamics is independent of background fitness. In the second type of solution, a multiplicative suppression coefficient is used, as in a logistic equation. Both approaches have disadvantages. The first one is incompatible with the methods of life history theory and basic probabilistic intuitions. The logistic type of suppression of per capita growth rate stops trajectories of selection when population size reaches the maximal value (carrying capacity); hence this method does not satisfy selective neutrality. To overcome these difficulties, we must explicitly consider turn-over of individuals dependent on mortality rate. This new approach leads to two interesting predictions. First, the equilibrium value of population size is lower than carrying capacity and depends on the mortality rate. Second, although the phase portrait of selection trajectories is the same as in density-independent replicator dynamics, pace of selection slows down when population size approaches equilibrium, and then remains constant and dependent on the rate of turn-over of individuals.

The Emergence of Simulation and Gaming.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Becker, Henk A.

1980-01-01

Describes the historical and international development of simulation and gaming in terms of simulation as analytical models, and games as communicative models; and forecasts possible futures of simulation and gaming. (CMV)

Artificial Intelligence Methods in Pursuit Evasion Differential Games

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-07-30

objectives, sometimes with fuzzy ones. Classical optimization, control or game theoretic methods are insufficient for their resolution. I Solution...OVERALL SATISFACTION WITH SCHOOL 120 FIGURE 5.13 EXAMPLE AHP HIERARCHY FOR CHOOSING MOST APPROPRIATE DIFFERENTIAL GAME AND PARAMETRIZATION 125 FIGURE 5.14...the Analytical Hierarchy Process originated by T.L. Saaty of the Wharton School. The Analytic Hierarchy Process ( AHP ) is a general theory of

Taking Educational Games Seriously: Using the RETAIN Model to Design Endogenous Fantasy into Standalone Educational Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gunter, Glenda A.; Kenny, Robert F.; Vick, Erik H.

2008-01-01

We are witnessing a mad rush to pour educational content into games in an ad hoc manner in hopes that player/learners are motivated simply because the content is housed inside a game. A failure to base educational game design on well-established learning and instructional theories increases the risk of the game failing to meet its intended…

Release the Prisoners Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Hecke, Tanja

2011-01-01

This article presents the mathematical approach of the optimal strategy to win the "Release the prisoners" game and the integration of this analysis in a math class. Outline lesson plans at three different levels are given, where simulations are suggested as well as theoretical findings about the probability distribution function and its mean…

Cooperation, Norms, and Revolutions: A Unified Game-Theoretical Approach

PubMed Central

Helbing, Dirk; Johansson, Anders

2010-01-01

Background Cooperation is of utmost importance to society as a whole, but is often challenged by individual self-interests. While game theory has studied this problem extensively, there is little work on interactions within and across groups with different preferences or beliefs. Yet, people from different social or cultural backgrounds often meet and interact. This can yield conflict, since behavior that is considered cooperative by one population might be perceived as non-cooperative from the viewpoint of another. Methodology and Principal Findings To understand the dynamics and outcome of the competitive interactions within and between groups, we study game-dynamical replicator equations for multiple populations with incompatible interests and different power (be this due to different population sizes, material resources, social capital, or other factors). These equations allow us to address various important questions: For example, can cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma be promoted, when two interacting groups have different preferences? Under what conditions can costly punishment, or other mechanisms, foster the evolution of norms? When does cooperation fail, leading to antagonistic behavior, conflict, or even revolutions? And what incentives are needed to reach peaceful agreements between groups with conflicting interests? Conclusions and Significance Our detailed quantitative analysis reveals a large variety of interesting results, which are relevant for society, law and economics, and have implications for the evolution of language and culture as well. PMID:20967256

MMP-TIMP interactions in cancer invasion: An evolutionary game-theoretical framework.

PubMed

Salimi Sartakhti, Javad; Manshaei, Mohammad Hossein; Sadeghi, Mehdi

2017-01-07

One of the main steps in solid cancers to invade surrounding tissues is degradation of tissue barriers in the extracellular matrix. This operation that leads to initiate, angiogenesis and metastasis to other organs, is essentially consequence of collapsing dynamic balance between matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP). In this work, we model the MMP-TIMP interaction in both normal tissue and invasive cancer using evolutionary game theory. Our model explains how invasive cancer cells get the upper hand in MMP-TIMP imbalance scenarios. We investigate dynamics of them over time and discuss stable and nonstable states in the population. Numerical simulations presented here provide the identification of key genotypic features in the tumor invasion and a natural description for phenotypic variability. The simulation results are consistent with the experimental results in vitro observations presented in medical literature. Finally, by the provided results the necessary conditions to inhibit cancer invasion or prolong its course are explained. In this way, two therapeutic approaches with respect to how they could meet the required conditions are considered. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theoretical Approaches in Evolutionary Ecology: Environmental Feedback as a Unifying Perspective.

PubMed

Lion, Sébastien

2018-01-01

Evolutionary biology and ecology have a strong theoretical underpinning, and this has fostered a variety of modeling approaches. A major challenge of this theoretical work has been to unravel the tangled feedback loop between ecology and evolution. This has prompted the development of two main classes of models. While quantitative genetics models jointly consider the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of a focal population, a separation of timescales between ecology and evolution is assumed by evolutionary game theory, adaptive dynamics, and inclusive fitness theory. As a result, theoretical evolutionary ecology tends to be divided among different schools of thought, with different toolboxes and motivations. My aim in this synthesis is to highlight the connections between these different approaches and clarify the current state of theory in evolutionary ecology. Central to this approach is to make explicit the dependence on environmental dynamics of the population and evolutionary dynamics, thereby materializing the eco-evolutionary feedback loop. This perspective sheds light on the interplay between environmental feedback and the timescales of ecological and evolutionary processes. I conclude by discussing some potential extensions and challenges to our current theoretical understanding of eco-evolutionary dynamics.

An Evolutionary Game Theory Model of Revision-Resistant Motivations and Strategic Reasoning

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-08-01

The model also is consistent with a number of findings on the nature of emotions and related forms of motivation. 15. SUBJECT TERMS...because human beings have some kinds of motivations that are not reducible to the economist’s traditional notion of ordered preferences. These...simulation is designed in light of the most current human subject research on a widely studied game: the Ultimatum Game. This allows us to test

Communicating with sentences: A multi-word naming game model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lou, Yang; Chen, Guanrong; Hu, Jianwei

2018-01-01

Naming game simulates the process of naming an object by a single word, in which a population of communicating agents can reach global consensus asymptotically through iteratively pair-wise conversations. We propose an extension of the single-word model to a multi-word naming game (MWNG), simulating the case of describing a complex object by a sentence (multiple words). Words are defined in categories, and then organized as sentences by combining them from different categories. We refer to a formatted combination of several words as a pattern. In such an MWNG, through a pair-wise conversation, it requires the hearer to achieve consensus with the speaker with respect to both every single word in the sentence as well as the sentence pattern, so as to guarantee the correct meaning of the saying; otherwise, they fail reaching consensus in the interaction. We validate the model in three typical topologies as the underlying communication network, and employ both conventional and man-designed patterns in performing the MWNG.

Effective intervention or child's play? A review of video games for diabetes education.

PubMed

DeShazo, Jonathan; Harris, Lynne; Pratt, Wanda

2010-10-01

The purpose of this study is (1) to identify diabetes education video games and pilot studies in the literature, (2) to review themes in diabetes video game design and evaluation, and (3) to evaluate the potential role of educational video games in diabetes self-management education. Studies were systematically identified for inclusion from Medline, Web of Science, CINAHL, EMBASE, Psychinfo, IEEE Xplore, and ACM Digital Library. Features of each video game intervention were reviewed and coded based on an existing taxonomy of diabetes interventions framework. Nine studies featuring 11 video games for diabetes care were identified. Video games for diabetes have typically targeted children with type 1 diabetes mellitus and used situation problem-solving methods to teach diet, exercise, self-monitored blood glucose, and medication adherence. Evaluations have shown positive outcomes in knowledge, disease management adherence, and clinical outcomes. Video games for diabetes education show potential as effective educational interventions. Yet we found that improvements are needed in expanding the target audience, tailoring the intervention, and using theoretical frameworks. In the future, the reach and effectiveness of educational video games for diabetes education could be improved by expanding the target audience beyond juvenile type 1 diabetes mellitus, the use of tailoring, and increased use of theoretical frameworks.

"Wait and see" vaccinating behaviour during a pandemic: a game theoretic analysis.

PubMed

Bhattacharyya, Samit; Bauch, Chris T

2011-07-26

During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, many individuals did not seek vaccination immediately but rather decided to "wait and see" until further information was available on vaccination costs. This behaviour implies two sources of strategic interaction: as more individuals become vaccinated, both the perceived vaccination cost and the probability that susceptible individuals become infected decline. Here we analyze the outcome of these two strategic interactions by combining game theory with a disease transmission model during an outbreak of a novel influenza strain. The model exhibits a "wait and see" Nash equilibrium strategy, with vaccine delayers relying on herd immunity and vaccine safety information generated by early vaccinators. This strategic behaviour causes the timing of the epidemic peak to be strongly conserved across a broad range of plausible transmission rates, in contrast to models without such adaptive behaviour. The model exhibits not only feedback mechanisms but also a feed-forward mechanism: a high initial perceived vaccination cost perpetuates high perceived vaccine costs (and lower vaccine coverage) throughout the remainder of the outbreak. This suggests that any effect of risk communication at the start of a pandemic outbreak will be amplified compared to the same amount of risk communication effort distributed throughout the outbreak. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impulsivity, self-regulation,and pathological video gaming among youth: testing a mediation model.

PubMed

Liau, Albert K; Neo, Eng Chuan; Gentile, Douglas A; Choo, Hyekyung; Sim, Timothy; Li, Dongdong; Khoo, Angeline

2015-03-01

Given the potential negative mental health consequences of pathological video gaming, understanding its etiology may lead to useful treatment developments. The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of impulsive and regulatory processes on pathological video gaming. Study 1 involved 2154 students from 6 primary and 4 secondary schools in Singapore. Study 2 involved 191 students from 2 secondary schools. The results of study 1 and study 2 supported the hypothesis that self-regulation is a mediator between impulsivity and pathological video gaming. Specifically, higher levels of impulsivity was related to lower levels of self-regulation, which in turn was related to higher levels of pathological video gaming. The use of impulsivity and self-regulation in predicting pathological video gaming supports the dual-system model of incorporating both impulsive and reflective systems in the prediction of self-control outcomes. The study highlights the development of self-regulatory resources as a possible avenue for future prevention and treatment research. © 2011 APJPH.

Stochastic Online Learning in Dynamic Networks under Unknown Models

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-08-02

Repeated Game with Incomplete Information, IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing. 20-MAR-16, Shanghai, China...in a game theoretic framework for the application of multi-seller dynamic pricing with unknown demand models. We formulated the problem as an...infinitely repeated game with incomplete information and developed a dynamic pricing strategy referred to as Competitive and Cooperative Demand Learning

The development of video game enjoyment in a role playing game.

PubMed

Wirth, Werner; Ryffel, Fabian; von Pape, Thilo; Karnowski, Veronika

2013-04-01

This study examines the development of video game enjoyment over time. The results of a longitudinal study (N=62) show that enjoyment increases over several sessions. Moreover, results of a multilevel regression model indicate a causal link between the dependent variable video game enjoyment and the predictor variables exploratory behavior, spatial presence, competence, suspense and solution, and simulated experiences of life. These findings are important for video game research because they reveal the antecedents of video game enjoyment in a real-world longitudinal setting. Results are discussed in terms of the dynamics of video game enjoyment under real-world conditions.

Game Theory Based Trust Model for Cloud Environment

PubMed Central

Gokulnath, K.; Uthariaraj, Rhymend

2015-01-01

The aim of this work is to propose a method to establish trust at bootload level in cloud computing environment. This work proposes a game theoretic based approach for achieving trust at bootload level of both resources and users perception. Nash equilibrium (NE) enhances the trust evaluation of the first-time users and providers. It also restricts the service providers and the users to violate service level agreement (SLA). Significantly, the problem of cold start and whitewashing issues are addressed by the proposed method. In addition appropriate mapping of cloud user's application to cloud service provider for segregating trust level is achieved as a part of mapping. Thus, time complexity and space complexity are handled efficiently. Experiments were carried out to compare and contrast the performance of the conventional methods and the proposed method. Several metrics like execution time, accuracy, error identification, and undecidability of the resources were considered. PMID:26380365

A Tripartite Neurocognitive Model of Internet Gaming Disorder

PubMed Central

Wei, Lei; Zhang, Shuyue; Turel, Ofir; Bechara, Antoine; He, Qinghua

2017-01-01

Playing Internet games has emerged as a growing in prevalence leisure activity. In some cases, excess gaming can lead to addiction-like symptoms and aversive outcomes that may be seen by some as manifestations of a behavioral addiction. Even though agreement regarding the pathologizing of excessive video gaming is not yet achieved and perhaps because the field requires more research, many works have examined the antecedents and outcomes of what is termed internet gaming disorder (IGD). In this article, we aim at summarizing perspectives and findings related to the neurocognitive processes that may underlie IGD and map such findings onto the triadic-system that governs behavior and decision-making, the deficits in which have been shown to be associated with many addictive disorders. This tripartite system model includes the following three brain systems: (1) the impulsive system, which often mediates fast, automatic, unconscious, and habitual behaviors; (2) the reflective system, which mediates deliberating, planning, predicting future outcomes of selected behaviors, and exerting inhibitory control; and (3) the interoceptive awareness system, which generates a state of craving through the translation of somatic signals into a subjective state of drive. We suggest that IGD formation and maintenance can be associated with (1) a hyperactive “impulsive” system; (2) a hypoactive “reflective” system, as exacerbated by (3) an interoceptive awareness system that potentiates the activity of the impulsive system, and/or hijacks the goal-driven cognitive resources needed for the normal operation of the reflective system. Based on this review, we propose ways to improve the therapy and treatment of IGD and reduce the risk of relapse among recovering IGD populations. PMID:29312016

Intense video gaming is not essentially problematic.

PubMed

Király, Orsolya; Tóth, Dénes; Urbán, Róbert; Demetrovics, Zsolt; Maraz, Aniko

2017-11-01

Video games are more popular than ever and the general public, including parents, educators, and the media, tends to consider intense video gaming fundamentally problematic. To test this hypothesis, participants were recruited via gaming-related websites resulting in a sample of N = 5,222 online video gamers (mean age: 22.2 years, SD = 6.4). Besides assessing gaming time, we administered the Ten-Item Internet Gaming Disorder Test, the Brief Symptom Inventory, and the Motives for Online Gaming Questionnaire. Two structural regression models were estimated with both gaming time and problematic gaming as outcome variables. Predictors were psychiatric symptoms in the first, and gaming motives in the second model. Both models yielded adequate fit indices. Psychiatric symptoms had a moderate positive effect on problematic use (β = .46, p < .001) whereas their effect on gaming time was practically zero (β = -.01, p = .84). In the second model, Escape was the most prominent motive and was moderately to-strongly associated (β = .58, p < .001) with problematic use. However, the association between Escape and gaming time was substantially weaker (β = .21, p < .001). The correlation between gaming time and problematic use was weak-to-moderate in both models (r = .26, p < .001 and r = .21, p < .001, respectively). Data suggest that gaming time is weakly associated with negative psychological factors such as psychiatric symptoms and Escape motive, which were found to be consistently related to problematic use. Therefore, the amount of gaming time alone appears to be an unreliable predictor of problematic use, which questions the aforementioned idea that intense gaming is essentially problematic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

A Simple Classification Model for Debriefing Simulation Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peters, Vincent A. M.; Vissers, Geert A. N.

2004-01-01

Debriefing is an important phase in using simulation games. Participants are invited to make a connection between experiences gained from playing the game and experiences in real-life situations. Thus, debriefing is the phase meant to encourage learning from the simulation game. Although design and practice of debriefing sessions should be aligned…

Development of a Computer Simulation Game Using a Reverse Engineering Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ozkul, Ahmet

2012-01-01

Business simulation games are widely used in the classroom to provide students with experiential learning opportunities on business situations in a dynamic fashion. When properly designed and implemented, the computer simulation game can be a useful educational tool by integrating separate theoretical concepts and demonstrating the nature of…

Polymorphic Evolutionary Games.

PubMed

Fishman, Michael A

2016-06-07

In this paper, I present an analytical framework for polymorphic evolutionary games suitable for explicitly modeling evolutionary processes in diploid populations with sexual reproduction. The principal aspect of the proposed approach is adding diploid genetics cum sexual recombination to a traditional evolutionary game, and switching from phenotypes to haplotypes as the new game׳s pure strategies. Here, the relevant pure strategy׳s payoffs derived by summing the payoffs of all the phenotypes capable of producing gametes containing that particular haplotype weighted by the pertinent probabilities. The resulting game is structurally identical to the familiar Evolutionary Games with non-linear pure strategy payoffs (Hofbauer and Sigmund, 1998. Cambridge University Press), and can be analyzed in terms of an established analytical framework for such games. And these results can be translated into the terms of genotypic, and whence, phenotypic evolutionary stability pertinent to the original game. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hybrid rocket engine, theoretical model and experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chelaru, Teodor-Viorel; Mingireanu, Florin

2011-06-01

The purpose of this paper is to build a theoretical model for the hybrid rocket engine/motor and to validate it using experimental results. The work approaches the main problems of the hybrid motor: the scalability, the stability/controllability of the operating parameters and the increasing of the solid fuel regression rate. At first, we focus on theoretical models for hybrid rocket motor and compare the results with already available experimental data from various research groups. A primary computation model is presented together with results from a numerical algorithm based on a computational model. We present theoretical predictions for several commercial hybrid rocket motors, having different scales and compare them with experimental measurements of those hybrid rocket motors. Next the paper focuses on tribrid rocket motor concept, which by supplementary liquid fuel injection can improve the thrust controllability. A complementary computation model is also presented to estimate regression rate increase of solid fuel doped with oxidizer. Finally, the stability of the hybrid rocket motor is investigated using Liapunov theory. Stability coefficients obtained are dependent on burning parameters while the stability and command matrixes are identified. The paper presents thoroughly the input data of the model, which ensures the reproducibility of the numerical results by independent researchers.

Argoball: A Dynamic-Rules Game for Teaching Striking-and-Fielding Game Tactics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Todorovich, John R.; Fox, James P.; Ryan, Stuart; Todorovich, Sarah W.

2008-01-01

Physical educators using the teaching games for understanding (TGFU) approach employ modified game forms to teach children skills and tactics. Inspired by Danish Longball, "Argoball" is a dynamic-rules game that teachers interested in the TGFU model use to help their students develop effective skills and tactics to better participate in…

Statistical auditing and randomness test of lotto k/N-type games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coronel-Brizio, H. F.; Hernández-Montoya, A. R.; Rapallo, F.; Scalas, E.

2008-11-01

One of the most popular lottery games worldwide is the so-called “lotto k/N”. It considers N numbers 1,2,…,N from which k are drawn randomly, without replacement. A player selects k or more numbers and the first prize is shared amongst those players whose selected numbers match all of the k randomly drawn. Exact rules may vary in different countries. In this paper, mean values and covariances for the random variables representing the numbers drawn from this kind of game are presented, with the aim of using them to audit statistically the consistency of a given sample of historical results with theoretical values coming from a hypergeometric statistical model. The method can be adapted to test pseudorandom number generators.

Games network and application to PAs system.

PubMed

Chettaoui, C; Delaplace, F; Manceny, M; Malo, M

2007-02-01

In this article, we present a game theory based framework, named games network, for modeling biological interactions. After introducing the theory, we more precisely describe the methodology to model biological interactions. Then we apply it to the plasminogen activator system (PAs) which is a signal transduction pathway involved in cancer cell migration. The games network theory extends game theory by including the locality of interactions. Each game in a games network represents local interactions between biological agents. The PAs system is implicated in cytoskeleton modifications via regulation of actin and microtubules, which in turn favors cell migration. The games network model has enabled us a better understanding of the regulation involved in the PAs system.

Integration and Deployment of Educational Games in e-Learning Environments: The Learning Object Model Meets Educational Gaming

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Torrente, Javier; Moreno-Ger, Pablo; Martinez-Ortiz, Ivan; Fernandez-Manjon, Baltasar

2009-01-01

Game-based learning is becoming popular in the academic discussion of Learning Technologies. However, even though the educational potential of games has been thoroughly discussed in the literature, the integration of the games into educational processes and how to efficiently deliver the games to the students are still open questions. This paper…

Impact of a financial risk-sharing scheme on budget-impact estimations: a game-theoretic approach.

PubMed

Gavious, Arieh; Greenberg, Dan; Hammerman, Ariel; Segev, Ella

2014-06-01

As part of the process of updating the National List of Health Services in Israel, health plans (the 'payers') and manufacturers each provide estimates on the expected number of patients that will utilize a new drug. Currently, payers face major financial consequences when actual utilization is higher than the allocated budget. We suggest a risk-sharing model between the two stakeholders; if the actual number of patients exceeds the manufacturer's prediction, the manufacturer will reimburse the payers by a rebate rate of α from the deficit. In case of under-utilization, payers will refund the government at a rate of γ from the surplus budget. Our study objective was to identify the optimal early estimations of both 'players' prior to and after implementation of the risk-sharing scheme. Using a game-theoretic approach, in which both players' statements are considered simultaneously, we examined the impact of risk-sharing within a given range of rebate proportions, on players' early budget estimations. When increasing manufacturer's rebate α to be over 50 %, then manufacturers will announce a larger number, and health plans will announce a lower number of patients than they would without risk sharing, thus substantially decreasing the gap between their estimates. Increasing γ changes players' estimates only slightly. In reaction to applying a substantial risk-sharing rebate α on the manufacturer, both players are expected to adjust their budget estimates toward an optimal equilibrium. Increasing α is a better vehicle for reaching the desired equilibrium rather than increasing γ, as the manufacturer's rebate α substantially influences both players, whereas γ has little effect on the players behavior.

Cross-Milieu Terrorist Collaboration: Using Game Theory to Assess the Risk of a Novel Threat.

PubMed

Ackerman, Gary A; Zhuang, Jun; Weerasuriya, Sitara

2017-02-01

This article uses a game-theoretic approach to analyze the risk of cross-milieu terrorist collaboration-the possibility that, despite marked ideological differences, extremist groups from very different milieus might align to a degree where operational collaboration against Western societies becomes possible. Based upon theoretical insights drawn from a variety of literatures, a bargaining model is constructed that reflects the various benefits and costs for terrorists' collaboration across ideological milieus. Analyzed in both sequential and simultaneous decision-making contexts and through numerical simulations, the model confirms several theoretical arguments. The most important of these is that although likely to be quite rare, successful collaboration across terrorist milieus is indeed feasible in certain circumstances. The model also highlights several structural elements that might play a larger role than previously recognized in the collaboration decision, including that the prospect of nonmaterial gains (amplification of terror and reputational boost) plays at least as important a role in the decision to collaborate as potential increased capabilities does. Numerical simulation further suggests that prospects for successful collaboration over most scenarios (including operational) increase when a large, effective Islamist terrorist organization initiates collaboration with a smaller right-wing group, as compared with the other scenarios considered. Although the small number of historical cases precludes robust statistical validation, the simulation results are supported by existing empirical evidence of collaboration between Islamists and right- or left-wing extremists. The game-theoretic approach, therefore, provides guidance regarding the circumstances under which such an unholy alliance of violent actors is likely to succeed. © 2016 Society for Risk Analysis.

Cheating is evolutionarily assimilated with cooperation in the continuous snowdrift game

PubMed Central

Sasaki, Tatsuya; Okada, Isamu

2015-01-01

It is well known that in contrast to the Prisoner’s Dilemma, the snowdrift game can lead to a stable coexistence of cooperators and cheaters. Recent theoretical evidence on the snowdrift game suggests that gradual evolution for individuals choosing to contribute in continuous degrees can result in the social diversification to a 100% contribution and 0% contribution through so-called evolutionary branching. Until now, however, game-theoretical studies have shed little light on the evolutionary dynamics and consequences of the loss of diversity in strategy. Here, we analyze continuous snowdrift games with quadratic payoff functions in dimorphic populations. Subsequently, conditions are clarified under which gradual evolution can lead a population consisting of those with 100% contribution and those with 0% contribution to merge into one species with an intermediate contribution level. The key finding is that the continuous snowdrift game is more likely to lead to assimilation of different cooperation levels rather than maintenance of diversity. Importantly, this implies that allowing the gradual evolution of cooperative behavior can facilitate social inequity aversion in joint ventures that otherwise could cause conflicts that are based on commonly accepted notions of fairness. PMID:25868940

A consensus opinion model based on the evolutionary game

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Han-Xin

2016-08-01

We propose a consensus opinion model based on the evolutionary game. In our model, both of the two connected agents receive a benefit if they have the same opinion, otherwise they both pay a cost. Agents update their opinions by comparing payoffs with neighbors. The opinion of an agent with higher payoff is more likely to be imitated. We apply this model in scale-free networks with tunable degree distribution. Interestingly, we find that there exists an optimal ratio of cost to benefit, leading to the shortest consensus time. Qualitative analysis is obtained by examining the evolution of the opinion clusters. Moreover, we find that the consensus time decreases as the average degree of the network increases, but increases with the noise introduced to permit irrational choices. The dependence of the consensus time on the network size is found to be a power-law form. For small or larger ratio of cost to benefit, the consensus time decreases as the degree exponent increases. However, for moderate ratio of cost to benefit, the consensus time increases with the degree exponent. Our results may provide new insights into opinion dynamics driven by the evolutionary game theory.

ENED-GEM: A Conceptual Framework Model for Psychological Enjoyment Factors and Learning Mechanisms in Educational Games about the Environment.

PubMed

Fjællingsdal, Kristoffer S; Klöckner, Christian A

2017-01-01

Based on a thorough review of psychological literature, this article seeks to develop a model of game enjoyment and environmental learning (ENvironmental EDucational Game Enjoyment Model, ENED-GEM) and delineate psychological processes that might facilitate learning and inspire behavioral change from educational games about the environment. A critically acclaimed digital educational game about environmental issues (Fate of the World by Red Redemption/Soothsayer Games) was used as a case study. Two hundred forty-nine reviews of the game from the popular gaming and reviewing platform known as Steam were analyzed by means of a thematic content analysis in order to identify key player enjoyment factors believed to be relevant to the process of learning from games, as well as to gain an understanding of positive and negative impressions about the game's general content. The end results of the thematic analysis were measured up to the suggested ENED-GEM framework. Initial results generally support the main elements of the ENED-GEM, and future research into the importance of these individual core factors is outlined.

A Practice-Based Analysis of an Online Strategy Game

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milolidakis, Giannis; Kimble, Chris; Akoumianakis, Demosthenes

In this paper, we will analyze a massively multiplayer online game in an attempt to identify the elements of practice that enable social interaction and cooperation within the game’s virtual world. Communities of Practice and Activity Theory offer the theoretical lens for identifying and understanding what constitutes practice within the community and how such practice is manifest and transmitted during game play. Our analysis suggests that in contrast to prevalent perceptions of practice as being textually mediated, in virtual settings it is framed as much in social interactions as in processes, artifacts and the tools constituting the ‘linguistic’ domain of the game or the practice the gaming community is about.

Differentially Positioned Language Games: Ethnomathematics from a Philosophical Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knijnik, Gelsa

2012-01-01

This paper discusses a new philosophical perspective for ethnomathematics which articulates Ludwig Wittgenstein's and Michel Foucault's theoretical notions. It is conceived as a theoretical toolbox which allows the analysis of, on the one hand, the mathematical language games of different forms of life and their family resemblances and, on the…

An Investigation of Partizan Misere Games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, Meghan Rose

2010-08-01

Combinatorial games are played under two different play conventions: normal play, where the last player to move wins, and mis play, where the last player to move loses. Combinatorial games are also classified into impartial positions and partizan positions, where a position is impartial if both players have the same available moves and partizan otherwise. Mis play games lack many of the useful calculational and theoretical properties of normal play games. Until Plambeck's indistinguishability quotient and mis monoid theory were developed in 2004, research on mis play games had stalled. This thesis investigates partizan combinatorial mis play games, by taking Plambeck's indistinguishability and mis monoid theory for impartial positions and extending it to partizan ones, as well as examining the difficulties in constructing a category of mis play games in a similar manner to Joyal's category of normal play games. This thesis succeeds in finding an infinite set of positions which each have finite mis monoid, examining conditions on positions for when * + * is equivalent to 0, finding a set of positions which have Tweedledum-Tweedledee type strategy, and the two most important results of this thesis: giving necessary and sufficient conditions on a set of positions Upsilon such that the mis monoid of Upsilon is the same as the mis monoid of * and giving a construction theorem which builds all positions ξ such that the mis monoid of ξ is the same as the mis monoid of *.

A Detection-Theoretic Model of Echo Inhibition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saberi, Kourosh; Petrosyan, Agavni

2004-01-01

A detection-theoretic analysis of the auditory localization of dual-impulse stimuli is described, and a model for the processing of spatial cues in the echo pulse is developed. Although for over 50 years "echo suppression" has been the topic of intense theoretical and empirical study within the hearing sciences, only a rudimentary understanding of…

Modelling Market Dynamics with a "Market Game"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katahira, Kei; Chen, Yu

In the financial market, traders, especially speculators, typically behave as to yield capital gains by the difference between selling and buying prices. Making use of the structure of Minority Game, we build a novel market toy model which takes account of such the speculative mind involving a round-trip trade to analyze the market dynamics as a system. Even though the micro-level behavioral rules of players in this new model is quite simple, its macroscopic aggregational output has the reproducibility of the well-known stylized facts such as volatility clustering and heavy tails. The proposed model may become a new alternative bottom-up approach in order to study the emerging mechanism of those stylized qualitative properties of asset returns.

Quantum-Like Model for Decision Making Process in Two Players Game. A Non-Kolmogorovian Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asano, Masanari; Ohya, Masanori; Khrennikov, Andrei

2011-03-01

In experiments of games, players frequently make choices which are regarded as irrational in game theory. In papers of Khrennikov (Information Dynamics in Cognitive, Psychological and Anomalous Phenomena. Fundamental Theories of Physics, Kluwer Academic, Norwell, 2004; Fuzzy Sets Syst. 155:4-17, 2005; Biosystems 84:225-241, 2006; Found. Phys. 35(10):1655-1693, 2005; in QP-PQ Quantum Probability and White Noise Analysis, vol. XXIV, pp. 105-117, 2009), it was pointed out that statistics collected in such the experiments have "quantum-like" properties, which can not be explained in classical probability theory. In this paper, we design a simple quantum-like model describing a decision-making process in a two-players game and try to explain a mechanism of the irrational behavior of players. Finally we discuss a mathematical frame of non-Kolmogorovian system in terms of liftings (Accardi and Ohya, in Appl. Math. Optim. 39:33-59, 1999).

Radar Detection Models in Computer Supported Naval War Games

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-06-08

revealed a requirement for the effective centralized manage- ment of computer supported war game development and employment in the U.S. Navy. A...considerations and supports the requirement for centralized Io 97 management of computerized war game development . Therefore it is recommended that a central...managerial and fiscal authority be estab- lished for computerized tactical war game development . This central authority should ensure that new games

Theoretical Modeling and Electromagnetic Response of Complex Metamaterials

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-06

AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2017-0042 Theoretical Modeling and Electromagnetic Response of Complex Metamaterials Andrea Alu UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN Final...Nov 2016 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Theoretical Modeling and Electromagnetic Response of Complex Metamaterials 5a.  CONTRACT NUMBER 5b.  GRANT NUMBER...based on parity-time symmetric metasurfaces, and various advances in electromagnetic and acoustic theory and applications. Our findings have opened

Teaching Game Sense in Soccer

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pill, Shane

2012-01-01

"Game sense" is a sport-specific iteration of the teaching games for understanding model, designed to balance physical development of motor skill and fitness with the development of game understanding. Game sense can foster a shared vision for sport learning that bridges school physical education and community sport. This article explains how to…

A Model of a Sudden-Death Field-Goal Football Game as a Sequential Duel,

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-05-25

AD-RI58 232 A MODEL OF A SUDDEN-DEATH FIEL-D-GOAL FOOTBALL GAME AS A 1/1 SEGUENTIAL DUEL .. (U) VALE UNIV NEW HAVEN CT COWIES FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH...author to pro- tect the tentative character of these papers. A MODEL OF A SUDDEN-DEATH FIELD-GOAL FOOTBALL GAME LUJ-. j AS A SEQUENTIAL DUEL S -ELECTE...abstraction. Yet an interesting extension of the military dueling literature appears to be feasible. Rather than claim Immediate relevance to football as