PREDICTION OF BEHAVIOR IN 2-PERSON GAMES

Attempted (1) to determine whether behavior in restricted 2-person interaction situations (games), could be more easily predicted by transforming outcomes, i.e., number of points, to utilities, estimated on the basis of an independent measure; and (2) to identify a set of descriptive parameters which were related to behavior in different types of situations. 12 outcome matrices, representative of the 2-person games classified by A. Rapoport and M. J. Guyer, were selected. 144 undergraduates served in Exp. I, and 120 Ss served in Exp. II. The predictability of responses to 50 trials was increased by transforming the outcomes contained in the matrices to utilities. 3 descriptive parameters suggested by J. W. Thibaut and H. H. Kelley's (see 34:3) definitions of fate and behavior control were more strongly related to behavior in the situations they described than were the 2 parameters used by R. J. Harris to describe interval-symmetric games. A generally effective set of parameters took into account the utility of the outcomes contained in the matrices, and each S's expectancy of how the other would respond on each trial. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.