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Figure 11.6 Payoff Matrix for the Prisoners’ Dilemma

The four cells represent each of the possible outcomes of the prisoners’
game.
If Johnny confesses, Frankie’s best choice is to confess—she will get a
three-year sentence rather than the six-year sentence she would get if she
did not confess. If Johnny does not confess, Frankie’s best strategy is still to
confess—she will get a one-year rather than a two-year sentence. In this
game, Frankie’s best strategy is to confess, regardless of what Johnny does.
When a player’s best strategy is the same regardless of the action of the
other player, that strategy is said to be a dominant strategy. Frankie’s
dominant strategy is to confess to the burglary.
For Johnny, the best strategy to follow, if Frankie confesses, is to confess.
The best strategy to follow if Frankie does not confess is also to confess.
Confessing is a dominant strategy for Johnny as well. A game in which
there is a dominant strategy for each player is called
adominant strategy equilibrium. Here, the dominant strategy equilibrium

Attributed to Libby Rittenberg and Timothy Tregarthen
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