game theory Quick reference
The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science & Medicine (3 ed.)
... theory Mathematical theory concerned with the optimum choice of strategy in situations involving a conflict of interest. See also theory of games...
game theory Quick reference
A Dictionary of Genetics (8 ed.)
... theory a mathematical theory dealing with the determination of optimum strategies where Galton apparatus the policies adopted depend on the most likely behaviors of two or more competitors. Game theory is employed in mathematical models of species...
game theory Quick reference
A Dictionary of Ecology (5 ed.)
... theory The theory that relationships within a community (of organisms or of traits possessed by those organisms) can be regarded as a contest (i.e. a game) in which each participant seeks to secure some advantage. Numerical values can be attached to the gains and losses involved, allowing the contest to be simulated mathematically, usually by computer modelling. The application of game theory has produced many insights into ecological relationships and the significance of particular aspects of animal behaviour. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/game-theory...
game theory Quick reference
A Dictionary of Geography (5 ed.)
... theory Game theory models ideas of rational choice in conditions of interdependent decision-making, that is, situations in which the decision of one actor is dependent on the decisions of the other players, and vice versa. The fates of the players are mutually implicated in this way. In geography, game theory is often used to overcome or outwit the environment. A. Dinar et al. ( 2008 ) apply game theory to real-life issues in natural resources and the environment. See also Levinson (2005) Transp. Res. A 39 on congestion pricing theory...
game theory Reference library
The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military
... theory also games theory the branch of mathematics concerned with the analysis of strategies for dealing with competitive situations where the outcome of a participant's choice of action depends critically on the actions of other participants. Game theory has been applied to contexts in war, business, and...
game theory Quick reference
A Dictionary of Statistics (3 ed.)
... theory A theory that deals with the determination of the optimal strategies for each of the players in a game with well-defined rules. In a typical scenario, two players, A and B, are playing a game. Player A is required to make a decision in ignorance of a simultaneous decision made by player B. The outcome is a consequence of the two decisions. In a zero-sum game A wins what B loses. Many real-life situations can be modelled in game-theoretic terms. The rules used by the players to determine their strategies are called decision rules...
game theory Quick reference
A Dictionary of Social Research Methods
...game theory Formally, an extension of decision theory where the decisions of two or more agents interact. Game theory attempts to understand the parameters for decisions in social, political, and economic situations of conflict or cooperation. The essence of the problem that game theory attempts to tackle is that each agent’s outcomes depend not only on their own choices but on those of other agents. As in standard decision theory, each agent has utilities associated with outcomes. However, in game theory each agent also has to consider the utilities of...
game theory Quick reference
A Dictionary of Public Health (2 ed.)
...game theory A branch of mathematical logic described in The Theory of Games and Economic Behavior ( 1944 ) by the Hungarian-American mathematician John von Neumann ( 1903–57 ) and the German-American mathematician Oskar Morgenstern ( 1902–77 ). Game theory calculates the likelihood of each of a range of possible reactions of a hypothetical adversary to a set of specific acts or strategies. Game theory has many applications, in systems analysis, some aspects of psychotherapy, and in resolving conflicts, such as industrial disputes. ...
game theory Quick reference
A Dictionary of Business and Management (6 ed.)
... theory A mathematical theory, developed by J. von Neumann ( 1903–57 ) and O. Morgenstern ( 1902–77 ) in 1944 , concerned with predicting the outcome of games of strategy (rather than games of chance) in which the participants have incomplete information about the others’ intentions. Under perfect competition there is no scope for game theory, as individual actions are assumed not to influence others significantly; under oligopoly , however, this is not the case. Game theory has been increasingly applied to economics and the theory of industrial...
game theory Quick reference
A Dictionary of Philosophy (3 ed.)
... theory The mathematical theory of situations in which two or more players have a choice of decisions (strategies); where the outcome depends on all the strategies; and where each player has a set of preferences defined over the outcomes. The extent to which human social interactions are well modelled by game theory can be controversial, one difference being that in the theory the structure of the game is usually an external given, whereas human beings typically have a choice about which cooperative or competitive ventures to join, and which kinds of partner...
game theory Quick reference
A Dictionary of Zoology (5 ed.)
... theory The theory that relationships within a community (of organisms or of traits possessed by those organisms) can be regarded as a contest (i.e. a game) in which each participant seeks to secure some advantage. Numerical values can be attached to the gains and losses involved, allowing the contest to be simulated mathematically, usually by computer modelling. The application of game theory has produced many insights into ecological relationships and the significance of particular aspects of animal behaviour. See also evolutionary stable strategy...
game theory Quick reference
A Dictionary of Economics (5 ed.)
...game theory The analysis of strategic situations in which the actions of one agent affect the pay-off received by another. This leads to strategic interaction in decision-making. Game theory provides a means of formally modelling strategic interaction. The key elements of the modelling are the objectives, strategies, and information of each agent, and a concept of equilibrium for the game. Useful distinctions can be made between one-off games and repeated games, where reputation established through earlier rounds of the game affects the conduct of...
game theory Quick reference
A Dictionary of Finance and Banking (6 ed.)
... theory A mathematical theory, developed by John von Neumann ( 1903–57 ) and Oskar Morgenstern ( 1902–77 ) in 1944 , concerned with predicting the outcome of games of strategy (rather than games of chance) in which the participants have incomplete information about the others’ intentions. Under perfect competition there is no scope for game theory, as individual actions are assumed not to influence others significantly; where one participant has excessive market power , however, this is not the case. Game theory has been increasingly applied to...
game theory Quick reference
World Encyclopedia
... theory In mathematics, analysis of problems involving conflict. Initially it was based on the assumption that participants in conflict adopt strategies that maximize personal gain and minimize loss. Later, more complex motivations, such as morality, were included. Applications of game theory include business management, sociology, economics and military strategy. The theory was introduced by French mathematician Émile Borel and developed by John von Neumann in 1928...
game theory Quick reference
A Dictionary of Biology (8 ed.)
...game theory A branch of mathematics that predicts the outcomes of interactions between ‘players’ according to the costs and benefits of the strategy each player employs. Although originally developed to elucidate problems in economics, game theory is used in evolutionary biology to study behavioural strategies among animal populations, such as confrontation, cooperation, and altruism, and how these evolve. Organisms expend energy (a ‘cost’) to acquire resources (a ‘benefit’) from their surroundings. The net gain or loss of such an interaction is the payoff,...
Game Theory Quick reference
A Dictionary of Epidemiology (6 ed.)
...Game Theory A branch of mathematical logic concerned with the range of possible reactions to a particular strategy; each reaction can be assigned a probability, and each reaction can lead to further action by the “adversary” in the game. Used in systems analysis. It has occasional applications in disease Surveillance and control. It is one of the underlying theories used in Clinical Decision Analysis and in determining utilities (e.g., in calculating QALYs). ...
game theory Reference library
The Continuum Encyclopedia of British Philosophy
...a game, given the principles of rationality and related epistemic postulates. Beginning with Thomas Hobbes 's, numerous studies have appeared on applications of game theory to social contract in moral and political theory ( Robert Axelrod , Ken Binmore , Richard Braithwaite , David Gauthier , David Lewis and Brian Skyrms , Robert Sugden ). The British biologist John Maynard Smith has extended game theory to biological phenomena by applying the concept of evolutionarily stable strategies to animal and population behaviour. (Currently, game theory has...
game theory n. Quick reference
A Dictionary of Psychology (4 ed.)
...sense, and experimental games based on game theory have been used to study such phenomena as individual and collective rationality, cooperation and competition, trust and suspicion, threats and commitments. Also called the theory of games or games theory , though the latter phrase is avoided in careful usage. See game ( 1 ) . See also admissible alternative/strategy , dominant alternative/strategy , evolutionarily stable strategy , maximin , minimal social situation , minimax , mixed-motive game , mixed strategy , Nash equilibrium , ...
Game theory Reference library
Oxford Companion to Australian Politics
... theory Strategic choice theory—or game theory as it is more commonly known—is the general theory of optimisation in a situation where multiple decision makers have interdependent payoffs. Game theory involves the application of mathematics to politics, where a game is a situation in which n players indexed i, j, k ‥ . have controls si , sj, sk ‥ . and the payoff for i has the form: vi = vi(si, sj, sk, ‥.) The theory is used to solve the following type of problem. Suppose we have a set of decision makers, or players, and the payoffs for each player...
Game Theory Reference library
The Oxford Companion to American Military History
... Theory . Within national security analysis, Game theory deals with parties making choices that influence each other's interests, where they all know that they are making such choices. Using mathematics, it analyzes the think/doublethink logic of how each adversary sees the other, sees the other's view of it, and so on. Unlike war gaming , where real players assume roles, it involves only mathematical calculations. John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern laid the foundation of game theory in the 1940s. Its application to military problems has been...
