Paper-Rock-Scissors: an Exploration of the Dynamics of Players' Strategies
Abstract
In the current study, we designed a Rock-Paper-Scissors game and collected data in an online 2-player experiment. Our results conclude that participants did not play the game optimally nor randomly. We also found that humans behavior are very heterogeneous, and cannot conclusively be described by a commonly claimed heuristic of Win-Stay/Lose-Shift (WSLS). Instead, we found evidence for different types of individuals: ones strategy selection is dependent on outcomes (dependence group) and another one revealed independent strategy selection (independence group). The cluster analyses further showed that the two groups performed differently as how to increase the chances of being unpredictable. The independence group altered their cyclic methods. The dependence group, on the other hand, showed individuals that preferred the classical win-stay and lose-shift heuristics; but also individuals that preferred win-shift and lose-stay heuristics. A plausible explanation of this apparently irrational behavior is that people might follow a more sophisticated reasoning, in the sense that they believe their opponent will expect them to follow the WSLS, and as a best response they decide to do the opposite. More research is needed to follow on this finding. We believe our research contributes to understanding the dynamics of players strategies in an adversarial setting.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 09, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1142438
Entities
People
- Cleotilde Gonzalez
- Frédéric Moisan
- Hanshu Zhang
Organizations
- Carnegie Mellon University