Imitation and Cooperation in Different Helping Games

@article{bravo08, abstract = {The relation between imitation and cooperation in evolutionary settings presents complex aspects. From one hand, in any environment where egoists are favored over cooperators by selection processes, imitation should lead to a further spreading of the former ones due to the combined processes of individual selection and replication of successful behaviors. On the other hand, if cooperators succeed in forming clusters of mutual helping individuals, imitation may have a positive effect on cooperation by further reproducing this locally dominant behavior. This paper explores the relationship between imitation and cooperation by mean of a simulation model based on two different Helping games. Our model shows that different imitation mechanisms can favor the spreading of cooperation under a wide range of conditions. Moreover, the interplay of imitation and other factors — e.g. the possibility of performing 'conditional associations' strategies — can further foster the success of cooperative agents.}, author = {Bravo, Giangiacomo }, citeulike-article-id = {2500045}, journal = {Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation}, keywords = {cooperation, game-theory, imitation, simulation}, number = {1}, posted-at = {2008-03-10 10:49:56}, priority = {2}, title = {Imitation and Cooperation in Different Helping Games}, url = {http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/11/1/8.html}, volume = {11}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - bravo08 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2500045 TI - Imitation and Cooperation in Different Helping Games JF - Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation VL - 11 IS - 1 N2 - The relation between imitation and cooperation in evolutionary settings presents complex aspects. From one hand, in any environment where egoists are favored over cooperators by selection processes, imitation should lead to a further spreading of the former ones due to the combined processes of individual selection and replication of successful behaviors. On the other hand, if cooperators succeed in forming clusters of mutual helping individuals, imitation may have a positive effect on cooperation by further reproducing this locally dominant behavior. This paper explores the relationship between imitation and cooperation by mean of a simulation model based on two different Helping games. Our model shows that different imitation mechanisms can favor the spreading of cooperation under a wide range of conditions. Moreover, the interplay of imitation and other factors — e.g. the possibility of performing 'conditional associations' strategies — can further foster the success of cooperative agents. KW - cooperation KW - game-theory KW - imitation KW - simulation AU - Bravo, Giangiacomo PY - 2008/// UR - http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/11/1/8.html ER -