Game theory is central to understanding human behavior and relevant to all of the behavioral sciences--from biology and economics, to anthropology and political science. However, as The Bounds of ...Reason demonstrates, game theory alone cannot fully explain human behavior and should instead complement other key concepts championed by the behavioral disciplines. Herbert Gintis shows that just as game theory without broader social theory is merely technical bravado, so social theory without game theory is a handicapped enterprise.
•Investigation of optimal timing of pricing in a dual-channel reverse supply chain.•Consideration of a supply chain consisting of a recycling company and a collector.•We have the following two major ...findings.•There is a first-mover advantage to acquisition price announcement.•The company should announce the online price before announcing the transfer price.
The rapid development of information technologies enables recycling companies to purchase and collect used products from consumers through both traditional and Internet-based online channels. Because an online channel transmits price information instantly to consumers, choosing the best time to announce the recycling price (i.e., acquisition price) of used products to consumers has become a critical problem for recycling companies. This paper seeks to solve this problem by developing a game-theoretic model describing a dual-channel reverse supply chain consisting of a recycling company and a third-party collector in which the recycling company purchases products not only through a third-party collector, but also directly from consumers online. We derive two major results by solving the model. The first is that first-mover advantage arises, which indicates that each firm constituting a dual-channel reverse supply chain should announce its own recycling price before the other. This first result is notable because it is exactly opposite to conventional wisdom that the second-mover advantage of pricing usually emerges when price competition occurs among firms in a horizontal relationship, which is well known in noncooperative game theory. The second result is that the recycling company can maximize its own profit and consumers' surplus by announcing its recycling price in the online channel before or upon, but not after, determining the transfer price paid to the collector for products collected in the offline channel. Both results can be used as practical decision-making guidelines in dual-recycling channel reverse supply chain management.
Backward induction is a widely accepted principle for predicting behavior in sequential games. In the classic example of the "centipede game," however, players frequently violate this principle. An ...alternative is a "dynamic level-
k
" model, where players choose a rule from a rule hierarchy. The rule hierarchy is iteratively defined such that the level-
k
rule is a best response to the level-
(k-1)
rule, and the level-
∞
rule corresponds to backward induction. Players choose rules based on their best guesses of others' rules and use historical plays to improve their guesses. The model captures two systematic violations of backward induction in centipede games, limited induction and repetition unraveling. Because the dynamic level-
k
model always converges to backward induction over repetition, the former can be considered to be a tracing procedure for the latter. We also examine the generalizability of the dynamic level-
k
model by applying it to explain systematic violations of backward induction in sequential bargaining games. We show that the same model is capable of capturing these violations in two separate bargaining experiments.
This paper was accepted by Peter Wakker, decision analysis.
The present article attempts to reinterpret the findings of most recent studies investigating effect of using games for teaching purposes. A methodological approach combining a meta-analysis of ...quantitative data with qualitative ones was adopted in order to present the broadest picture of the current research on educational use of games. To this end, we conducted a meta-analysis of 180 effect size comparisons out of 154 empirical studies on the effect of both digital and non-digital games on academic achievement conducted during the period from 2004 to 2019 in order to determine the overall effect size of using games for teaching various subjects. The overall sample size of the studies included a total number of 12800 participants. Some moderator analyses were also carried out to determine the exact efficiency of educational games in terms of student levels, durations of implementation of game activities, school subjects in which games were used, class sizes, kinds of games and achievement tests used. The findings suggest that educational games have a positive effect on academic achievement and this effect is at a medium level (g = 0.695). The highest effect sizes were observed in foreign language courses (g = 0.87), small (less than 50) class sizes (g = 0.87), and in non-digital games (g = 0.90). Moreover, we conducted a meta-thematic analysis based on document analysis of qualitative studies in order to further consolidate the findings of the meta-analysis. The meta-thematic dimension of our study reveals cognitive contributions as well as drawbacks of game-based teaching, and provides suggestions for conducting educational games in a better way.
Recent years have seen a surge of calls for personalization of education. Automatised adaptivity in serious games has been advocated as a potential instantiation of such calls. Yet little is known ...about the extent to which personalised learning through automatised adaptivity poses an advantage for language learning over generalised teacher‐led sequencing in digital, game‐based learning environments. The goal of this paper is to address this question by comparing the learning outcomes in reading accuracy and fluency of didactic sequences designed by EFL teachers or by an adaptive algorithm. A total of 67 participants completed several proficiency and reading skills pretest and posttest and used the iRead system for 6 months. Results showed that all learners made progress in reading skills, but no significant differences were found between the two sequences in relation to the development of reading skills. It was also shown that adaptivity works best if it leads to increase in the number of games per feature. Results are discussed in the context of previous findings, and the role of adaptivity and sequencing is critically assessed.
Practitioner notes
What is already known about this topic?
Serious games have the potential to aid learning but empirical research is needed.
Findings about the efficiency of serious games are mixed.
Current and reviewed versions of the Simple View of Reading constitute a suitable framework to measure reading acquisition.
What this paper adds?
It contributes to the growing corpus of research on digital serious games.
It provides empirical evidence on the use of an adaptive system in formal education.
Comparing a teacher‐led sequence to an algorithmic adaptive sequence on the same digital serious game has never been done before.
The paper shows the need to obtain both system‐internal and system‐external data in order to capture the impact of gameplay on the development of L2 reading skills.
Implications for practise and/or policy
It sheds some light on how certain game designs may actually help practise with different degrees of intervention by teachers.
It is interesting for teachers to use an adaptive sequence that they can check and intervene in if needed.
•Propose a novel two-side consensus mechanism based on the Stackelberg game.•Propose a best-response update method to model the decision makers’ behaviors.•Present two compensation strategies with ...minimum cost.•Develop an adaptive differential evolution algorithm to solve the proposed model.
In group decision making, the interaction behaviors between the moderator and decision makers play a critical role in a consensus process. In this study, based on the essential architecture of Stackelberg game, we present a bi-level optimization model to describe the interaction behaviors between decision makers and moderator, and develop the consensus mechanism with maximum-return modifications and minimum-cost feedback (MRMCCM). In the MRMCCM, the moderator aims to guide decision makers to reach consensus with minimum cost, while decision makers modify their own opinions based on the maximization of individual return. We analyze the equilibrium strategy in the MRMCCM, including the modification and compensation strategies composed of the optimal suggested opinion and unit consensus cost. In addition, an adaptive differential evolution is presented to deal with the bi-level optimization model, and the detailed experimental studies are conducted to justify the performance of the MRMCCM.
Serious games for learning have received increased attention in recent years. However, empirical studies on students’ gaming experiences throughout the developmental process of serious games and ...discussions regarding game design are missing. The aims of the present study were to analyze students’ gaming experiences while playing four consecutive versions of the Number Navigation Game (NNG)—a mathematical game-based learning environment focusing on flexibility and adaptivity with whole-number arithmetic; and to provide an extensive review of the NNG developmental and design process over 3 years with focus on how and why the design decisions were made, and how those choices affected students’ gaming experiences. The study employed a mixed-methods design of quantitative and qualitative research. The Game Experience Questionnaire about eight core game experience dimensions was answered by different groups of students at primary schools in Finland in three different experiments after students played four versions of the NNG from 2014 to 2016. Six semi structured interviews related to students’ game experiences, preferences and game features of the latest version of NNG were conducted. Overall, results indicate that improvement in game’s usability and clarity in the user interface has positive impacts on students’ game experiences. Furthermore, there seems to be a clear advantage in having better aesthetics and value in improving extrinsic elements that could contribute to maintain players’ enthusiasm and situational interest in serious games.
L’idée d’un langage ou d’une grammaire spécifiques au médium vidéoludique est une problématique qui refait ponctuellement surface, rassemblant des préoccupations propres aux études sur le jeu vidéo ...et sur le jeu en général, à la conception et aux game studies. Cet ouvrage montre qu’il s’agit d’une discussion riche, qui rejoue dans ses différentes approches des thématiques plus larges, notamment entre ludologie et narratologie, entre études du game ou études du play. S’inspirant de ces discussions, l’ouvrage entend d’abord dresser un inventaire et une typologie des approches proposées, ainsi que des critiques qui ont pu leur être opposées, mais aussi actualiser dans un second temps cette thématique au regard de théories plus récentes dans le champ des études du jeu, de la linguistique et de la sémiotique. Par l’intermédiaire du concept de ludème, dont l’évolution particulière symbolise pleinement la problématique dans son ensemble, la réflexion menée montrera finalement qu’il est possible de réarticuler celle-ci sur différents niveaux d’analyses, pour y concilier les différents aspects de la conception et du jouer, et qu'elle peut également être repensée pour apporter un nouvel éclairage sur des questions d’expérience de jeu, de gameplay émergent ou encore de détournement.
The Game Maker's Apprentice Habgood, Jacob; Overmars, Mark
2006, 2006-07-06T00:00:00, 2006-03-01, c2006
eBook
The Game Maker's Apprentice shows you how to create nine exciting games using the wildly popular Game Maker game creation tool. This book covers a range of genres, including action, adventure, and ...puzzle games--complete with professional quality sound effects and visuals. It discusses game design theory and features practical examples of how this can be applied to making games that are more fun to play. Game Maker allows games to be created using a simple drag-and-drop interface, so you don't need to have any prior coding experience. It includes an optional programming language for adding advanced features to your games, when you feel ready to do so. You can obtain more information by visiting book.gamemaker.nl. The authors include the creator of the Game Maker tool and a former professional game programmer, so you'll glean understanding from their expertise. The book also includes a CD containing Game Maker software and all of the game projects that are created in the book--plus a host of professional-quality graphics and sound effects that you can use in your own games.
Game-based learning has been recognised as a strategy to increase students' engagement in higher education. Alternate reality games (ARG) provide players with the opportunity to apply newly developed ...knowledge and skills, such as visiting important campus locations and completing relevant activities. The collaborative nature of these games means they have the potential to support socialisation in the new environment. This study used a mixed-methods approach to examine the experience of 13 students who participated in an ARG during orientation week at a regional university in Australia. Data were collected using an online survey implemented at three time points, and from focus groups which took place at the end of the semester. Results of the analysis indicate that participants who played the game, reported a more positive emotional state, greater familiarity with the university campus and engaged in more social interactions than their peers who attended orientation, but did not play. These results suggest that an alternate reality game can engender positive emotions in new enabling program students and help them to create friendships at university. This impacts their sense of connectedness, one of the factors identified as important for success in higher education.
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