Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T10:24:57.827Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Game theory and evolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2016

John Haigh*
Affiliation:
Mathematics Division, University of Sussex

Extract

Maynard Smith and Price (1973) have shown that the methods and terminology of Game Theory can be used to study the evolution of various strategies in animal species. They write aij as the mean ‘value’ to the user of strategy i when his opponent uses strategy j; these values aij are related to the fitness of the user of i, in the sense that, if aij is large, it is advantageous to use strategy i when one's opponent uses strategy j, and this advantage will be reflected in an increase in one's reproductive potential. For example, these may be a contest for territory, or dominance rights.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Applied Probability Trust 1975 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Maynard Smith, J. and Price, G. R. (1973) The logic of animal conflict. Nature 246, p. 15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maynard Smith, J. (1974) The theory of games and the evolution of animal conflicts. J. Theoret. Biol. 47, p. 209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar