Dylan Selterman told his social psychology students that they could earn either two points or six points of extra credit on their final papers. Of course, there was a catch: If more than 10 percent of the class chose six points, nobody in the class would get the extra credit.
Selterman said this is something he’s been doing since 2008. Think of it as a real-time example of the tragedy of the commons — the dilemma of acting in one’s own self-interest versus acting for the greater good of the group. So far, only one class has managed to get the extra credit (FYI: It wasn’t this year’s).
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Since at least 25% of any group will always act in a selfish manner there is only a very small chance of any class collecting on this without some sort of active cooperation.
ReplyDeleteThis is a variation on the Prisoner's Dilemma, a classic logic problem.
ReplyDeleteDon't be trying g to confuse us with big words 2:34. I ain't got time to google all that.
ReplyDeleteThis is an experiment that should be repeated regularly for social and psychological trending.
ReplyDeleteSince there are no real consequences (points are not going to be deducted) the best choice is to choose "2 points". It isn't a sure thing either way but it is in one's best interest, even though it does not immediate appear that way.
ReplyDeletebest choice is to ace the test, then selccet 6 points just to stick it to all those poor fools who are depending on the professor sliding them through with minimum of effort!
ReplyDelete1:15, Of course the best choice is to select 2 points but people want max gratification and are inherently greedy.
ReplyDelete