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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. During the Cold War "mutually assured ___" was the deterrence doctrine of the time.

2. John Nash, a brilliant unbalanced mathematician, was von Neumann's old colleague who reconnected with him where?

3. RAND operations were located where?

4. John von Neumann was from a family of ___ Jews.

5. During von Neumann's time on the Princeton social scene, he attended numerous parties and his drink of choice was what?

Short Essay Questions

1. When was the Cold War and who was involved?

2. Who is John Nash?

3. Who is Bertrand Russell?

4. What are the details of one of the ethical dilemmas described in Chapter 1 of "Prisoner's Dilemma"?

5. What were the results of Flood's experimental prisoner's dilemmas?

6. What did Merrill Flood observe and conclude about his RAND colleagues as they left California at the end of summer?

7. What was the Manhattan Project?

8. Why do Poker and Baseball involve mixed strategies?

9. What kind of studies did RAND conduct?

10. Who is Merrill Flood?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

John von Neumann made significant contributions to military technology in connection with nuclear war. Yet as he got older he became pessimistic about the role of technology, especially military technology in modern society. What contributions did von Neumann make in military technology? Why did von Neumann become increasingly pessimistic about such technology in the modern world? Were his concerns valid? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

In 1971 Martin Shubik published the dollar auction in a 1971 paper and is generally credited as the inventor of this game. What was involved in a game called "so long sucker?" Who collaborated on this game and how did it lead to the development of the dollar auction? How does Shubik describe a dollar auction and what makes it different from an auction at Sotheby's? What applications did the dollar auction have to real life and how did the dollar auction embody the non-rational behavior that many expected in game theory games as part of the logic of escalation in conflict?

Essay Topic 3

In the 1980s game theory took an unexpected turn and evolutionary game theory was born. How did this happen? What was the logic behind the development of this theory? Aspects of what disciplines were used to create this evolutionary model? How did Robert Axelrod introduce a strategy based in human psychology to the traditional problem found in game theory?

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This section contains 838 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample