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Question

In the context of Prisoner's dilemma, which one of the following is correct?

This question was previously asked in
UGC NET 2015 Paper 1 Question Paper (27-Dec-2015)
The correct answer is

rational choices can lead to bad outcomes

Option 1 — rational choices can lead to bad outcomes is correct.

The Prisoner's dilemma is a classic game-theory situation involving two players who each act in their own self-interest. Each prisoner is offered a lighter sentence for confessing (defecting). Whatever the other does, confessing looks individually better, so the dominant strategy for both is to confess.

The paradox is that when both follow this individually rational strategy, they both end up worse off than if they had both stayed silent (cooperated). In other words, self-interested rational decision-making drives the pair to a jointly inferior, non-cooperative equilibrium — a Nash equilibrium that is not Pareto-optimal.

Why the other options are wrong: (2) is the opposite of the dilemma's lesson. (3) is reversed — here it is non-cooperation (defection) that yields the sub-optimal result, while cooperation would improve both players' payoffs. (4) is ruled out because option 1 is valid.

Takeaway: The Prisoner's dilemma shows that individually rational choices can produce a collectively bad outcome, motivating cooperation and binding agreements.

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Important Questions from Decision Making

  1. Which of the following are necessary conditions for applying Simeon Denis Poisson distribution in the field of managerial decision making?

    A. Each occurrence of an event is independent of the occurrence of the other event

    B. The probability of an occurrence is the same for any two intervals of equal length

    C. Poisson distribution describes continuous occurrences over a specific time interval

    D. In each interval, occurrences can range from zero to infinity

    Choose the correct  answer from the options given below:

  2. Which of the following common difficulties are faced in making decisions and implementing?

    (A) Non-actionable information

    (B) Unsupporting environment

    (C) Easy acceptance by subordinates

    (D) Ineffective communication

    (E) Incorrect timing

    Choose the correct answer from the options given below

  3. Match List - I with List - II.

    List - I

    Decision Rule

    List - II

    Rationale for applying the decision Rule to Down App.

    (A)

     Conjunctive

    I)

    "I bought the Smartphone App with the highest over all railing".

    (B)

    Disjunctive

    (II)

    "I down loaded the Smartphone App that had the most downloads".

    (C)

    Affect Referred

    (III)

    "I selected the Smart Phone App that had no bad features".

    (D)

    Majority vote

    (IV)

    "I picked the Smart Phone App that excelled in at least one attribute ".

    Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

  4. Who pioneered the concept of "Fight or Flight situation" as stress survival trait ?
  5. Arrange the following statements in sequence

    A. Weigh the alternatives
    B. Accept the responsibility of decision making
    C. Choose the best alternative
    D. List the alternatives
    E. Understand the problem

    Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
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