Asymmetric Evolutionary Games

PLoS Comput Biol. 2015 Aug 26;11(8):e1004349. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004349. eCollection 2015 Aug.

Abstract

Evolutionary game theory is a powerful framework for studying evolution in populations of interacting individuals. A common assumption in evolutionary game theory is that interactions are symmetric, which means that the players are distinguished by only their strategies. In nature, however, the microscopic interactions between players are nearly always asymmetric due to environmental effects, differing baseline characteristics, and other possible sources of heterogeneity. To model these phenomena, we introduce into evolutionary game theory two broad classes of asymmetric interactions: ecological and genotypic. Ecological asymmetry results from variation in the environments of the players, while genotypic asymmetry is a consequence of the players having differing baseline genotypes. We develop a theory of these forms of asymmetry for games in structured populations and use the classical social dilemmas, the Prisoner's Dilemma and the Snowdrift Game, for illustrations. Interestingly, asymmetric games reveal essential differences between models of genetic evolution based on reproduction and models of cultural evolution based on imitation that are not apparent in symmetric games.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biological Evolution
  • Computational Biology / methods*
  • Cultural Evolution
  • Ecology
  • Game Theory*
  • Genotype
  • Humans
  • Models, Theoretical*

Grants and funding

AM and CH acknowledge financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) (http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/index_eng.asp) and CH from the Foundational Questions in Evolutionary Biology Fund (FQEB), grant RFP-12-10 (http://www.templeton.org/what-we-fund/grants/foundational-questions-in-evolutionary-biology-fqeb). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.