▁political ▁science . ▁Ex amples ▁of ▁phen omena ▁that ▁can ▁be ▁explained ▁using ▁social ▁d ile mm as ▁include ▁resource ▁de ple tion , ▁low ▁vot er ▁turn out , ▁and ▁over pop ulation . ▁ ▁Game ▁theory ▁provides ▁some ▁mathematical ▁models ▁of ▁social ▁d ile mm as , ▁which ▁can ▁be ▁experiment ally ▁tested ▁by ▁people ▁playing ▁them , ▁through ▁a ▁computer ▁or ▁in - person . ▁ ▁Types ▁ ▁The ▁prisoner ' s ▁d ile m ma ▁is ▁a ▁simple ▁game ▁that ▁serves ▁as ▁the ▁basis ▁for ▁research ▁on ▁social ▁d ile mm as . ▁The ▁prem ise ▁of ▁the ▁game ▁is ▁that ▁two ▁partners ▁in ▁crime ▁are ▁imprison ed ▁separately ▁and ▁each ▁are ▁offered ▁len iency ▁if ▁they ▁provide ▁evidence ▁against ▁the ▁other . ▁As ▁seen ▁in ▁the ▁table ▁below , ▁the ▁optimal ▁individual ▁outcome ▁is ▁to ▁test ify ▁against ▁the ▁other ▁without ▁being ▁test ified ▁against . ▁However , ▁the ▁optimal ▁group ▁outcome ▁is ▁for ▁the ▁two ▁prisoners ▁to ▁co oper ate ▁with ▁each ▁other . ▁ ▁In ▁iter ated ▁games , ▁players ▁may ▁learn ▁to ▁trust ▁one ▁another , ▁or ▁develop ▁strateg ies ▁like ▁tit - for - tat , ▁co oper ating ▁unless ▁the ▁oppon ent ▁has ▁defect ed ▁in ▁the ▁previous ▁round . ▁ ▁As ym metric ▁prisoner ' s ▁d ile m ma ▁games ▁are ▁those ▁in ▁which ▁one ▁prisoner ▁has ▁more ▁to ▁gain ▁and / or ▁lose ▁than ▁the ▁other . ▁In ▁iter ated ▁experiments ▁with ▁une qual ▁re wards ▁for ▁co - operation