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This module is for designing game trees, multidimensional matrices, any
combinations between trees, matrices and free forms, language text,
mathematical notation, and abstract concepts, to conduct experiments with
human subjects over the Internet for analysis. Experiments involving
extensive form games, strategic form games, free form games and trading games
can be designed using this module.
A free form game is composed of a finite number of stages and probability
transitions that link the stages together. Upon logging into the game,
subjects participating in a game are assigned a role, called a player type.
The mechanism for selecting player types from the subjects logging on is
defined by the moderator. Play begins at an initial stage, where instructions
may be provided to players, and proceeds from stage to stage, following the
rules of the probability transitions, until the end of the game. Payoffs to
players accrue sequentially, or are determined at the end of the game. Within
the various stages, players are required to make choices from choice sets
prescribed by the moderator. The probability transitions depend on the
choices made in the preceding stage, as well as statistics summarizing the
previous history. The moderator also defines a data structure for experimental
sessions, which generate the data gathered from the experiments for
statistical analysis.
Trading games are used for using experimental methods to investigate
auctions and markets, where assets are traded in real time according to rules
specified by the moderator. Most of the protocols for designing, conducting
and analyzing data from trading game experiments are identical to those in
the free form. Here players consume rewards based on their final allocation
of assets. Units of each asset are functions of factors that evolve as
stochastic processes, thus determining the rate of return on the asset. The
moderator defines the factors and the functions and thus determines the law
of motion for the assets. A player is characterized by the markets he can
trade in, his role (as an auctioneer or a bidder, whether he can make offers
or only accept them, and so on), his initial asset endowments, how he values
his own assets, his induced attitudes towards risk and uncertainty, and the
information he has about the model economy.
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