Grim Trigger is a trigger strategy in game theory for a repeated game, such as an iterated prisoner's dilemma. Initially, a player using Grim Trigger will cooperate, but as soon as the opponent defects (thus satisfying the trigger condition), the player using Grim Trigger will defect for the remainder of the iterated game. Since a single defect by the opponent triggers defection forever, Grim Trigger is the most strictly unforgiving of strategies in an iterated game. Game theory is a branch of applied mathematics that studies strategic situations where players choose different actions in an attempt to maximize their returns. ... Will the two prisoners cooperate to minimise total loss of liberty or will one of them, trusting the other to cooperate, betray him so as to go free? Many points in this article may be difficult to understand without a background in the elementary concepts of game theory. ...
Note that Tit for Tat, the commonly accepted optimal iterated game strategy, is also a trigger strategy, except that unlike Grim Trigger, it only "remembers" one move previous when determining whether to cooperate or defect. Tit for Tat is a highly-effective strategy in game theory for the iterated prisoners dilemma. ...
One triggerstrategy is “tit for tat.” This is a strategy used in multi-period game play wherein player X responds to a player Y’s strategy in one period of play by repeating it themselves in the next period of game play.
… Grimtrigger is a severe triggerstrategy since a single defection brings about an eternal end to cooperation, in contrast to the much more forgiving tit for tat.
18 Responses to “GrimTrigger (The Murder of Ellen Robb)”
A player using a triggerstrategy continues to choose the same action until some other player takes an action that "triggers" a different action by the first player.
GrimStrategy: The firm: (1) cooperates in the first period, (2) cooperates in every succeeding period, provided the other firm does likewise, and (3) deviates forever after, if the other firm ever deviates.
Grim Pricing Strategy: The firm: (1) sets a high price in the first period, (2) sets a high price in every succeeding period, provided the other firm does likewise, and (3) sets low prices forever after, if the other firm ever charges a low price.