Simulating the Evolution of Behavior: the Iterated Prisoners' Dilemma Problem

A bs t ra ct . A system is descr ibed in which a number of art ificial agents (represented by simple mathematical expressions) compe te for t he right to "re produce" (that is, to cause new agents with similar properties to be genera ted). By simulat ing some of the essential features of biological evolution, the system makes possible some novel insights into the behavior of communi ties of agent s over time. The results of Fujiki and Dickinson on the Iterated Prisoners' Dilemma problem (IPD) are essentia lly confirmed. T he ty pical course of evolution of a community of IPD players is descri bed) and possibilit ies for further work are outlined . T his study is also relevant to machine learning) an d adapti ve systems in gener al .