What Does Tit for Tat Mean, and How Does It Work? [Video]

In game theory, tit for tat refers to a strategy that players may use when confronted with a payoff matrix like that of a prisoner’s dilemma. Formulated by mathematician and psychologist Anatol Rapoport, the strategy involves participants in an iterated prisoner’s dilemma following a course of action consistent with their opponent’s previous turn.

For example, if provoked, a player subsequently responds with retaliation; if unprovoked, the player cooperates. The tit for tat strategy is not exclusive to economics. It is used in many fields, including psychology and sociology. In biology, it is likened to reciprocal altruism.

Tit for tat is a strategy that can be implemented in games with repeated moves or in a series of similar games. The concept revolves around game theory, an economic framework that explains how humans interact with each other in competitive environments. There are two types of game theory: cooperative game theory and uncooperative game theory. …