Research Interests for David Kraines

Dr. Kraines contributed to the theory of homology and cohomology operations, particularly to Massey products and loop operations. Among the applications of his work has been his construction of the counterexample to the transfer conjecture of Quillen. He has also studied the variational bicomplex of Vinogradov and introduced the cohomology of quantum electrodynamics. Dr. Kraines has applied game theoretical techniques to study the evolution of cooperation. With Dr. Vivian Kraines, he introduced a stochastic learning approach, dubbed the Pavlov strategy, for the iterated Prisoner's Dilemma. They show that, in a noisy environment, agents using the Pavlov strategy may achieve a higher level of cooperation than those using Tit for Tat type strategies. Using computer simulations, dynamic systems and Markov chains, they extend their analysis to the evolution of the rate of learning in a society of Pavlov type agents. Recently, they have explored the natural selection of stochastic strategies in the simultaneous and the alternating Prisoner's Dilemma and identified several evolutionarily stable strategies.

Recent Publications

1. David P. Kraines & Vivian Y. Kraines, Protocols for Cooperation; Cultural Diversity of Strategies for the Alternating Prisoner's Dilemma (Submitted, 0) [pdf]
2. David Kraines & Vivian Kraines, Natural selection of memory-one strategies for the iterated prisoner's dilemma, Journal of Theoretical Biology 203 (2000) 335-355
3. David Kraines, Vivian Kraines, The Threshold of Cooperation among Adaptive Agents: Pavlov and the Stag Hunt, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, Springer Verlag, 1193 (1997), 219-231.
4. David Kraines, Vivian Kraines, Evolution of learning among Pavlov strategies, J. Conflict Resolution 39 (1995), 439-466.
5. David Kraines, Vivian Kraines, Learning to Cooperate with Pavlov: An adaptive strategy for the iterated Prisoner's Dilemma with noise, Theory and Decision 35 (1993), 107-150.