TITLE: COOPERATION GAME
AUTHOR: Carolyn Stevens, Fillmore Middle School;
Fillmore, Utah
GRADE LEVEL: Appropriate for grades 6-12.
OVERVIEW: Is it true that most of us think the best
way to get ahead is by doing better than the next guy?
Perhaps that is why Leo Durocher's observation that
"Nice guys finish last" is so often recalled. This
attitude is exactly what gets us into trouble. The
fact is that for much of life, world resource
management, business, global peace negotiations,
interpersonal relationships of all kinds, the way to
get ahead has nothing to do with beating the other guy.
It's called cooperation.
OBJECTIVE: The students will determine their own and
others' attitudes about the value of cooperation in
promoting improved social decision making.
ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:
If I give you a choice between a $20 and $100
bill, asking nothing in return, you will take the
hundred gladly. What if I throw in the following
catch. I will make this offer to everyone in the room.
If more than 20 percent of those in the room choose the
$100, nobody gets anything. If 80 percent or more
chose the $20, then each person gets exactly what he
asked for.
Now if you think that almost everyone will choose
the sure-bet $20, then taking the $100 is still the way
to go. After all, your decision by itself won't really
change the outcome. If it's going to be less than 20
percent anyway, then you can be $80 richer without
affecting anyone else's chances.
I'm sure in the new spirit of cooperation you all
will now pick the $20. I certainly would. Of course,
if everyone else is going for the $20, maybe I'll . . .
.
Each student is given a slip of paper to write his
anonymous request for his share of the money. The
papers are collected and tallied according to the
responses.
TYING IT ALL TOGETHER: How did you do? This
experiment mirrors the problems societies have with,
for example, pollution. The individual benefits of
polluting are greater than the individual costs of
pollution because those costs are spread out among
everybody. As long as the majority cooperates, a few
can cheat without significantly affecting the others.
How are our natural resources used? What are your
expectations in life?
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