Knowledge Tree
Ultimatum Game
Facts (18)
Sources
The Role of Impulse in Consumer Psychology - Neuroscience Of neuroscienceof.com May 18, 2025 12 facts
claimIn the Ultimatum Game, players often reject unfair offers as a form of altruistic punishment to deter the divider from being unfair in the future, though this behavior is also driven by emotional impulse.
measurementIn the Ultimatum Game, there is a 50% probability that an acceptor will reject an offer of approximately $3 or less out of a $10 total, and this tendency to reject low offers persists even when the stakes are higher, such as rejecting $30 out of a $100 total.
claimWhen a player in the Ultimatum Game receives an unfair bid, the decision to accept or reject the offer is determined by the internal battle between emotion and cognitive control; if emotion overwhelms the brain, the bid is rejected, but if cognition suppresses the emotion, the bid is accepted.
measurementIn the Ultimatum Game, there is a 50% chance of rejection when acceptors are offered approximately $3 or less out of a $10 total, and this trend of rejecting low offers persists even when the stakes are significantly higher.
claimThe Ultimatum Game is a classic experiment used to explore the cost of human impulse and its impact on decision-making.
claimIn the Ultimatum Game, players are more likely to accept grossly unfair bids if they are given time to take a break between receiving the bid and making their decision, as this allows for cognitive cooling.
claimRational economic theory suggests that individuals should accept any non-zero offer in the Ultimatum Game because any amount is greater than zero, but human participants frequently reject low offers.
claimConsuming alcohol before playing the Ultimatum Game leads to a sharp increase in the rejection of non-zero unfair bids.
procedureThe Ultimatum Game procedure is as follows: (1) Two players are given a sum of money to divide between them. (2) One player is randomly designated as the divider and decides how the sum is split. (3) The other player is the acceptor and chooses whether to accept or reject the bid. (4) If the acceptor rejects the bid, neither player receives anything. (5) If the acceptor accepts, the money is split as proposed. (6) The game is played only once to prevent strategic scheming.
claimNeuroimaging tools such as fMRI show that unfair offers in the Ultimatum Game activate brain areas associated with both emotion and cognition, and the activation levels of these areas can predict whether a player will accept or reject the offer.
claimThe Ultimatum Game is a classic experiment used to explore the cost of human impulse and understand consumer psychology.
procedureThe Ultimatum Game is played as follows: (1) Two players are given a sum of money to divide. (2) One player is randomly designated as the divider and decides how to split the sum. (3) The other player is designated as the acceptor and chooses whether to accept or reject the bid. (4) If the acceptor rejects the bid, neither player receives anything. (5) If the acceptor accepts, the money is split as proposed. (6) The game is played only once to prevent strategic scheming.
Development of Behavioral Economics - NCBI - NIH ncbi.nlm.nih.gov 3 facts
referenceRichard H. Thaler published 'Anomalies: The ultimatum game' in the Journal of Economic Perspectives in 1988, analyzing the ultimatum game as an anomaly in economic theory.
referenceRichard H. Thaler published 'Anomalies: The ultimatum game' in the Journal of Economic Perspectives in 1988, analyzing the ultimatum game in the context of economic anomalies.
referenceCamerer and Thaler published 'Anomalies: Ultimatums, dictators and manners' in the Journal of Economic Perspectives in 1995.
Psychedelics, Sociality, and Human Evolution frontiersin.org 2 facts
claimPsilocybin increases altruistic behavior by reducing costly punishment in the Ultimatum Game, as participants show increased concern for the outcomes of their interacting partners.
referenceThe study 'Psilocybin and MDMA reduce costly punishment in the Ultimatum Game', published in 2018 in Scientific Reports by A. S. Gabay et al., demonstrates that psilocybin and MDMA influence behavior in the Ultimatum Game by reducing costly punishment.
Neural mechanisms of credit card spending | Scientific Reports nature.com Feb 18, 2021 1 fact
referenceThe study 'The neural basis of economic decision-making in the ultimatum game' by Sanfey, A. G., Rilling, J. K., Aronson, J. A., Nystrom, L. E., and Cohen, J. D. (2003) explores the neural basis of economic decision-making using the ultimatum game.