The format of this exam may be slightly different. There could well be less stress on problems and more emphasis on short answer questions. The following list which leads you through some of the main points in each topic we've covered should help your review for both sorts of questions!

A. Is it Rational to Vote?

1. Exactly what is the decision under discussion?

2. In applying Rational Choice Theory to decisions we often look at both utilities (sometimes split up into benefits and costs) and probabilities of various outcomes. In this case what sorts of considerations would be expected to influence B, C, and P?

3. If one is comparing two elections, how would one predict that voter turnout would change if each of these factors were to increase significantly?
(Discuss the three factors one at a time.)

4. Why did political scientists start talking about duty (a D factor)?

5. According to data on voter turnout, how important is the duty factor when people decide whether to vote? How important are each of the other three factors?

6. Now return to the question, "Is it rational to vote?" and propose a short answer that goes beyond a simple "yes" or "no"!

B. Kohlberg's Theory of the Development of Moral Reasoning

7. Give a two or three phrase description of each Kohlberg stage (you may lump stages 5 and 6 together).

8. Rational Choice Theory talks about utilities (cost/benefits) and probabilities. Look at how a child in each of the first three Kohlberg stages might answer the dilemma about Heinz and the drug. Can the sorts of factors that they cite as relevant to the decision be naturally accommodated into the sort of matrix and analysis that we use in RCT?

9. Now look at stage 4 reasoning about Heinz. What sort of additional factors are now brought in? Do they remind you more of the D factor invoked by political scientists above or are they better understood as just additional costs/benefits to be considered?

10. Repeat the above question for stage 5/6 reasoning.

11. Kohlberg compared responses to the Heinz dilemma across ages and across cultures. Very briefly summarize what he found in both kinds of comparative studies.

C. Formal Structure of the Prisoner's Dilemma

12. It is very difficult to give a succinct description of the PD so we'll just go through the series of steps that are required to present it and show why it's of interest to academics in various fields who study decision making. The first step is to lay out the decision matrix for one prisoner and to show that there is a "best option" (or "dominating" choice of what to do). What is a "best option" and what does that decision making rule tell the first prisoner to do?

13. When there is a best option in a matrix, what role (if any) is the probability of the various outcomes supposed to play in one's decision making according to RCT? According to simple RCT does the first prisoner need to make guesses about what the other prisoner is likely to do? Why or why not?

14. The dilemma only develops if for some reason, the first prisoner does in fact start thinking about what the second one may be thinking. If the second prisoner applies simple RCT to his situation and both prisoners now simultaneously act, what will the outcome be? Is there any uncertainty about what will happen if they both follow simple RCT?

15. So RCT gives a very precise account of what the outcome of the two simultaneous and independent decisions will be. Why do people then say that the PD situation poses a problem for or criticism of RCT?

16. Let's digress a bit to discuss the name. Some people call it the Prisoner's [singular] Dilemma and others call it the Prisoners' [plural] Dilemma! Why might one prefer to use the plural? Why is it important to stress the fact that there are at least two decision-making agents involved in PD situations? What might be a reason to prefer the singular form? Does it also connote some important feature of the PD situation?

D. Responses/Solutions to the PD and Tragedy of the Commons

17. Various strategies for dealing with these situations have been proposed. Briefly explain or give a quick example of a response that falls under each of the following:
- make people more sensitive/concerned about what happens to others
- set up a system of incentives and/or disincentives
- instill a shared moral code relevant to the situation
- pass a law or make a rule
- give people a better rational understanding of the conflict between short-run and long-term losses in such situations
- reciprocal altruism (be very brief here - more questions below)

18. Take one of the real life cases discussed in your reading, "Is the Tragedy of the Commons Inexorable?" and very briefly show which of the above responses it seems to exemplify.

19. Although the Tragedy of the Commons is sometimes described as just an n-person PD, in practical terms it might be significantly more difficult to deal with. Briefly, why?

E. Biological Concept of Reciprocal Altruism

20. What exactly do biologists mean by "reciprocal altruism"? Give a clear example of reciprocal altruism in animals and show that it has all of the defining characteristics.

21. What sorts of organisms/social situations are amenable to the development of reciprocal altruism?

22. Does reciprocal altruism fit in with evolutionary theory or is it an exception to it? (After all, isn't the driving force of evolution supposed to be all about the struggle for survival? How could being altruistic possibly give one an advantage from the evolutionary point of view?)

23. People who know nothing about biology might also talk about altruism. If your parents or religious educators tell you to be more altruistic, how does what they have in mind differ from what the biologists are talking about? How is it similar?

24. Suppose you had a group of children who had developed a system of reciprocal altruism that fit the biologists' definition perfectly. If one of them were to explain how the system worked and how one used it to decide the right thing to do, which of the Kohlberg stages would the child's explanation best fit under? Why?

25. Suppose your parents or a religious educator were to explain what they mean by altruism and how it should influence decision making, which of the Kohlberg stages would their account fall under?