This study reports and analyzes the results of three trials of a one-shot collective game—a variety of the assurance game—conducted via the World Wide Web. In the first two trials, most players apparently mistook the assurance game for a prisoner's dilemma and consequently attained the worst possible outcome. After contemplating appropriate strategic considerations, players who participated in the third trial attained a better outcome but did so in a surprising way. This report accounts explicitly for the unexpected results. Implicitly, it also reveals some potential for social experimentation in cyberspace.
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