Explain a short note on Prisoner's Dilemma?

Example:The Prisoners' Dilemma

Suppose a local district attorney (DA) is certain that two individuals, Frankie and Johnny, have

committed a burglary, but she has no evidence that would be admissible in court.

The DA arrests the two. On being searched, each is discovered to have a small amount of

cocaine. The DA now has a sure conviction on a possession of cocaine charge, but she will

get a conviction on the burglary charge only if at least one of the prisoners confesses and

implicates the other.

The DA decides on a strategy designed to elicit confessions. She separates the two prisoners

and then offers each the following deal: "If you confess and your partner doesn't, you will get

the minimum sentence of one year in jail on the possession and burglary charges. If you both

confess, your sentence will be three years in jail. If your partner confesses and you do not, the

plea bargain is off and you will get six years in prison. If neither of you confesses, you will each

get two years in prison on the drug charge."

The two prisoners each face a dilemma; they can choose to confess or not confess. Because

the prisoners are separated, they cannot plot a joint strategy. Each must make a strategic

choice in isolation.

The outcomes of these strategic choices, as outlined by the DA, depend on the strategic

choice made by the other prisoner. The payoff matrix for this game is given in Figure 11.6

"Payoff Matrix for the Prisoners' Dilemma". The two rows represent Frankie's strategic

choices; she may confess or not confess. The two columns represent Johnny's strategic

choices; he may confess or not confess. There are four possible outcomes: Frankie and

Johnny both confess (cell A), Frankie confesses but Johnny does not (cell B), Frankie does

not confess but Johnny does (cell C), and neither Frankie nor Johnny confesses (cell D). The

portion at the lower left in each cell shows Frankie's payoff; the shaded portion at the upper right shows Johnny's payoff.