Dice Dual zero-sum number-selection game with Pre/During/Post phase structure

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description

Dice Dual is a zero-sum competitive game in which "both the participant and a computerized opponent select one number of a virtual 6-sided die on each trial", with even or odd sums determining wins, counterbalanced across participants. Each block contains Pre, During, and Post phases: exploitable opponent behaviour types (repetition, alternation) in Pre and Post, and an artificially fixed win rate in During. The authors used it across three experiments to index pattern acquisition, suppression, and reactivation via win rate and optimal behaviour rate (OBR).

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

• A computerized opponent with exploitable behaviour types (repetition or alternation) in Pre and Post phases
• A fixed win rate programmed in the During phase to simulate punishment or reinforcement

Constraints

• Punishment and reinforcement labels are descriptive of outcome valence, not formal operant conditioning or computational reinforcement learning mechanisms
• Phase transitions were covert, with no on-screen cues marking a new phase

Target Learners

• Adult university students

Learning Goals

• Strategic adaptation to opponent patterns under outcome feedback
• Balancing reuse of old response patterns with acquisition of new ones

Claims

• Relearning Old Beats Learning New Except Severe Punishment [+M]
• Fixed Win Rate Reduces Obr [+M]

Related Designs

Examples

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Key Sources

• Zhang, Y., & Dyson, B. J. (2026). Recover or discover: How outcome feedback shapes response patterns within game spaces. npj Science of Learning. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-026-00414-w

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	design
id	dice-dual-game-paradigm
title	Dice Dual zero-sum number-selection game with Pre/During/Post phase structure
description	Dice Dual is a zero-sum competitive game in which "both the participant and a computerized opponent select one number of a virtual 6-sided die on each trial", with even or odd sums determining wins, counterbalanced ac...
status	review
generated	by process:settle-candidates on 2026-10-26
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	1 — zhang-2026

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