Science and Education Publishing American Journal of Clinical Medicine Research 2328-403X 1 4 2013 12 03 The Understanding of Cognitive Abilities in Asperger’s Disorder by Using a Modified Prisoner’s Dilemma Game with a Variable Payoff Matrix 75 76 EN Masaru Tateno Tokiwa Child Development Center, Tokiwa Hospital, Sapporo, Japan AJCMR2013147 10.12691/ajcmr-1-4-7 2013 11 12 2013 11 20 2013 12 03 The subjects with Asperger’s Disorder (ASP) have difficulties in social interaction. The Prisoner’s Dilemma (PD) is a well-known model in game theory that illustrates the paradoxical disposition of interaction between two individuals. We investigated the cognitive characteristics of ASP by using a PD game. The subjects were 29 individuals with ASP and 28 healthy controls. In the PD game, each player has two cards: card 1 (cooperation) and card 2 (betrayal). The score each player obtains is decided depending on the combination of their selections according to a 2 x 2 payoff matrix. The P-score (“P” for punishment) is defined as the score that is given when they both select betrayal. Both the P-score at the end of the PD game and the total score were significantly higher in the ASP group although the rate of cooperative selection (the choice of Card 1) revealed no statistically significant difference between ASP and controls. ASP might be free of the dilemma that commonly arises among two persons because of social deficits in ASP subjects. The PD game might be a useful diagnostic support tool to understand the cognitive abilities in ASP.