The progression of game theory from classical to evolutionary and spatial games provided a powerful means to study cooperation, and enabled a better understanding of general cooperation-promoting mechanisms. However, current standard models assume that at any given point players must choose either cooperation or defection, meaning that regardless of the spatial structure in which they exist, they cannot differentiate between their neighbours and adjust their behaviour accordingly. This is at odds with interactions among organisms in nature who are well capable of behaving differently towards different members of their communities. We account for this natural fact by introducing a new type of player—dubbed link players—who can adjust their behaviour to each individual neighbour. This is in contrast to more common node players whose behaviour affects all neighbours in the same way. We proceed to study cooperation in pure and mixed populations, showing that cooperation peaks at moderately low densities of link players. In such conditions, players naturally specialize in different roles. Node players tend to be either cooperators or defectors, while link players form social insulation between cooperative and defecting clusters by acting both as cooperators and defectors. Such fairly complex processes emerging from a simple model reflect some of the complexities observed in experimental studies on social behaviour in microbes and pave a way for the development of richer game models.

中文翻译：

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进化动力推动玩家社区中的角色专业化

博弈论从经典到进化和空间博弈的发展为研究合作提供了有力的手段，并有助于更好地理解一般的合作促进机制。然而，当前的标准模型假设玩家在任何给定点必须选择合作或叛逃，这意味着无论他们所处的空间结构如何，他们都无法区分邻居并相应地调整他们的行为。这与自然界中有机体之间的相互作用不一致，这些有机体完全能够对其社区的不同成员表现出不同的行为。我们通过引入一种新型玩家（称为链接玩家）来解释这一自然事实，他们可以根据每个邻居调整自己的行为。这与更常见的节点玩家形成对比，后者的行为以相同的方式影响所有邻居。我们继续研究纯人群和混合人群中的合作，表明合作在链接参与者的中等低密度下达到顶峰。在这种情况下，玩家自然而然地专注于不同的角色。节点参与者往往是合作者或叛逃者，而链接参与者通过同时充当合作者和叛逃者，在合作集群和叛逃集群之间形成社会隔离。这种从简单模型中产生的相当复杂的过程反映了在微生物社会行为实验研究中观察到的一些复杂性，并为开发更丰富的博弈模型铺平了道路。表明合作在链接参与者的中等低密度下达到顶峰。在这种情况下，玩家自然而然地专注于不同的角色。节点参与者往往是合作者或叛逃者，而链接参与者通过同时充当合作者和叛逃者，在合作集群和叛逃集群之间形成社会隔离。这种从简单模型中产生的相当复杂的过程反映了在微生物社会行为实验研究中观察到的一些复杂性，并为开发更丰富的游戏模型铺平了道路。表明合作在链接参与者的中等低密度下达到顶峰。在这种情况下，玩家自然而然地专注于不同的角色。节点参与者往往是合作者或叛逃者，而链接参与者通过同时充当合作者和叛逃者，在合作集群和叛逃集群之间形成社会隔离。这种从简单模型中产生的相当复杂的过程反映了在微生物社会行为实验研究中观察到的一些复杂性，并为开发更丰富的博弈模型铺平了道路。