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        Arimaa >> General Discussion >> Musings on the psychology of Arimaa 
        
(Message started by: qswanger on Sep 30^th, 2010, 8:36am)

Title: Musings on the psychology of Arimaa
Post by qswanger on Sep 30^th, 2010, 8:36am

I wonder if anyone else is "guilty" of this:

Does the ordering of steps in a move of Arimaa make a difference in the outcome of a game. I'm not talking from an absolute truth standpoint obviously, but rather if the step order has some sort of discernible psychological effect on my opponent. Of course this is assuming that step ordering is indeed independent with no requirements for unfreezing, etc. I have found myself a few times during my games *intentionally* ordering first in my move the steps that I wish for my opponent to either ignore or miss the importance of and then using the later steps almost as a distraction since it will be the last movement on the board my opponent sees. I've suspected that I've gotten away with a few things by doing this. I'm pretty sure that this is not unethical, I'm just curious if anyone else has noticed this phenomenon and agrees to it's psychological utility. Thanks.

Title: Re: Musings on the psychology of Arimaa
Post by qswanger on Sep 30^th, 2010, 8:48am

Actually, I just noticed this thread: http://arimaa.com/arimaa/forum/cgi/YaBB.cgi?board=talk;action=display;num=1277697215

Somewhere further down someone mentions step order. I'd still be interested in hearing peoples thoughts specific to this.

Title: Re: Musings on the psychology of Arimaa
Post by clojure on Sep 30^th, 2010, 4:46pm

I think move ordering has potential to hide a quiet, strategic move. Psychologically, first and last items in a list are emphasized, so it makes sense to have important moves in the middle. Especially if they look innocent, it could be that opponent doesn't pay much attention them.

Remember when it was discussed that when there is one surplus move available that is not needed locally? The strategic move could be useful to do in a middle step. The problem is that it will be even more highlighted, since the local move pattern is strongly cut-off into two parts. Having said that, maybe you could make the opponent take time to understand the lonely move, if you emphasize it even though it does not have any deep meaning :)

Title: Re: Musings on the psychology of Arimaa
Post by clojure on Sep 30^th, 2010, 4:51pm

One thing that is not really about ordering but ineffectual moves: bots sometimes do two steps that moves the piece from A to B and back to A. This often takes attention away from the actual steps. I easily forget what bot's previous steps were.

Title: Re: Musings on the psychology of Arimaa
Post by rbarreira on Sep 30^th, 2010, 4:57pm

I think the best approach might be to do your steps in a random order. That way the opponent won't be able to learn where you put your important steps.

Title: Re: Musings on the psychology of Arimaa
Post by Fritzlein on Oct 6^th, 2010, 7:33pm

on 09/30/10 at 16:57:26, rbarreira wrote:

I think the best approach might be to do your steps in a random order. That way the opponent won't be able to learn where you put your important steps.

An easier way to remove information from your step order is to re-order steps left to right, front to back, after deciding on your move. I don't think there is much value in doing so, but at least your opponent will see that every move has the same "shape" and therefore not be able to deduce anything from your step order.

Title: Re: Musings on the psychology of Arimaa
Post by KingElephant on Nov 20^th, 2010, 6:50pm

The moves are presented over the internet in the game room all of a sudden when the opponent clicks "send." This is much different from seeing your opponent's work. If one were to play in person, the situation would be quite different. Needless to say you would see all your opponent's hesitations. In fact, I find the sudden presentation of four steps quite intimidating. It makes it seem as though my opponent were forceful and confident.