Game theory is defined (here) as follows:
"Game theory, branch of applied mathematics that provides tools for
analyzing situations in which parties, called players, make decisions
that are interdependent. "
And Decision theory is defined (here) as follows:
"Decision theory is concerned with the reasoning underlying an agent’s
choices."
Regarding to above definitions, can we say that Decision theory is a subset of Game theory? Or they are completely two different concepts? And in general, what are their common points?
Best Answer
I agree with @Trurl's comment on this. Decision theory is more a component of optimal control theory rather than game theory. In control theory you have an environment you are navigating through to maximize some utility, and the decision theory component is in how to design your navigation as best as possible (often due to information and computational constraints). Game theory is about maximizing your utility in a competition against another player who is trying to do the same. It's possible to define your "environment" in control theory as playing against another player, but this leads to inhomogeneities in the environment most people working in optimal control don't normally deal with. Likewise, a game theorist could phrase an optimal control problem as a "game against the environment", but this would lead to payoff matricies that change drastically over time and with large branching factors.