Week 5 Tutorial: Design a Screening Test

Groups design a screening mechanism that separates types by self-selection — and Assignment 1 is due

20 March 2028

Before the tutorial

Assignment 1 is due at the start of this session — submit it, then come ready to think about screening from the other side.

In the tutorial

In groups, design a screening mechanism (a menu of options, not a question someone could just lie to) that would separate a type you care about from one you don’t, purely through what people rationally choose. Present the menu to another group and let them try to break it.

Afterwards

A mechanism that gets broken in the room is more useful than one that survives unchallenged — note what broke it and why, since that’s exactly the failure mode Assignment 2’s redesign brief asks you to avoid later in the semester.

Printable handout

SLOP2470 — Tutorial 5 handout

Design a Screening Test

Monday 20 March 2028

Bring

  • Assignment 1, submitted before the tutorial starts

What happens in the room

  1. In groups, design a menu — not a question — that separates a type you care about from one you don't
  2. Check that the menu is incentive-compatible: the honest type must actually prefer their option, the dishonest type must actually not want to copy it
  3. Present your menu to another group and let them try to break it
  4. Note what broke it and why — this is the failure mode Assignment 2's redesign brief asks you to avoid

SLOP2470: Love, Markets, and Other Failures

The spec

What you bring to the session. Written so a reader can tell whether it has been met without asking you.

Teaching team