COLLEGE PARK, Md.--A political science professor at the University of Maryland is giving out $3000 to students in his introductory American government course this spring as part of a research project in political game theory.

The professor, Lawrence Hunter, said his 170 students will learn how political groups form, bargain and negotiate. He added that students will be rewarded in the project for quick thinking and double crosses and penalized for straight-forwardness and naivete.

Hunter divided his class into 13 groups of 13 students each and gave $70 to each group. A majority of the group must decide upon a distribution formula, so the first seven students to get together and sign a written contract can take all the cash for themselves.

However, sometimes two rival coalitions of six students each form and offer the pivotal 13th member a higher share of the money to sign their contract. One student charged a $16 "negotiation fee" to sign a contract, leaving the other six members with only $9 each.

The distribution process is repeated for seven rounds, with more money given out each round. The project is financed by a $7000 National Science Foundation grant.

Hunter denied charges that he is corrupting his students by encouraging bribery and shady dealings. He compared the project with vote trading in Congress--"the I'll-vote-for-your-program-if-you'll-vote-for-mine principle."

"I don't condone bribery in the illegal sense," he said. "I am teaching negotiation, which is getting as much as you possibly can within the framework of civilized behavior," he added.