***** To join INSNA, visit http://www.insna.org ***** It is worth pointing out, that in addition there is a very large and old literature simulating spatial interactions in transport, in particular for traffic flow and travel behaviour. Differing levels of behavioural complexity and wide ranges in the numbers of agents (from the low thousands into the millions) Kay Axhausen --- Prof KW Axhausen IVT ETH CH - 8093 Zürich Tel. +41-44-633 3943 Fax. +41-44-633 1057 www.ivt.baug.ethz.ch [log in to unmask] Office: Hönggerberg, HIL F 32.3 -----Original Message----- From: Social Networks Discussion Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Maksim Tsvetovat Sent: Dienstag, 8. November 2005 16:50 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Any recommendations re literature on multi-agent systems and social networks ***** To join INSNA, visit http://www.insna.org ***** > I've had a little trouble finding a good introduction; these models > seem to go by a wide variety of names. A couple hours of googling left > me rather confused. The main problem with multi-agent modeling is that 3 or 4 communities that routinely use its techniques hardly ever talk to each other, and speak very different languages. Assumptions also vary widely, and greatly affect the outcomes. Here's a smattering of things to look for: From Artificial Intelligence world - look for Belief/Desire/Intention (BDI) model of agent behaviour; agents tend to be complex but are embedded in simple social structures (frequently all-to-all or star topologies); large numbers of agents are infrequent. Also look for papers on SOAR. Cellular Automata world - Wolfram, etc. - very simple agents in large numbers, sitting on grids, reproducing complexity but not necessarily modeling the exact phenomena. Repast/NetLogo/Mason - in between the last two on agent complexity, agents can be very simple or range up to some level of cognitive accuracy; grids are fading away in favour of irregular neighborhoods and networks Multi-Agent Network Simulation - Construct, DyNet, NetWatch - agents are cognitive automata, making locally optimal decisions based on theoretical underpinnings (such as information diffusion theory). Networks or proximities are not pre-assigned but a product of the cognitive interactions and local rules. I'm not giving you exact citations - but I think this should be enough keywords to google for. Max Tsvetovat George Mason University Center for Social Complexity _____________________________________________________________________ SOCNET is a service of INSNA, the professional association for social network researchers (http://www.insna.org). To unsubscribe, send an email message to [log in to unmask] containing the line UNSUBSCRIBE SOCNET in the body of the message. _____________________________________________________________________ SOCNET is a service of INSNA, the professional association for social network researchers (http://www.insna.org). To unsubscribe, send an email message to [log in to unmask] containing the line UNSUBSCRIBE SOCNET in the body of the message.