Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Agent-based social simulation
open-in-new
<h2 id="multi-agent-system">Multi-agent system</h2> <p>A multi-agent system is a system created from multiple autonomous elements interacting with each other. These are called agents. In a multi-agent system, each agent is represented by an individual algorithm. See <a href="/facts/Agent-based_model/C3C1vR8s">Agent-based model</a>. </p><p>Agents can be used to simulate many different active elements, including organisms, machines, persons, corporations and other organizations, nations, and so on. Agent-based models can be used to simulate a wide variety of social phenomena, including transportation, market failures, cooperation and escalation and spreading of conflicts. In agent-based models illustrate how models based on simple rules can results in complex dynamics and <a href="/facts/Emergent_behavior/gLAd6wda">emergent behavior</a> (Kontopoulos, 1993; Archer, 1995; Sawyer, 2001). </p> <h2 id="history">History</h2> <h3>Sugarscape</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Sugarscape/lla5aBXu">Sugarscape</a></p> <p>The first widely known multi-agent generative social model was developed in 1996 by Joshua M. Epstein and Robert Axtell.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> The purpose of this model was simulation and research of social phenomena like seasonal migration, environmental pollution, procreation, combat, disease spreading and cultural features. Their model is based on the work of economist <a href="/facts/Thomas_Schelling/s3fREMVz">Thomas Schelling</a>, presented in his paper "Models of Segregation". This model defined the first generation of computer-based social simulations. Epstein and Axtell's model was implemented using concepts from the "Game of Life" developed by <a href="/facts/John_Horton_Conway/g3PA1zoK">John Horton Conway</a>. </p> <h2 id="usage-for-social-sciences">Usage for social sciences</h2> <p>There are three main objects of scientific implementation of ABSS (Gilbert, Trotzsch; 2005) </p> <h3>Understanding basic aspects of social phenomena</h3> <p>Like aspects involving its diffusion, dynamics or results. Such basic models should be based on simple rules, so that a system's resulting emergent behavior can be easily observable. </p> <h3>Prediction</h3> <p>These models are implemented to predict real life events and phenomena. Examples of use could be transportation (prediction of traffic in future to find places where traffic jams could occur), prediction of future unemployment rates etc. Problem of models made to accurately predict such an events is increasing complexity of model with number of dynamically changing parameters. </p> <h3>Research, testing and formulation of hypothesis</h3> <p>Unlike other two main objects, which have use outside Social sciences, latter one is used mainly on the field of social science. Agent-based social simulations are often used during research of new hypothesis. Simulation could be useful when there is no other way to observe agents during their actions. For example, during creation of new language, which is long-term process. Another benefit of simulation lies in fact, that to be able to prove theory in simulation, it has to be represented in formal and logical form. This leads to more coherent formulation of theory. </p> <h2 id="multi-agent-simulation-suites-mass-usage-for-problem-solving">Multi-agent simulation suites (MASS) usage for problem solving</h2> <h3>Society and culture</h3> <h3>Models of information diffusion in social environment</h3> <p>An academic article investigates an agent-based simulation of information diffusion in <a href="/facts/Facebook/0IhXFR6u">Facebook</a> <a href="/facts/Online_social_network/qFIh6VT1">online social network</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> <h3>Organizing networks</h3> <h3>Emergence of social phenomena</h3> <p>Altruism and cooperation Ethnocentrism </p> <h3>Crowd behaviour</h3> <p>Models for natural disasters (evacuation – fire) </p> <h3>Economical science</h3> <h3>Business</h3> <p>Market behavior models </p> <h3>Religion</h3> <h2 id="software-used-for-implementing-abss">Software used for implementing ABSS</h2> <p>Different agent based software have been used for implementing ABSS (Tobias & Hofmann 2004) such as </p> <ul><li><a href="http://hashkat.org">#k@ (HASHKAT)</a> Online social network (e.g. Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn) simulator, describes realtime dynamics, message passing, and user behavior. Available on Windows, OS X, and Linux (<a href="/facts/Free_Software/IaoVtJXn">Free Software</a>)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Repast_(Modelling_toolkit)/DKD7YS3D">Repast</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100715171446/http://mass.aitia.ai/">Multi Agent Simulation Suite (MASS)</a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110531161218/http://mass.aitia.ai/fables">Fables</a> is a component of MASS, generating Repast J models</li> <li><a href="/facts/Swarm_(simulation)/7nTYLLXT">Swarm (simulation)</a> (Terna 1998)</li> <li><a href="http://www.janus-project.org">Janus</a>: Multiagent, Organizational and Holonic Platform. (<a href="/facts/Open_Source_Software/HzTaB8E9">Open Source Software</a>)</li> <li>Ascape<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> (an implementation of the agent based model <a href="/facts/Sugarscape/lla5aBXu">Sugarscape</a>(Epstein & Axtell 1996)) (Auer & Norris 2001)</li> <li>Ingenias<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> (Pavon et al. 2008)</li> <li><a href="http://www.simsesam.de">SeSAm</a> Multiagent simulator and graphical modelling environment. (<a href="/facts/Free_Software/IaoVtJXn">Free Software</a>)</li> <li><a href="/facts/NetLogo/3pzyYsKH">NetLogo</a> (<a href="/facts/Open_Source_Software/HzTaB8E9">Open Source Software</a>)</li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140407083643/http://globalsimulate.soft112.com/">GlobalSimulate</a> Multiparadigm simulation and modelling environment. (<a href="/facts/Open_Source_Software/HzTaB8E9">Open Source Software</a>)</li> <li><a href="http://gama-platform.org/">GAMA</a> GAMA is an agent-based, spatially explicit, modeling and simulation platform. (<a href="/facts/Open_Source_Software/HzTaB8E9">Open Source Software</a>)</li> <li><a href="/facts/MASON_(Java)/lzVfFlYg">MASON</a> Multi-Agent Simulator Of Neighborhoods. (<a href="/facts/Open_Source_Software/HzTaB8E9">Open Source Software</a>)</li> <li><a href="https://github.com/s-fuerst/Vahana.jl">Vahana.jl</a> A framework (not only) for large-scale agent-based models (<a href="/facts/Open_Source_Software/HzTaB8E9">Open Source Software</a>)</li></ul> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Artificial_life/YcA6tvfe">Artificial life</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Simulated_reality/IVrml807">Simulated reality</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Social_simulation/Aw9B4uVS">Social simulation</a></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Journal_of_Artificial_Societies_and_Social_Simulation/cJD8h5If">Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation</a></i></li></ul> <h2 id="further-studies">Further studies</h2> <ul><li>Auer, Klaus; Norris, Tim (2001). <a href="http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/4/1/6.html">""ArrierosAlife" a Multi-Agent Approach Simulating the Evolution of a Social System: Modeling the Emergence of Social Networks with "Ascape""</a>. <i>Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation</i>. 4 (1).</li> <li><a href="/facts/Joshua_M._Epstein/22PeJpJ3">Epstein, Joshua</a>; <a href="/facts/Robert_Axtell/hF1o3w3d">Axtell, Robert</a> (1996). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=xXvelSs2caQC"><i>Growing Artificial Societies: Social Science from the Bottom-Up</i></a>. <a href="/facts/MIT_Press/eTerUM3c">MIT Press</a>. p. 208. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-262-55025-3.</li> <li>Pavon, Juan; Sansores, Candelaria; Gomez-Sanz, Jorge J.; Wang, Fei-Yue (2008). <a href="https://archive.today/20130128133144/http://inderscience.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=1746-1375&volume=2&issue=2&spage=196">"Modelling and simulation of social systems with INGENIAS"</a>. <i>International Journal of Agent-Oriented Software Engineering</i>. 2 (2): 196–221. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1504%2FIJAOSE.2008.017315">10.1504/IJAOSE.2008.017315</a>. Archived from <a href="http://inderscience.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=1746-1375&volume=2&issue=2&spage=196">the original</a> on 2013-01-28.</li> <li>Terna, Pietro (1998). <a href="http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/1/2/4.html">"Simulation Tools for Social Scientists: Building Agent Based Models with SWARM"</a>. <i>Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation</i>. 1 (2).</li> <li>Tobias, Robert; Hofmann, Carole (2004). <a href="http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/7/1/6.html">"Evaluation of free Java-libraries for social-scientific agent based simulation"</a>. <i>Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation</i>. 7 (1).</li></ul> <ul><li>EPSTEIN, Joshua M.; AXTELL, Robert. Growing Artificial Societies: social science from the bottom up. MIT Press. 1996, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-262-55025-3.</li> <li>EPSTEIN, Joshua M. Generative Social Science: studies in agent-based computational modeling. Princeton University Press. 2006</li> <li>GILBERT, N. and Troitzsch, K. G. (1999). Simulation for the Social Scientist, Open University Press.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/JASSS.html">JASSS - The Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.essa.eu.org/">ESSA - The European Social Simulation Association</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.aisb.org.uk/">The Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and the Simulation of Behaviour</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130425014018/http://dl.ucd.ie/">Dynamics Lab University College Dublin</a> Ireland</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Li, Xiaochen; Mao, Wenji; Zeng, Daniel; Wang, Fei-Yue (2008). "Agent-Based Social Simulation and Modeling in Social Computing". Intelligence and Security Informatics. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 5075/2008. pp. 401–412. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-69304-8_41. ISBN 978-3-540-69136-5. <a href="978-3-540-69136-5" target="_blank">978-3-540-69136-5</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Davidsson, Paul (2002). "Agent Based Social Simulation: A Computer Science View". Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation. 5 (1). <a href="http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/5/1/7.html" target="_blank">http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/5/1/7.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>EPSTEIN J M & Axtell R L (1996) <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Nasrinpour, Hamid Reza; Friesen, Marcia R.; McLeod, Bob (2016-11-22). "An Agent-Based Model of Message Propagation in the Facebook Electronic Social Network". arXiv:1611.07454 [cs.SI]. <a href="/wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Ascape <a href="http://ascape.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">http://ascape.sourceforge.net/</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>INGENIAS Development Kit Archived July 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (IDK) <a href="http://grasia.fdi.ucm.es/main/?q=en/node/127" target="_blank">http://grasia.fdi.ucm.es/main/?q=en/node/127</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>