Agent-Based Simulation
From Cognitive Modelling to Engineering Practice

01/06/2008: Submission Deadline postponed to June, 30th
03/06/2008: We are happy to announce an invited talk by Prof. Dr. Harald Schaub (IABG mbh) .

We received only 6 submissions; However we think that the topics we want to discuss are highly relevant, therefore we suggest the following schedule: In the morning our event will take place like a standard workshop; after lunch we will organize working group(s) discussing about particular problems. The workshop/special list meeting will end with a short wrap up also tackling further steps.

Topics

Constructing and executing an agent-based model provides many advantages in comparison to traditional simulation approaches. Increased degrees of freedom in model design, possibilities of modelling behaviour in restricted, heterogeneous geographical and temporal context, etc. are only partial aspects of its great potential. Thus with agent-based simulation, means are available to actually test cognitive models of human decision making in an adequately rich, simulated environment. These efforts may finally result in detailed cognitive models that are grounded in reproducible, practical experience, in addition to abstract hypotheses and theories of  cognition.

On the other side, in the agent-based simulation community the need for well-defined and reliable cognitive models is growing as complex human behaviour has to be reproduced in real-world applications. Abstract models based on rational optimization, and/or game-theoretic models are not sufficient any more, if complex decision making in urban space has to be modelled for enhanced pedestrian simulations, or if complex dynamics of team work are to be reproduced.

This workshop aims at bringing these two communities together, demonstrating the current state of art in both research directions. We intend to discuss questions such as

• Why does cognitive science need good engineering practice in agent-based simulation?
• Why do real-world applications of agent-based models really need complex agent models?
• How to solve the problem of missing adequate data for empirical validation of such complex agent models?
• How to determine whether a model is cognitively adequate or even "valid"?
• Can agent-based simulations offer a viable path from single-agent cognitive models to multi-agent cognitive models?

We therefore especially invite position papers on the above  mentioned questions for discussion at the workshop. We plan to allow for time slots of at least 30 min per presentation to encourage discussion. As a contribution to the state of the art, we welcome papers describing completed research, work in progress reports as well as problem descriptions with respect to the following topics.

• Examples of agent-based models of human behavior in need of cognitive models
• Examples for cognitive theories that might be testable or usable for agent-based simulations
• Validation and evaluation issues in cognitive modeling and agent-based simulation
• Implementation issues
• Methodological aspects of cognitive modeling and agent-based simulation
• Models of human perception, reasoning and action
• Specific areas of application such as strategies of spatial orientation and navigation

Submission

Full contributions should not exceed 8 pages in LNCS style. We also welcome position papers of 4-6 pages length. All papers must be written in English. Submissions should be sent by email to all three workshop organizers with "KI Workshop Submission" as subject. All papers will be available at the workshop in printed form. Depending on the particular focus of the papers and/or on the outcomes of the discussions at the workshop, we are considering some form of post-publication.

Invited Talk

We are happy to announce that we could win Prof. Dr. Harald Schaub (IABGmbH) as an invited speaker. The title of his talk is: More than Cognitions: Practical Applications need Psychological Modeling

Program

The proceedings are downloadable here.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

8:30 Welcome

8:45 Invited talk
More than Cognition: Practical Applications need Psychological Modeling
Prof. Dr. Harald Schaub (IABGmbH)

10:00 Qualitative Social Science Methods for Multi-Agent Models
Tilman A. Schenk, University of Leipzig

10:30 Appropriating Places in Public Spaces - a Multi-Agent Simulation
Sabine Timpf, University of Augsburg

11:00 Simulating Coping Processes in Critical Situations - An Agent based Approach
Régis Newo and Klaus-Dieter Althoff, University of Hildesheim

11:30 Qualitative Validation From Within – Extension of a Simulation Framework and Test
Björn Raupach, KaHo Sint-Lieven and Franziska Klügl, Örebro University

12:00 Distributed versus centralistic action planning for multi-agent-teams in complex,
dynamic domain
Andreas Hirschberger and Ute Schmid, University of Bamberg

13:00 Lunch

14:00 Breakout sessions

16:00 Plenum and Finish

Commitees

Organization

Dr. Franziska Klügl
Künstliche Intelligenz und Angewandte Informatik, Universität Würzburg
Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg
Tel.: 0931/888 6742
kluegl[]informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de

Prof. Dr. Sabine Timpf
Geoinformatik, Universität Augsburg
Universitätsstr. 10, 86135 Augsburg
Tel.: 0821/5982313
sabine.timpf[]geo.uni-augsburg.de

Prof. Dr. Ute Schmid
Angewandte Informatik insb. Kognitive Systeme, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg
Feldkirchenstraße 21,  D-96052 Bamberg
Tel.: 0951/863 2860
ute.schmid[]uni-bamberg.de

Programme Commitee
to be announced