Journal on Policy & Complex Systems Volume 3, Issue 2 | Page 203

Policy and Complex Systems
and perceived control , and address the theory ’ s strengths and shortcomings . We also describe the necessary step of placing TPB in a broader framework that can evolve over time and subsequently introduce the cognitive processing model originally described by Janssen et al . ( 1999 ). We give a detailed statement of our agents and the modeling environment in which they interact in the model . We describe the preliminary experiments we performed using the model and the results they produced in the results and analysis . We conclude with a discussion of our findings and avenues for future work in the conclusion .
Literature Review
Agent-Based Models of Social Behavior
Agent-based models have been successfully employed to study sociology and social psychology in a number of settings . Macy and Willer ( 2002 ) review the different social processes that have been modeled with an agent-based approach , such as social convergence and divergence , social influence , diffusion of innovation , collective action , trust , and cooperation . Smith and Conrey ( 2007 ) provide an overview of how agent-based models have been used in social psychology for building theories regarding dynamic , complex , interactive social processes . They discuss agent-based applications such as attitude polarization in groups , escalation of intergroup conflict , formation of stereotypes , aggression , and unhealthy behaviors .
Agent-based models are bottom-up computational approaches for understanding macroscopic social structures and group behavior based on the local interactions of individual agents with bounded rationality that use simple rules to operate and adapt within a spatial environment . This is different from micro-simulations that have a top-down approach by modeling aggregate behavior through equations and statistical estimates of aggregate data , and which do not represent the heterogeneity of individuals nor the spatial environment as distinct from the agent population .
Thomas Schelling is considered by many to be a pioneer in applying an agentbased approach to model social science . His simple spatial model of neighborhood composition , which employed agents with simple rules for preferring a small proportion of their neighbors to be “ like themselves ,” produced segregated neighborhoods ( Schelling , 1971 ). Schelling ( 2006 ) expanded on this work and provided much thought leadership on how simple models of individual behaviors can lead to social complexity and aggregate behavior . This work has been leveraged by many social scientists .
Improvements in computing power in the late 1980s to early 1990s provided an avenue for creating computer models that could capture heterogeneity , which is a key feature of agents in agent-based modeling . In 1996 , Epstein and Axtell published their seminal work on Growing Artificial Societies that laid a foundation for generative social science using agent-based models . In their book , Epstein and Axtell ( 1996 ) describe how agent-based models can be used to study social phenomena , including trade , migration , group formation , cultural transmission , disease propagation , and population dynamics . Miller and Page ( 2009 ) expanded on this effort by modeling complex adaptive social systems and introducing concepts such as emergence , organization , decentralization , robustness , adaptation , and feedback into their models . They demonstrate how agent-based models can be used to explore these complex social systems and processes . In his review on the varied motivations for using agent-based
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