Agent zero : toward neurocognitive foundations for generative social science / Joshua M. Epstein.

Author
Epstein, Joshua M., 1951- [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2013]
Description
xvi, 249 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Availability

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
Lewis Library - Stacks H61.3 .E6697 2013 Browse related items Request

    Details

    Subject(s)
    Series
    Princeton studies in complexity [More in this series]
    Summary note
    "The Final Volume of the Groundbreaking Trilogy on Agent-Based ModelingIn this pioneering synthesis, Joshua Epstein introduces a new theoretical entity: Agent Zero. This software individual, or "agent," is endowed with distinct emotional/affective, cognitive/deliberative, and social modules. Grounded in contemporary neuroscience, these internal components interact to generate observed, often far-from-rational, individual behavior. When multiple agents of this new type move and interact spatially, they collectively generate an astonishing range of dynamics spanning the fields of social conflict, psychology, public health, law, network science, and economics.Epstein weaves a computational tapestry with threads from Plato, Hume, Darwin, Pavlov, Smith, Tolstoy, Marx, James, and Dostoevsky, among others. This transformative synthesis of social philosophy, cognitive neuroscience, and agent-based modeling will fascinate scholars and students of every stripe. Epstein's computer programs are provided in the book or on its Princeton University Press website, along with movies of his "computational parables." Agent Zero is a signal departure in what it includes (e.g., a new synthesis of neurally grounded internal modules), what it eschews (e.g., standard behavioral imitation), the phenomena it generates (from genocide to financial panic), and the modeling arsenal it offers the scientific community. For generative social science, Agent Zero presents a groundbreaking vision and the tools to realize it"-- Provided by publisher.
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references and index.
    Contents
    • Part I Mathematical Model 19
    • I.1 The Passions: Fear Conditioning 19
    • Fear Circuitry and the Perils of Fitness 20
    • Nomenclature of Conditioning 29
    • The Rescorla-Wagner Model 33
    • Social Examples 37
    • Fear Extinction 41
    • I.2 Reason: The Cognitive Component 46
    • I.3 The Social Component 51
    • Simple Version of the Core Target 55
    • Examples of Fear Contagion 57
    • Mechanisms of Fear Contagion 59
    • Conformist Empirical Estimates 63
    • Generalizing Rescorla-Wagner 67
    • The Central Case 69
    • Tolstoy: The First Agent Modeler 71
    • A Mathematical Aside on Social Norms as Vector Fields 74
    • Extinction of Majorities 78
    • I.4 Interim Conclusions 80
    • Part II Agent-Based Computational Model 81
    • Affective Component 84
    • "Rational" Component 85
    • Social Component 88
    • Action 89
    • Pseudocode 89
    • II.1 Computational Parables 90
    • Parable 1: The Slaughter of Innocents through Dispositional Contagion 90
    • Parable 2: Agent_Zero Initiates: Leadership as Susceptibility to Dispositional Contagion 94
    • Run 3. Information Cuts Both Ways 96
    • Run 4. A Day in the Life of Agent_Zero: How Affect and Probability Can Change on Different Time Scales 98
    • Run 5. Lesion Studies 102
    • Part III Extensions 107
    • III.1 Endogenous Destructive Radius 107
    • III.2 Age and Impulse Control 109
    • III.3 Fight vs. Flight 110
    • Case 1: Fight 111
    • Case 2: Flight 112
    • Capital Flight 114
    • III.4 Replicating the Latané-Darley Experiment 114
    • Threshold Imputation 115
    • The Dialogue 118
    • III.5 Memory 118
    • III.6 Couplings: Entanglement of Passion and Reason 122
    • Mathematical Treatment 124
    • III.7 Endogenous Dynamics of Connection Strength 128
    • Affective Homophily 128
    • General Setup 130
    • Agent-Based Model: Nonequlibrium Dynamics 135
    • III.8 Growing the 2011 Arab Spring 138
    • III.9 Jury Processes 143
    • Phase 1. Public Phase 143
    • Phase 2. Courtroom Trial Phase 145
    • Phase 3. Jury Phase 147
    • III.10 Emergent Dynamics of Network Structure 152
    • Network Structure Dynamics as a Poincaré Map 153
    • Relation to Literature 159
    • III.11 Multiple Social Levels 160
    • Agent_Zero as Witness to History 161
    • III.12 The 18th Brumaire of Agent_Zero 165
    • III.13 Introduction of Prices and Seasonal Economic Cycles 168
    • Prices 168
    • A Christmas Story 173
    • III.14 Spirals of Mutual Escalation 176
    • Part IV Future Research and Conclusion 181
    • IV.1 Future Research 181
    • IV.2 Conclusion 187
    • Civil Violence 187
    • Economics 188
    • Health Behavior 189
    • Psychology 190
    • Jury Dynamics 191
    • The Formation and Dynamics of Networks 191
    • Mutual Escalation Dynamics 192
    • Birth and Intergenerational Transmission 192
    • IV.3 Toward New Generative Foundations 192.
    Other title(s)
    Toward neurocognitive foundations for generative social science
    ISBN
    • 9780691158884 ((hardback))
    • 0691158886 ((hardback))
    LCCN
    2013018009
    OCLC
    841391620
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