This book presents a new approach that can be applied to complex, integrated individual and social human processes. It provides an alternative means of addressing complexity, better suited for its purpose than and effectively complementing traditional strategies involving isolation and separation assumptions. Network-oriented modeling allows high-level cognitive, affective and social models in the form of (cyclic) graphs to be constructed, which can be automatically transformed into executable simulation models. The modeling format used makes it easy to take into account theories and findings about complex cognitive and social processes, which often involve dynamics based on interrelating cycles. Accordingly, it makes it possible to address complex phenomena such as the integration of emotions within cognitive processes of all kinds, of internal simulations of the mental processes of others, and of social phenomena such as shared understandings and collective actions. A variety of sample models – including those for ownership of actions, fear and dreaming, the integration of emotions in joint decision-making based on empathic understanding, and evolving social networks – illustrate the potential of the approach. Dedicated software is available to support building models in a conceptual or graphical manner, transforming them into an executable format and performing simulation experiments. The majority of the material presented has been used and positively evaluated by undergraduate and graduate students and researchers in the cognitive, social and AI domains. Given its detailed coverage, the book is ideally suited as an introduction for graduate and undergraduate students in many different multidisciplinary fields involving cognitive, affective, social, biological, and neuroscience domains.

This book addresses the challenging topic of modeling adaptive networks, which often manifest inherently complex behavior. Networks by themselves can usually be modeled using a neat, declarative, and conceptually transparent Network-Oriented Modeling approach. In contrast, adaptive networks are networks that change their structure; for example, connections in Mental Networks usually change due to learning, while connections in Social Networks change due to various social dynamics. For adaptive networks, separate procedural specifications are often added for the adaptation process. Accordingly, modelers have to deal with a less transparent, hybrid specification, part of which is often more at a programming level than at a modeling level. This book presents an overall Network-Oriented Modeling approach that makes designing adaptive network models much easier, because the adaptation process, too, is modeled in a neat, declarative, and conceptually transparent Network-Oriented Modeling manner, like the network itself. Thanks to this approach, no procedural, algorithmic, or programming skills are needed to design complex adaptive network models. A dedicated software environment is available to run these adaptive network models from their high-level specifications. Moreover, because adaptive networks are described in a network format as well, the approach can simply be applied iteratively, so that higher-order adaptive networks in which network adaptation itself is adaptive (second-order adaptation), too can be modeled just as easily. For example, this can be applied to model metaplasticity in cognitive neuroscience, or second-order adaptation in biological and social contexts. The book illustrates the usefulness of this approach via numerous examples of complex (higher-order) adaptive network models for a wide variety of biological, mental, and social processes. The book is suitable for multidisciplinary Master’s and Ph.D. students without assuming much prior knowledge, although also some elementary mathematical analysis is involved. Given the detailed information provided, it can be used as an introduction to Network-Oriented Modeling for adaptive networks. The material is ideally suited for teaching undergraduate and graduate students with multidisciplinary backgrounds or interests. Lecturers will find additional material such as slides, assignments, and software.

This book presents the latest findings on network theory and agent-based modeling of economic and financial phenomena. In this context, the economy is depicted as a complex system consisting of heterogeneous agents that interact through evolving networks; the aggregate behavior of the economy arises out of billions of small-scale interactions that take place via countless economic agents. The book focuses on analytical modeling, and on the econometric and statistical analysis of the properties emerging from microscopic interactions. In particular, it highlights the latest empirical and theoretical advances, helping readers understand economic and financial networks, as well as new work on modeling behavior using rich, agent-based frameworks. Innovatively, the book combines observational and theoretical insights in the form of networks and agent-based models, both of which have proved to be extremely valuable in understanding non-linear and evolving complex systems. Given its scope, the book will capture the interest of graduate students and researchers from various disciplines (e.g. economics, computer science, physics, and applied mathematics) whose work involves the domain of complexity theory.

While the significance of networks in various human behavior and activities has a history as long as human's existence, network awareness is a recent scientific phenomenon. The neologism network science is just one or two decades old. Nevertheless, with this limited time, network thinking has substantially reshaped the recent development in economics, and almost all solutions to real-world problems involve the network element. This book integrates agent-based modeling and network science. It is divided into three parts, namely, foundations, primary dynamics on and of social networks, and applications. The authors begin with the network origin of agent-based models, known as cellular automata, and introduce a number of classic models, such as Schelling's segregation model and Axelrod's spatial game. The essence of the foundation part is the network-based agent-based models in which agents follow network-based decision rules. Under the influence of the substantial progress in network science in late 1990s, these models have been extended from using lattices into using small-world networks, scale-free networks, etc. The text also shows that the modern network science mainly driven by game-theorists and sociophysicists has inspired agent-based social scientists to develop alternative formation algorithms, known as agent-based social networks. It reviews a number of pioneering and representative models in this family. Upon the given foundation, the second part reviews three primary forms of network dynamics, such as diffusions, cascades, and influences. These primary dynamics are further extended and enriched by practical networks in goods-and-service markets, labor markets, and international trade. At the end, the book considers two challenging issues using agent-based models of networks: network risks and economic growth.

Politics is intuitively about relationships, but until recently the network perspective has not been a dominant part of the methodological paradigm that political scientists use to study politics. This volume is a foundational statement about networks in the study of politics.

A comprehensive and hands-on introduction to the core concepts, methods, and applications of agent-based modeling, including detailed NetLogo examples. The advent of widespread fast computing has enabled us to work on more complex problems and to build and analyze more complex models. This book provides an introduction to one of the primary methodologies for research in this new field of knowledge. Agent-based modeling (ABM) offers a new way of doing science: by conducting computer-based experiments. ABM is applicable to complex systems embedded in natural, social, and engineered contexts, across domains that range from engineering to ecology. An Introduction to Agent-Based Modeling offers a comprehensive description of the core concepts, methods, and applications of ABM. Its hands-on approach—with hundreds of examples and exercises using NetLogo—enables readers to begin constructing models immediately, regardless of experience or discipline. The book first describes the nature and rationale of agent-based modeling, then presents the methodology for designing and building ABMs, and finally discusses how to utilize ABMs to answer complex questions. Features in each chapter include step-by-step guides to developing models in the main text; text boxes with additional information and concepts; end-of-chapter explorations; and references and lists of relevant reading. There is also an accompanying website with all the models and code.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 11th International IFIP-TC6 Conference on Optical Network Design and Modeling, ONDM 2007, held in Athens, Greece, in May 2007. The 41 revised full papers presented together with 14 invited papers address all recent advances in the design, modeling and implementation of optical networks.