[agents] CfP KI-Workshop "Agent-Based Simulation - from Cognitive Modelling to Engineering Practice"

[Franziska Klügl]

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Agent-Based Simulation
from Cognitive Modelling to Engineering Practice

Workshop at the 31th German Conference on Artificial Intelligence (KI-2008)
Sept. 23-26, Kaiserslautern, Germany

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Full Paper Submission:                     July, 7th 2008
Notifications of acceptance/rejection:     July, 21th, 2008
Camera Ready Version:                      August, 10th, 2008
Workshop Date:                             September, 23th, 2008

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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

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Invited Talk

we are happy to announce an invited talk given by Prof. Dr. Harald 
Schaub (IABG mbh).
He is one of the pioneers of systematically using simulation -- also 
multi-agent settings --
for psychological  experimentation.

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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.

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Organization

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

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

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