Generative social science : studies in agent-based computational modeling / Joshua M. Epstein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Epstein, Joshua M., 1951-

Series:

Princeton studies in complexity.

Princeton studies in complexity

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social sciences--Computer simulation.

Social sciences.

Social sciences--Mathematical models.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (379 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Agent-based computational modeling is changing the face of social science. In Generative Social Science, Joshua Epstein argues that this powerful, novel technique permits the social sciences to meet a fundamentally new standard of explanation, in which one "grows" the phenomenon of interest in an artificial society of interacting agents: heterogeneous, boundedly rational actors, represented as mathematical or software objects. After elaborating this notion of generative explanation in a pair of overarching foundational chapters, Epstein illustrates it with examples chosen from such far-flung fields as archaeology, civil conflict, the evolution of norms, epidemiology, retirement economics, spatial games, and organizational adaptation. In elegant chapter preludes, he explains how these widely diverse modeling studies support his sweeping case for generative explanation. This book represents a powerful consolidation of Epstein's interdisciplinary research activities in the decade since the publication of his and Robert Axtell's landmark volume, Growing Artificial Societies. Beautifully illustrated, Generative Social Science includes a CD that contains animated movies of core model runs, and programs allowing users to easily change assumptions and explore models, making it an invaluable text for courses in modeling at all levels.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Prelude to Chapter 1. THE GENERATIVIST MANIFESTO

Chapter 1. AGENT-BASED COMPUTATIONAL MODELS AND GENERATIVE SOCIAL SCIENCE / Epstein, Joshua M.

Prelude to Chapter 2. CONFESSION OF A WANDERING BARK

Chapter 2. REMARKS ON THE FOUNDATIONS OF AGENT-BASED GENERATIVE SOCIAL SCIENCE / Epstein, Joshua M.

Prelude to Chapter 3. EQUILIBRIUM, EXPLANATION, AND GAUSS'S TOMBSTONE

Chapter 3. NON-EXPLANATORY EQUILIBRIA: AN EXTREMELY SIMPLE GAME WITH (MOSTLY) UNATTAINABLE FIXED POINTS / Epstein, Joshua M. / Hammond, Ross A.

Appendix to Chapter 3. LARGE EFFECT OF A SUBTLE RULE CHANGE

Prelude to Chapters 4-6. GENERATING CIVILIZATIONS: THE 1050 PROJECT AND THE ARTIFICIAL ANASAZI MODEL

Chapter 4. UNDERSTANDING ANASAZI CULTURE CHANGE THROUGH AGENT-BASED MODELING / Dean, Jeffrey S. / Gumerman, George J. / Epstein, Joshua M. / Axtell, Robert L. / Swedlund, Alan C. / Parker, Miles T. / Mccarroll, Stephen

Chapter 5. POPULATION GROWTH AND COLLAPSE IN A MULTIAGENT MODEL OF THE KAYENTA ANASAZI IN LONG HOUSE VALLEY / Axtell, Robert L. / Epstein, Joshua M. / Dean, Jeffrey S. / Gumerman, George J. / Swedlund, Alan C. / Harburger, Jason / Chakravarty, Shubha / Hammond, Ross / Parker, Jon / Parker, Miles

Chapter 6. THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN THE PREHISTORIC AMERICAN SOUTHWEST / Gumerman, George J. / Swedlund, Alan C. / Dean, Jeffrey S. / Epstein, Joshua M.

Prelude to Chapter 7. GENERATING PATTERNS IN THE TIMING OF RETIREMENT

Chapter 7. COORDINATION IN TRANSIENT SOCIAL NETWORKS: AN AGENT-BASED COMPUTATIONAL MODEL OF THE TIMING OF RETIREMENT / Axtell, Robert L. / Epstein, Joshua M.

Prelude to Chapter 8. GENERATING CLASSES WITHOUT CONQUEST

Chapter 8. THE EMERGENCE OF CLASSES IN A MULTI-AGENT BARGAINING MODEL / Axtell, Robert L. / Epstein, Joshua M. / Young, H. Peyton

Prelude to Chapter 9. GENERATING ZONES OF COOPERATION IN THE PRISONER'S DILEMMA GAME

Chapter 9. ZONES OF COOPERATION IN DEMOGRAPHIC PRISONER'S DILEMMA / Epstein, Joshua M.

Appendix to Chapter 9. GENERATING NORM MAPS IN THE DEMOGRAPHIC COORDINATION GAME

Prelude to Chapter 10. GENERATING THOUGHTLESS CONFORMITY TO NORMS

Chapter 10. LEARNING TO BE THOUGHTLESS: SOCIAL NORMS AND INDIVIDUAL COMPUTATION / Epstein, Joshua M.

Prelude to Chapter 11. GENERATING PATTERNS OF SPONTANEOUS CIVIL VIOLENCE

Chapter 11. MODELING CIVIL VIOLENCE: AN AGENT-BASED COMPUTATIONAL APPROACH / Epstein, Joshua M.

Prelude to Chapter 12. GENERATING EPIDEMIC DYNAMICS

Chapter 12. TOWARD A CONTAINMENT STRATEGY FOR SMALLPOX BIOTERROR: AN INDIVIDUAL-BASED COMPUTATIONAL APPROACH / Epstein, Joshua M. / Cummings, Derek A. T. / Chakravarty, Shubha / Singha, Ramesh M. / Burke, Donald S.

Prelude to Chapter 13. GENERATING OPTIMAL ORGANIZATIONS

Chapter 13. GROWING ADAPTIVE ORGANIZATIONS: AN AGENT-BASED COMPUTATIONAL APPROACH / Epstein, Joshua M.

CODA

INDEX

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

ISBN:

9786613379603

9781283379601

1283379600

9781400842872

1400842875

OCLC:

769343157