Multiagent-based modelling and simulation of consensus formations in arguments Online publication date: Thu, 05-Jul-2007
by Kousuke Ono, Masateru Harao
International Journal of Agent-Oriented Software Engineering (IJAOSE), Vol. 1, No. 2, 2007
Abstract: We propose a two-layered multiagent model of a consensus formation in arguments consisting of a micro level and a macro level. The micro level simulates the opinion dynamics induced by mutual interactions among individual agents. We design this micro-level agent system using a cellular automaton by defining its local function based on the social impact theory. On the other hand, the macro level consists of mediator agents and makes a decision by integrating the opinions extracted from the micro-level simulation. We examined the characteristics of consensus formation processes by applying this model on the following three typical cases such that (1) it uses the distribution of opinions of all agents of the micro level, (2) it uses the distribution of opinions of selected agents of the micro level (Questionnaire), and (3) it uses opinions of selected mediators (votes). The results indicate that (3) is the best one, and (1) is better than (2).
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