Abstract
Agents are a new modelling paradigm which has an important influence for the social sciences. First a definition of the concept Agent is given and the application areas are described. An essential difference arises between the use of this concept in social sciences, engineering sciences and formal theory.
Subsequently, it is worked out in which way the agent technology is a useful methodology for modelling and simulating social systems. The explanatory value and the prognostic capacity are investigated and critically assessed.
The third part proposes an architecture for the internal structure of an agent which is especially suited for modelling social systems. It turns out that that agents in the social sciences should have the descriptive capacity for emotional reactions and for cognitive processes as well.
An detailed example for the application of agents in the social sciences is given. It investigates the role play among children.
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Schmidt, B. (2001). What are Agents and What are They for?. In: Saam, N.J., Schmidt, B. (eds) Cooperative Agents. Theory and Decision Library, vol 32. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1177-7_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1177-7_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5902-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-1177-7
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