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European Workshop on Modelling Autonomous Agents in a Multi-Agent World

MAAMAW 1997: Multi-Agent Rationality pp 79–97Cite as

Causal reasoning in multi-agent systems

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 1237))

Abstract

Causal knowledge involves many interacting concepts that make them difficult to deal with, and for which analytical techniques are inadequate. Usually, a causal map (CM) is employed to cope with this type of knowledge. Causal reasoning is important in multiagent environments because it allows to model interrelationships or causalities among a set of individual and social concepts. This provides a foundation to (1) test a model about the prediction of how agents will respond to (unexpected or not) events; (2) explain how agents have done specific actions; (3) make a decision in a distributed environment; (4) analyze and compare the agents' causal representations. All these aspects are important for coordination, conflict solving and the emergence of cooperation between autonomous agents.

In this paper, we investigate the issue of using cognitive maps (CMs) in multiagent environments. Firstly, we explain through different examples how and why these maps are useful in those environments. Then, we present a formal model which establishes the mathematical basis for the manipulation of (CMs). The formal model is used to derive a cognitive map from a set of assertions, to determine the total effect of any concept variable on any other concept variable.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département d'informatique, Université Laval, G1K 7P4, Ste-Foy, Québec, Canada

    B. Chaib-draa

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  1. B. Chaib-draa
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Magnus Boman Walter Van de Velde

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© 1997 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Chaib-draa, B. (1997). Causal reasoning in multi-agent systems. In: Boman, M., Van de Velde, W. (eds) Multi-Agent Rationality. MAAMAW 1997. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1237. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-63077-5_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-63077-5_27

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-63077-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-69125-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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