Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

On the Formal Semantics of Theory of Mind in Agent Communication

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Agreement Technologies (AT 2018)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 11327))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that applying Theory of Mind to agent technologies enables agents to model and reason about other agents’ minds, making them more efficient than agents that do not have this ability or agents that have a more limited ability of modelling others’ minds. Apart from the interesting results of combining Theory of Mind and agent technologies, an important premise has not been yet fully investigated in the AI literature: how do agents acquire and update their models of others’ minds? In the context of multi-agent systems, one of the most natural ways in which agents can acquire models of other agents’ mental attitudes is through communication. In this work, we propose an operational semantics for agents to update Theory of Mind through communication. We not only make our formalisation broadly applicable by defining a formal semantics based on components from the BDI architecture, but we also implement our approach in an agent-oriented programming language that is based on that architecture.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    For example, [22, 23] propose new performatives for argumentation-based communication between Jason agents.

References

  1. Black, E., Atkinson, K.: Choosing persuasive arguments for action. In: The 10th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, pp. 905–912 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  2. El Fallah Seghrouchni, A., Dix, J., Dastani, M., Bordini, R.H. (eds.): Multi-Agent Programming: Languages, Tools and Applications, 1st edn. Springer, Boston (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-89299-3

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  3. Bordini, R.H., Hübner, J.F., Wooldridge, M.: Programming Multi-Agent Systems in AgentSpeak Using Jason. Wiley Series in Agent Technology. Wiley, Chichester (2007)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  4. Carr, A., Slade, L., Yuill, N., Sullivan, S., Ruffman, T.: Minding the children: a longitudinal study of mental state talk, theory of mind, and behavioural adjustment from the age of 3 to 10. Soc. Dev. 27(4), 826–840 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Cohen, P.R., Perrault, C.R.: Elements of a plan-based theory of speech acts. In: Readings in Distributed Artificial Intelligence, pp. 169–186. Elsevier (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  6. de Weerd, H., Verheij, B.: The advantage of higher-order theory of mind in the game of limited bidding. In: Proceedings of the Workshop Reasoning About Other Minds, CEUR Workshop Proceedings. vol. 751, pp. 149–164 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  7. de Weerd, H., Verbrugge, R., Verheij, B.: Higher-order social cognition in rock-paper-scissors: a simulation study. In: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, pp. 1195–1196 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Finin, T., Fritzson, R., McKay, D., McEntire, R.: KQML as an agent communication language. In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Information and knowledge management, pp. 456–463. ACM (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  9. TCC FIPA: FIPA communicative act library specification. Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (2008). http://www.fipa.org/specs/fipa00037/SC00037J.html. 15 Feb 2018

  10. Goldman, A.I.: Theory of mind. In: The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Cognitive Science, vol. 1. Oxford Handbooks Online, 2012 edn. (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Hadidi, N., Dimopoulos, Y., Moraitis, P., et al.: Tactics and concessions for argumentation-based negotiation. In: COMMA, pp. 285–296 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Hadjinikolis, C., Siantos, Y., Modgil, S., Black, E., McBurney, P.: Opponent modelling in persuasion dialogues. In: International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence IJCAI, pp. 164–170 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Kumar, S., Cohen, P.R.: Staple: an agent programming language based on the joint intention theory. In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, pp. 1390–1391 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Kumar, S., Cohen, P.R., Huber, M.J.: Direct execution of team specifications in STAPLE. In: Proceedings of the 1st International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, pp. 567–568. ACM (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Kumar, S., Cohen, P.R., Levesque, H.J.: The adaptive agent architecture: achieving fault-tolerance using persistent broker teams. In: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on MultiAgent Systems, pp. 159–166 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Labrou, Y., Finin, T.: A semantics approach for KQML - a general purpose communication language for software agents. In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management, pp. 447–455. ACM (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Mayfield, J., Labrou, Y., Finin, T.: Evaluation of KQML as an agent communication language. In: Wooldridge, M., Müller, J.P., Tambe, M. (eds.) ATAL 1995. LNCS, vol. 1037, pp. 347–360. Springer, Heidelberg (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/3540608052_77

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  18. McBurney, P., Parsons, S.: Dialogue games for agent argumentation. In: Simari, G., Rahwan, I. (eds.) Argumentation in Artificial Intelligence, pp. 261–280. Springer, Boston (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-98197-0_13

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  19. Melo, V.S., Panisson, A.R., Bordini, R.H.: Argumentation-based reasoning using preferences over sources of information. In: Fifteenth International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS) (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Oren, N., Norman, T.J.: Arguing using opponent models. In: McBurney, P., Rahwan, I., Parsons, S., Maudet, N. (eds.) ArgMAS 2009. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 6057, pp. 160–174. Springer, Heidelberg (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12805-9_10

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  21. Panisson, A.R., Melo, V.S., Bordini, R.H.: Using preferences over sources of information in argumentation-based reasoning. In: 5th Brazilian Conference on Intelligent Systems, pp. 31–36 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Panisson, A.R., Meneguzzi, F., Fagundes, M., Vieira, R., Bordini, R.H.: Formal semantics of speech acts for argumentative dialogues. In: 13th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, pp. 1437–1438 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Panisson, A.R., Meneguzzi, F., Vieira, R., Bordini, R.H.: Towards practical argumentation in multi-agent systems. In: Brazilian Conference on Intelligent Systems, pp. 98–103 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Panisson, A.R., Sarkadi, S., McBurney, P., Parsons, S., Bordini, R.H.: Lies, bullshit, and deception in agent-oriented programming languages. In: Proceedings of the 20th International Trust Workshop, pp. 50–61 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Parsons, S., Sklar, E., McBurney, P.: Using argumentation to reason with and about trust. In: McBurney, P., Parsons, S., Rahwan, I. (eds.) ArgMAS 2011. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 7543, pp. 194–212. Springer, Heidelberg (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33152-7_12

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  26. Parsons, S., Tang, Y., Sklar, E., McBurney, P., Cai, K.: Argumentation-based reasoning in agents with varying degrees of trust. In: The 10th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, pp. 879–886 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Plotkin, G.D.: A structural approach to operational semantics (1981)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Rao, A.S.: AgentSpeak(L): BDI agents speak out in a logical computable language. In: Van de Velde, W., Perram, J.W. (eds.) MAAMAW 1996. LNCS, vol. 1038, pp. 42–55. Springer, Heidelberg (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0031845

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  29. Rienstra, T., Thimm, M., Oren, N.: Opponent models with uncertainty for strategic argumentation. In: International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence IJCAI, pp. 332–338 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Searle, J.R.: Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1969)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  31. Sarkadi, S., Panisson, A.R., McBurney, P., Parsons, S., Bordini, R.H.: Towards an approach for modelling uncertain theory of mind in multi-agent systems. In: 6th International Conference on Agreement Technologies (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Thimm, M.: Strategic argumentation in multi-agent systems. KI-Künstliche Intelligenz 28(3), 159–168 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Vieira, R., Moreira, A., Wooldridge, M., Bordini, R.H.: On the formal semantics of speech-act based communication in an agent-oriented programming language. J. Artif. Int. Res. 29(1), 221–267 (2007)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  34. Wooldridge, M.: An Introduction to Multiagent Systems. Wiley, New York (2009)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the partial support from CAPES and CNPq.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Technology, PUCRS, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Alison R. Panisson & Rafael H. Bordini

  2. Department of Informatics, King’s College London, London, UK

    Ștefan Sarkadi, Peter McBurney & Simon Parsons

Authors
  1. Alison R. Panisson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ștefan Sarkadi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Peter McBurney
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Simon Parsons
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Rafael H. Bordini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alison R. Panisson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. IMT Lille Douai, Douai, France

    Marin Lujak

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Panisson, A.R., Sarkadi, Ș., McBurney, P., Parsons, S., Bordini, R.H. (2019). On the Formal Semantics of Theory of Mind in Agent Communication. In: Lujak, M. (eds) Agreement Technologies. AT 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11327. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17294-7_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17294-7_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-17293-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-17294-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation