Introduction to

Computational Modeling of Social Systems

Prof. Lars-Erik Cederman

ETH - Center for Comparative and International Studies (CIS)
Seilergraben 49, Room G.2, lcederman@ethz.ch
Nils Weidmann, CIS Room E.3, weidmann@icr.gess.ethz.ch
http://www.icr.ethz.ch/teaching/compmodels
 Todays agenda 2

Introduction
Course goals
Course contents
Examples
Course logistics
Prerequisites and grading
Schedule
Hardware requirements
 Course goals 3

Become familiar with the paradigm

Learn programming in Java
Master RePast libraries
Construct a simple computational model
Start to think about how to apply the
method to your own research puzzle
 Course contents 4

Introduction to the principles of agent-

based modeling
Introduction to Java programming
Introduction to RePast modeling

In SS 2005 there will be an advanced course

extending this introductory lecture
 What is agent-based modeling? 5

ABM is a computational methodology that allows

the analyst to create, analyze, and experiment
with, artificial worlds populated by agents that
interact in non-trivial ways
Different from other types of computational
techniques: econometrics, numerical solution,
global modeling, AI modeling
 Disaggregated modeling 6

If
If
<cond>
<cond>
then
then
<action1>
<action1>
else
else Inanimate agents
<action2>
<action2>
Animate agents Observer

Data

Organizations of agents
Artificial world
 Example: Iterated prisoner's
dilemma 7

Generations of agents are pitted against

each other in an interaction topology
Each game involves two agents that make
iterated, simultaneous choices
Strategies evolve over time, from
generation to generation
 Java 8

Conceived by Sun in the early 1990s

Became the new standard for
the web thanks to
platform-independence

t ax
syn
C++ object model
C syntax
 Modeling in RePast 9

Recursive Porous Agent Simulation Toolkit

RePast is an open-source software framework for
creating agent-based simulations using the Java
programming language
Initially developed by the Social Science Research
Computing at the University of Chicago since
January 2000: http://repast.sourceforge.net
Modeled on Swarm but easier to use and better
documented
 RePast framework 10

Controlling simulations

Displaying behavior

Charting Managing
parameters
 Course logistics 11

Prerequisites: No programming experience

needed but obviously helpful
Grading:
Four sets of exercises
Final tournament
Resources:
Course web page
http://www.icr.ethz.ch/teaching/compmodels/
 Readings on Java 12

Eckel, Bruce. 2003. Thinking in Java. Upper

Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. See also:
http://www.mindview.net
Schildt, Herbert. 2001. Java 2: A Beginners
Guide. Osborne McGraw Hill.
See also Suns Java Tutorial:
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/
 General readings on agent-based
modeling 13

Axelrod, Robert. 1997. The Complexity of Cooperation:

Agent-Based Models of Competition and Collaboration.
Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Casti, John L. 1997. Would-Be Worlds: How Simulation Is
Changing the Frontiers of Science. New York: Wiley.
Cederman, Lars-Erik. 1997. Emergent Actors in World
Politics: How States and Nations Develop and Dissolve.
Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Epstein, Joshua M. and Robert Axtell. 1996. Growing
Artificial Societies: Social Science From the Bottom Up.
Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Holland, John H. 1995. Hidden Order: How Adaptation
Builds Complexity. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.
 Course schedule 14

October 19: Introduction

October 26: Examples of agent-based models in the social sciences
November 2: The principles of agent-based modeling
November 9: Java Primer I
November 16: Java Primer II
November 23: Java Primer III
November 30: A hand-crafted agent-based model
December 7: Introduction to the Iterated Prisoners Dilemma
December 14: RePast Introduction and Tutorial I
December 21: RePast Tutorial II
January 11: RePast Tutorial III
January 18: Emergent-structure models
January 25: Emergent-network models
February 1: Emergent-actor models
February 8: TBA
 Gearing up 15

Hardware
Windows computer with Pentium II, 400MHz, 256MB
RAM, 150MB disk space or
Macintosh running OS X or
Linux / Unix
Software (all free!)
Java
RePast
IntelliJ IDEA (or other development environment)
Installation guide (see link to Models on class web
page)!