33,849 research outputs found
Collective behavior and evolutionary games - An introduction
This is an introduction to the special issue titled "Collective behavior and
evolutionary games" that is in the making at Chaos, Solitons & Fractals. The
term collective behavior covers many different phenomena in nature and society.
From bird flocks and fish swarms to social movements and herding effects, it is
the lack of a central planner that makes the spontaneous emergence of sometimes
beautifully ordered and seemingly meticulously designed behavior all the more
sensational and intriguing. The goal of the special issue is to attract
submissions that identify unifying principles that describe the essential
aspects of collective behavior, and which thus allow for a better
interpretation and foster the understanding of the complexity arising in such
systems. As the title of the special issue suggests, the later may come from
the realm of evolutionary games, but this is certainly not a necessity, neither
for this special issue, and certainly not in general. Interdisciplinary work on
all aspects of collective behavior, regardless of background and motivation,
and including synchronization and human cognition, is very welcome.Comment: 6 two-column pages, 1 figure; accepted for publication in Chaos,
Solitons & Fractals [the special issue is available at
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09600779/56
The Web as an Adaptive Network: Coevolution of Web Behavior and Web Structure
Much is known about the complex network structure of the Web, and about behavioral dynamics on the Web. A number of studies address how behaviors on the Web are affected by different network topologies, whilst others address how the behavior of users on the Web alters network topology. These represent complementary directions of influence, but they are generally not combined within any one study. In network science, the study of the coupled interaction between topology and behavior, or state-topology coevolution, is known as 'adaptive networks', and is a rapidly developing area of research. In this paper, we review the case for considering the Web as an adaptive network and several examples of state-topology coevolution on the Web. We also review some abstract results from recent literature in adaptive networks and discuss their implications for Web Science. We conclude that adaptive networks provide a formal framework for characterizing processes acting 'on' and 'of' the Web, and offers potential for identifying general organizing principles that seem otherwise illusive in Web Scienc
On the dynamics of social conflicts: looking for the Black Swan
This paper deals with the modeling of social competition, possibly resulting
in the onset of extreme conflicts. More precisely, we discuss models describing
the interplay between individual competition for wealth distribution that, when
coupled with political stances coming from support or opposition to a
government, may give rise to strongly self-enhanced effects. The latter may be
thought of as the early stages of massive, unpredictable events known as Black
Swans, although no analysis of any fully-developed Black Swan is provided here.
Our approach makes use of the framework of the kinetic theory for active
particles, where nonlinear interactions among subjects are modeled according to
game-theoretical tools.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figure
Coevolutionary games - a mini review
Prevalence of cooperation within groups of selfish individuals is puzzling in
that it contradicts with the basic premise of natural selection. Favoring
players with higher fitness, the latter is key for understanding the challenges
faced by cooperators when competing with defectors. Evolutionary game theory
provides a competent theoretical framework for addressing the subtleties of
cooperation in such situations, which are known as social dilemmas. Recent
advances point towards the fact that the evolution of strategies alone may be
insufficient to fully exploit the benefits offered by cooperative behavior.
Indeed, while spatial structure and heterogeneity, for example, have been
recognized as potent promoters of cooperation, coevolutionary rules can extend
the potentials of such entities further, and even more importantly, lead to the
understanding of their emergence. The introduction of coevolutionary rules to
evolutionary games implies, that besides the evolution of strategies, another
property may simultaneously be subject to evolution as well. Coevolutionary
rules may affect the interaction network, the reproduction capability of
players, their reputation, mobility or age. Here we review recent works on
evolutionary games incorporating coevolutionary rules, as well as give a
didactic description of potential pitfalls and misconceptions associated with
the subject. In addition, we briefly outline directions for future research
that we feel are promising, thereby particularly focusing on dynamical effects
of coevolutionary rules on the evolution of cooperation, which are still widely
open to research and thus hold promise of exciting new discoveries.Comment: 24 two-column pages, 10 figures; accepted for publication in
BioSystem
The role of the individual in the coming era of process-based therapy
For decades the development of evidence-based therapy has been based on experimental tests of protocols designed to impact psychiatric syndromes. As this paradigm weakens, a more process-based therapy approach is rising in its place, focused on how to best target and change core biopsychosocial processes in specific situations for given goals with given clients. This is an inherently more idiographic question than has normally been at issue in evidence-based therapy over the last few decades. In this article we explore methods of assessment and analysis that can integrate idiographic and nomothetic approaches in a process-based era.Accepted manuscrip
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