Modeling of Agent Behavior Using Behavioral Specifications

The behavioral dynamics of a cognitive agent can be considered both from an external and an internal perspective. From the external perspective, behavior is described by specifying (temporal) correlations between input and output states of the agent. From the internal perspective the agent’s dynamics can be characterized by direct (causal) temporal relations between internal, mental states of the agent. The latter type of specifications can be represented in executable format, which allows performing simulations of the agent’s behavior under different (environmental) circumstances. For enabling simulations when only given an external behavioral specification, this has to be transformed first into executable format, and subsequently into a transition system description. An automated procedure for such a transformation is proposed in this paper. The application of the transformation procedure is demonstrated by two simulation examples addressing delayed response behavior and adaptive behavior

Formal Analysis of Cognitive Agent Behavior: formal theoretical basis

In cognitive systems the behavior of an actor (an agent) can be considered from both an external and an internal perspective. This paper contributes an automated procedure for translating a given external behavioral specification into an executable specification of internal dynamics, by which the external behavioral properties are entailed. Having an executable internal dynamics specification allows automated analysis of an agent's behavior, based on model checking techniques. By a paradigmatic example it is shown how the developed approach can be applied

Formal Modelling of Goals in Organizations

Each organization exists or is created for the achievement of one or more goals. To ensure continued success, the organization should monitor its performance with respect to the formulated goals. In practice the performance of an organization is often evaluated by estimating its performance indicators. In most existing approaches on organization modelling the relation between performance indicators and goals remains implicit. This paper proposes a formal framework for modelling goals based on performance indicators and defines mechanisms for establishing goal satisfaction, which enable evaluation of organizational performance. Methodological and analysis issues related to goals are discussed in the paper. The described framework is a part of a general framework for organization modelling and analysis

Automated Analysis of Compositional Multi-Agent Systems

Abstract. An approach for handling the complex dynamics of a multi-agent system is based on distinguishing aggregation levels. The behaviour at a given aggregation level is specified by a set of dynamic properties at that level, expressed in some (temporal) language. Such behavioural specifications may be complex and difficult to analyse. To enable automated analysis of system specifications, a simpler format is required. To this end, a specification at a lower aggregation level can be created, describing basic steps in the processes of a system. This paper presents a method and tool to support the automated creation of such a specification, as a refinement of a given higher level specification. The generated specification has a simple format which can easily be used for analysis. This paper describes an approach for automated verification of logical consequences of specifications using model checking techniques

Process-Oriented Organization Modeling and Analysis Based on Constraints

This paper presents a formal framework for process-oriented modeling and analysis of organizations. The high expressivity of a sorted predicate logic language Lpr used for specification allows representing a wide range of process-related concepts (e.g., tasks, processes, resources), their characteristics and relations over them, which are described in the paper. Furthermore, every organization is characterized by a set of structural and behavioral constraints, which are classified in this paper. In the proposed framework these constraints form a logical theory Tpr in Lpr, i.e. a set of formulae in Lpr. A process-oriented model is correct iff it satisfies Tpr. The techniques for establishing correctness are implemented and described in the paper. The introduced framework is a part of a general framework for organization modeling and analysis

Constraint-based Modelling of Organisations

Modern organisations are characterised by a great variety of forms and often involve many actors with diverse goals, performing a wide range of tasks in changing environmental conditions. Due to high complexity, mistakes and inconsistencies are not rare in organisations. To provide better insights into the organisational operation and to identify different types of organisational problems explicit specification of relations and rules, on which the structure and behaviour of an organisation are based, is required. Before it is used, the specification of an organisation should be checked for internal consistency and validity w.r.t. the domain. To this end, the paper introduces a framework for formal specification of constraints that ensure the correctness of organisational specifications. To verify the satisfaction of constraints, efficient and scalable algorithms have been developed and implemented. The application of the proposed approach is illustrated by a case study from the air traffic domain

Operators for Formal Modelling of Organizations

Organizational design is an important topic in the literature on organizations. Usually the design principles are addressed informally in this literature. This paper makes a first attempt to formally introduce design operators to formalize the design steps in the process of designing organizations. These operators help an organization designer create an organization design from scratch as well as offer the possibility to revise existing designs of organizations. The operators offer both top-down refinements and bottom-up grouping options. Importantly, the operators can be combined into complex operators that can serve as patterns for larger steps in an organization design process. The usability of the design operators is demonstrated in a running example. The contribution of this paper provides a solid basis for the development of a software environment supporting interactive organization design processes. This is demonstrated by an implemented prototype example tool

Verifying Interlevel Relations within Organizational Models

In this paper the formal theoretical basis used for transformation of a non-executable external behavioral specification for an organizational model into an executable format, required for enabling verification techniques, is explained in detail