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Jeffrey C. Schank Assistant Professor Department of Psychology University of California - Davis |
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Jeffrey C. Schank Assistant Professor Department of Psychology University of California - Davis |
Can Individual-Based Modeling Contribute to a Better Understanding of Animal Behavior?
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| Guest Lecture for Fall 2001 Graduate Seminar: Social Learning, Social Intelligence, and Social Brains |
ABSTRACT:My answer to this question is "yes" and that individual-based modeling (IBM) can contribute in many ways. I begin by introducing a 9-dimensional framework for discussing modeling of bio-behavioral systems. These dimensions are realism, detail, generality, match, precision, tractability, integration, level, and medium. They allow us to discuss and compare different types of modeling in science. In particular, we see that experiments are also models that can be discussed along these dimensions. Experimentation is our most powerful strategy for understanding the world, but difficulties are encountered when we apply purely experimental approaches to complex bio-behavioral systems. IBM is a modeling strategy that is similar in its dimensional locations to experimentation, but also has some advantages over experimentation alone. To illustrate this point, I discuss a new strategy for using IBM in concert with experimentation. This strategy uses individual-based models (IBMs) as surrogates for experiments that are difficult or impractical to perform, yielding theoretical predictions that may be testable. A fundamental problem with this strategy concerns how to match IBMs to bio-behavioral systems. I discuss how this can be done by evolving models (using simulated annealing or genetic algorithms) that behave like the bio-behavioral systems modeled. RELATED READING 
Schank, J.C. 2001. Beyond reductionism: refocusing on the individual with individual-based modeling. Complexity 6(3):33-40.Schank, J.C. & J.R. Alberts. 2000. The developmental emergence of coupled activity as cooperative aggregation in rat pups. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 267:2307-2315 (Abstract). ONLINE RESOURCES: Dr. Schank's departmental page Five Myths of Developmental Psychobiology 1997 Modeling Behavioral Systems Workshop PubMed search for JC Schank publications |
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| OTHER FALL 2001 SPEAKERS : Erich Jarvis . Louis Lefebvre . Jim Ha . Dorothy Fragaszy |
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