Developing a Capability to Elicit and Structure Psychosocial Decision Information within Computational Models

摘要

There is a recognized need to develop computational models that can represent and simulate the decision making process of various groups across socio-cultural domains [5]. Yet, developing such models can be greatly hampered by the need to acquire and represent information pertaining to the psychological and social aspects of decision-making within these groups. Currently, there are numerous techniques and tools to help facilitate the elicitation and structuring of knowledge within expert-type systems—particularly those that focus on technical processes such as mechanical troubleshooting [3]. However, few techniques and tools have been developed for models that are intended to represent and assess the decision making of groups within different societies—particularly including cultural elements within these societies. This paper seeks to help address this challenge by discussing an approach to eliciting and structuring cross-cultural psychosocial and behavioral-economic elements within a theory-based assessment model. This work was developed to address the needs of Sandia National Laboratories’ Behavioral Influence Assessment modeling capability, which assesses decision-making within societies. The main component of the knowledge engineering effort is what we call the “knowledge structure.” The knowledge structure acts as scaffolding for the organization of psychosocial processes underlying decision-making, as well as the actual content of that knowledge with respect to a modeled society.