Dr Corinna Elsenbroich
Lecturer
Biography
Biography
Corinna joined the Centre for Research in Social Simulation at the Department of Sociology in August 2008 as a Research Fellow. Her academic background is in Philosophy (LSE BSc MSc) and Computer Science (KCL PhD), where her PhD Instinct for Detection developed a logic for abductive reasoning. Corinna has worked as a policy researcher in the private sector before joining Surrey.
Research interests
Currently Corinna is the PI on an AHRC Research Grant on collective reasoning in agent-based modelling, titled Collective Reasoning as a Moral Point of View. Her research interests are the application of computational methods in the social sciences, in particular to areas of normative and deviant behaviour. She has published a book Modelling Norms, co-authored with Nigel Gilbert, providing a systematic analysis of the contribution of agent-based modelling to the study of social norms and deviant behaviour. She is interested in decision mechanisms, in particular collective decision-making and context dependency of decisions. She is currently working on a model of collective decision making for the analysis to the weakening of the Mafia in Southern Italy. Previous models were on dynamic social networks and situational action in juvenile delinquency and on opinion radicalisation.
Given her philosophy of social science background Corinna is also interested in methodological and epistemological aspects of agent-based modelling and social simulation and has published on explanation and of context validity in modelling.
Recently Corinna has been developing a teaching stream for computational modelling in the social sciences with a periodically running short course Agent-based Modelling for the Social Scientist and the MSc Computational Policy Modelling.
Teaching
Corinna will be teaching Study Skills and Interdisciplinary Research this year.
My publications
Publications
Elsenbroich C (2016) The Addio Pizzo movement: exploring social change using agent-based modelling, Trends in Organized Crime Springer
Abstract Extortion racketeering is a crime that blights the lives of everyone in societies where it takes hold. Whilst most European countries have some form of extortion racketeering, in most countries it is isolated to some ethnic communities. In Southern Italy and Sicily, extortion racketeering is still a feature of overall society. This paper attempts to look at the phenomenon from the angle of collectives, of resistance building through civic organisations such as Addiopizzo. For this investigation a computational model is presented to analyse the effect of team-reasoning on levels of resistance in systemic extortion rackets. An agent-based model is presented that implements the interaction of different kinds of decision-making of extortion victims with law enforcement deterrence. The results show that established extortion rackets are hard to undermine unless bottom-up civic engagement and law enforcement go hand in hand.
Elsenbroich C (2012) Thought Experiments in Methodological and Historical Contexts (History of Science and Medicine Library: Medieval and Early Modern Science 15) by Katerina Ierodiakonou and Sophie Roux (eds.)., J. Artificial Societies and Social Simulation 15 1
Xenitidou M, Elsenbroich C (2010) Construct validity and theoretical embeddedness of agent-based models of normative behaviour, International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences 5 (4) pp. 67-79 Common Ground Publishing
In this paper we assess the construct validity and theoretical emdeddedness of agent-based models of normative behaviour drawing on experimental social psychology. We contend that social psychology and agent-based modelling share the focus of 'observing' the processes and outcomes of the interaction of individual agents. The paper focuses on two from a taxonomy of agent-based models of normative behaviour. This enables the identification of the assumptions the models are built on and in turn, reflection on the assumptions themselves from a socio-psychological perspective. © Common Ground, Maria Xenitidou, Corinna Elsenbroich, All Rights Reserved.
Elsenbroich C, Kutz O, Sattler U (2006) A case for abductive reasoning over ontologies, CEUR Workshop Proceedings 216
We argue for the usefulness of abductive reasoning in the context of ontologies. We discuss several applicaton scenarios in which various forms of abduction would be useful, introduce corresponding abductive reasoning tasks, give examples, and begin to develop the formal apparatus needed to employ abductive inference in expressive description logics.
Elsenbroich CJ, Verhagen H (2015) The Simplicity of Complex Agents Contextual Action Framework for Computational Agents, Mind and Society Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Collective dilemmas have attracted widespread interest in several social sciences and the humanities including economics, sociology and philosophy. Since Hardin?s intuitive example of the Tragedy of the Commons, many real-world public goods dilemmas have been analysed with a wide ranging set of possible and actual solutions. The plethora of solutions to these dilemmas suggests that people make different kinds of decision in different situations. Rather than trying to find a unifying kind of reasoning to capture all situations, as the paradigm of rationality has done, this article develops a framework of agent decision-making for social simulation, that takes seriously both different kinds of decision making as well as different interpretations of situations. The Contextual Action Framework for Computational Agents allows for the modelling of complex social phenomena, like dilemma situations, with relatively simple agents by shifting complexity from an agent?s cognition to an agent?s context.
Dykstra P, Elsenbroich C, Jager W, Renardel de Lavalette G, Verbrugge R (2013) Put your money where your mouth is: DIAL, a dialogical model for opinion dynamics, JASSS 16 (3)
We present DIAL, a model of group dynamics and opinion dynamics. It features dialogues, in which agents gamble about reputation points. Intra-group radicalisation of opinions appears to be an emergent phenomenon. We position this model within the theoretical literature on opinion dynamics and social influence. Moreover, we investigate the effect of argumentation on group structure by simulation experiments. We compare runs of the model with varying influence of the outcome of debates on the reputation of the agents. © JASSS.
Gilbert N, Anzola D, Johnson P, Elsenbroich C, Balke T, Dilaver Kalkan O (2015) Self-organizing dynamical systems, In: International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences 21 pp. 529-534 Elsevier
The concept of self-organization in social science is reviewed. In the first two sections, some basic features of self-organizing
dynamical systems in general science are presented and the origin of the concept is reconstructed, paying special attention to
social science accounts of self-organization. Then, theoretical and methodological considerations regarding the current
application of the concept and prospective challenges are examined.
dynamical systems in general science are presented and the origin of the concept is reconstructed, paying special attention to
social science accounts of self-organization. Then, theoretical and methodological considerations regarding the current
application of the concept and prospective challenges are examined.
Elsenbroich C, Badham J (2015) A standing ovation for nigel: An informal study, JASSS 18 (1)
© 2015 JASSS.This article analyses a series of emails thanking Nigel for his stewardship of JASSS and the characteristics of their authors. It identifies a correlation between two measures of author activity in social simulation research, but no pattern between these activity measures and the email timing. Instead, the sequence suggests a classic standing ovation effect.
Dykstra P, Jager W, Elsenbroich C, Verbrugge R, De Lavalette GR (2015) An agent-based dialogical model with fuzzy attitudes, JASSS 18 (3)
© 2015 JASSS.This paper presents an extension to an agent-based model of opinion dynamics built on dialogical logic DIAL. The extended model tackles a pervasive problem in argumentation logics: the difference between linguistic and logical inconsistency. Using fuzzy logic, the linear ordering of opinions, used in DIAL, is replaced by a set of partial orderings leading to a new, nonstandard notion of consistency as convexity of sets of statements. DIAL allows the modelling of the interplay of social structures and individual beliefs, inspired by the interplay between the importance and the evidence of an opinion formulated in the Theory of Reasoned Action, but DIAL was restricted to argumentation about one proposition. FUZZYDIAL allows for a more natural structure of dialogues by allowing argumentation about positions in a multidimensional space.
Elsenbroich C (2011) Trust Theory: A Socio-Cognitive and Computational Model (Wiley Series in Agent Technology), JASSS-THE JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL SOCIETIES AND SOCIAL SIMULATION 14 (2) J A S S S
Neumann M, Elsenbroich CJ (2016) Introduction: the societal dimensions of organized crime, Trends in Organized Crime Springer
The book focusses on questions of individual and collective action, the emergence and dynamics of social norms and the feedback between individual behaviour and social phenomena. It discusses traditional modelling approaches to social norms and shows the usefulness of agent-based modelling for the study of these micro-macro interactions. Existing agent-based models of social norms are discussed and it is shown that so far too much priority has been given to parsimonious models and questions of the emergence of norms, with many aspects of social norms, such as norm-change, not being modelled. Juvenile delinquency, group radicalisation and moral decision making are used as case studies for agent-based models of collective action extending existing models by providing an embedding into social networks, social influence via argumentation and a causal action theory of moral decision making. The major contribution of the book is to highlight the multifaceted nature of the dynamics of social norms, consisting not only of emergence, and the importance of embedding of agent-based models into existing theory.
Elsenbroich C (2012) Thought Experiments in Methodological and Historical Contexts (History of Science and Medicine Library: Medieval and Early Modern Science 15), JASSS-THE JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL SOCIETIES AND SOCIAL SIMULATION 15 (1) J A S S S
Elsenbroich C (2011) Trust Theory: A Socio-Cognitive and Computational Model (Wiley Series in Agent Technology) by Cristiano Castelfranchi and Rino Falcone., J. Artificial Societies and Social Simulation 14 2
Elsenbroich C (2013) Situational analysis of games, Social Coordination: Principles, Artefacts and Theories, SOCIAL.PATH 2013 - AISB Convention 2013 pp. 19-21
Theoretical game theory has been a successful theory in economics and other social sciences. Experimental game theory, on the other hand, seems to open more problems than it solves. Almost every experimental setup results in much higher levels of cooperative behaviour than rationality allows. This paper presents an agent-based model to generate the population level outcomes of some prominent explanations of human behaviour by implementing alternatives to perfect rationality.
Dykstra P, Elsenbroich C, Jager W, De Lavalette GR, Verbrugge R (2009) A dialogical logic-based simulation architecture for social agents and the emergence of extremist behaviour, Conference Proceedings - 6th Conference of the European Social Simulation Association, ESSA 2009
In the ourishing research area of agent-based social simulation, the focus is on the emergence of social phenomena from the interactions of individual autonomous agents. There is, however, a relative underexposure of the cognitive properties of agents, as the existing agent architectures often focus on behaviour alone. Cognition becomes particularly salient when the subject under investigation concerns social phenomena where agents need to reason about other agents' beliefs. We see this as a requirement for any communication with some degree of intelligence. In this paper we use concepts and methods from dynamic epistemic logic to build agents capable of reasoning about other agents' beliefs and their own. In dynamic epistemic logic, agents are assumed to be perfect rational reasoners. We break with this unrealistic assumption in order to bridge the gap between the sociological and the logical approach. Our model is based on a minimal set of assumptions representing cognitive processes relevant to modelling the macro-phenomena of group formation and radicalisation.
Elsenbroich C, Anzola D, Gilbert GN (2016) Social Dimensions of Organised Crime: Modelling the Dynamics of Extortion Rackets, Springer International Publishing AG
This book presents a multi-disciplinary investigation into extortion rackets with a particular focus on the structures of criminal organisations and their collapse, societal processes in which extortion rackets strive and fail and the impacts of bottom-up and top-down ways of fighting extortion racketeering. Through integrating a range of disciplines and methods the book provides an extensive case study of empirically based computational social science. It is based on a wealth of qualitative data regarding multiple extortion rackets, such as the Sicilian Mafia, an international money laundering organisation and a predatory extortion case in Germany. Computational methods are used for data analysis, to help in operationalising data for use in agent-based models and to explore structures and dynamics of extortion racketeering through simulations. In addition to textual data sources, stakeholders and experts are extensively involved, providing narratives for analysis and qualitative validation of models. The book presents a systematic application of computational social science methods to the substantive area of extortion racketeering. The reader will gain a deep understanding of extortion rackets, in particular their entrenchment in society and processes supporting and undermining extortion rackets. Also covered are computational social science methods, in particular computationally assisted text analysis and agent-based modelling, and the integration of empirical, theoretical and computational social science.
Elsenbroich C (2012) Explanation in agent-based modelling: Functions, causality or mechanisms?, JASSS 15 (3)
What kind of knowledge can we obtain from agent-based models? The claim that they help us to study the social world needs unpacking. I will defend agent-based modelling against a recent criticism that undermines its potential as a method to investigate underlying mechanisms and provide explanations of social phenomena. I show that the criticism is unwarranted and the problem can be resolved with an account of explanation that is associated with the social sciences anyway, the mechanism account of explanation developed in Machamer et al. (2000). I finish off discussing the mechanism account with relation to prediction in agent-based modelling. © Copyright JASSS.
Elsenbroich CJ, Badham J (2016) The Extortion Relationship, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation 19 (4) 8 SimSoc Consortium
Systematic extortion involves a long term parasitic relationship between the criminal and the victim. Game theory analysis has provided insight into the choices of individual hypothetical criminal and victim pairs. In this paper we present an agent-based model so as to extend the analysis to the relationship between extorters and other potential victims. The model is developed in two stages, the first to be closest to game theory, the second one making the decision informed by the social environment of the victim. The agent-based model shows the importance of social aspects for the functioning of extortion rackets.
Elsenbroich CJ, Xenitidou M (2012) Three Kinds of Normative Behaviour: Minimal Requirements for Feedback Models, Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory 18 (1) pp. 113-127 Springer Verlag
We present an analysis for modelling social norms. In social psychology three different normative behaviours have been identified: obedience, conformity and compliance. We show that this triad is a useful conceptualisation of normative behaviour and that current models only ever deal with conformity and obedience two, neglecting compliance. We argue that this is a result from modelling having so far focussed too much on agent behaviour rather than agent knowledge and that cognitive models of normative behaviour are needed to capture this third and arguably most interesting normative behaviour.
Wilkinson Helen, Gilbert Nigel, Varga Liz, Elsenbroich Corinna, Leveson-Gower Henry, Dennis Jonathan (2016) Agent-Based Modelling for Evaluation. CECAN Evaluation and Policy Practice Note (EPPN) No. 3 for policy analysts and evaluators., Centre for the Evaluation of Complexity Across the Nexus (CECAN)
This is an Evaluation Policy and Practice Note that explores the application of Agent-Based Modelling (ABM) for complex policy evaluation.