scholarly journals Using Agent-Based Models to Develop Public Policy about Food Behaviours: Future Directions and Recommendations

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe J. Giabbanelli ◽  
Rik Crutzen
Keyword(s):  
Food Environment ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Agent Based Models ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Sociocultural Environment ◽  
Systems Perspective ◽  
Complex Procedure ◽  
Term Objective

Most adults are overweight or obese in many western countries. Several population-level interventions on the physical, economical, political, or sociocultural environment have thus attempted to achieve a healthier weight. These interventions have involved different weight-related behaviours, such as food behaviours. Agent-based models (ABMs) have the potential to help policymakers evaluate food behaviour interventions from a systems perspective. However, fully realizing this potential involves a complex procedure starting with obtaining and analyzing data to populate the model and eventually identifying more efficient cross-sectoral policies. Current procedures for ABMs of food behaviours are mostly rooted in one technique, often ignore the food environment beyond home and work, and underutilize rich datasets. In this paper, we address some of these limitations to better support policymakers through two contributions. First, via a scoping review, we highlight readily available datasets and techniques to deal with these limitations independently. Second, we propose a three steps’ process to tackle all limitations together and discuss its use to develop future models for food behaviours. We acknowledge that this integrated process is a leap forward in ABMs. However, this long-term objective is well-worth addressing as it can generate robust findings to effectively inform the design of food behaviour interventions.

Adding the missing link back into mate choice research

2005 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Mata ◽  
Andreas Wilke ◽  
Peter M. Todd
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Computational Modeling ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Individual Choice ◽  
Agent Based Models ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Attitude Research ◽  
Detailed Specification

Evolutionary psychologists should go beyond research on individual differences in attitudes and focus more on detailed models of psychological mechanisms. We argue for complementing attitude research with agent-based computational modeling of mate choice. Agent-based models require detailed specification of individual choice mechanisms that can be evaluated in terms of both their psychological plausibility and the population-level outcomes they produce.

scholarly journals Modelling COVID-19 epidemic and its social consequences

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 18-27
Author(s):  
Olena Pugachova
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Computer Experiments ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Agent Based Models ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Agent Based Modelling ◽  
Social Patterns ◽  
The Impact

The paper studies different approaches to modelling COVID-19 transmission. It is emphasized that the variety of models proposed for forecasting the dynamics of epidemic and its long-term socio-economic consequences deals with the complexity of the object under investigation. So the multiplicity of models makes it possible to describe different aspects of complex reality. It is also highlighted that agent-based simulation is more suitable for modelling social aspects of the processes (human behaviour, social interactions, collective behaviour, and opinion diffusion) in the situation of deep uncertainty.The computer experiments with the parameters of the model are analysed on the basis of a number of agent-based models in NetLogo, namely epiDEM and ASSOCC. It is demonstrated that the dynamics of COVID-19 has different scenarios, and agent-based modelling is a powerful tool in political decisionmaking, taking into account social complexity that often exhibits unpredictable output of intervention policy. The role of agent-based modelling in social learning is also discussed. It is pointed out that social learning can reduce the impact of unsubstantiated statements and rumors that are not always adequate to the situation. It is also stressed that social learning could influence social behaviour that, in turn, facilitates the development of social patterns that reduces the likelihood of disease spreading. Attention is paid to the idea that involving people into the modelling process is a part of effective anti-epidemic policy because of the sensitivity of the output of political intervention to the behavioural reaction. It has been shown that today the ideas of agent-based modelling are widely used by social scientists worldwide. The aim of this endeavour is not only to overcome the current pandemic and its long-term socioeconomic consequences but also to prepare for new challenges in the future. The paper is also aimed at paying attention to the lack of agent-based models in Ukraine that could help policy-makers in developing practical recommendations and avoiding undesirable scenarios.

Turkish Muslims in a German city: Entrepreneurial and residential self-determination

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Sarah Hackett
Keyword(s):  
Residential Patterns ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Self Employment ◽  
German City ◽  
Post War ◽  
Oral History Interviews ◽  
The City ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Term Objective

Drawing upon a collection of oral history interviews, this paper offers an insight into entrepreneurial and residential patterns and behaviour amongst Turkish Muslims in the German city of Bremen. The academic literature has traditionally argued that Turkish migrants in Germany have been pushed into self-employment, low-quality housing and segregated neighbourhoods as a result of discrimination, and poor employment and housing opportunities. Yet the interviews reveal the extent to which Bremen’s Turkish Muslims’ performances and experiences have overwhelmingly been the consequences of personal choices and ambitions. For many of the city’s Turkish Muslim entrepreneurs, self-employment had been a long-term objective, and they have succeeded in establishing and running their businesses in the manner they choose with regards to location and clientele, for example. Similarly, interviewees stressed the way in which they were able to shape their housing experiences by opting which districts of the city to live in and by purchasing property. On the whole, they perceive their entrepreneurial and residential practices as both consequences and mediums of success, integration and a loyalty to the city of Bremen. The findings are contextualised within the wider debate regarding the long-term legacy of Germany’s post-war guest-worker system and its position as a “country of immigration”.

Cognitive Treatment for OCD

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen L. Whittal ◽  
Melisa Robichaud
Keyword(s):  
Term Treatment ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Cognitive Treatment ◽  
Long Term Treatment ◽  
Inflated Responsibility ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Control Of Thoughts

The cornerstone of cognitive treatment (CT) for OCD is based upon the knowledge that unwanted intrusions are essentially a universal experience. As such, it is not the presence of the intrusion that is problematic but rather the associated meaning or interpretation. Treatment is flexible, depending upon the nature of the appraisals and beliefs, but can include strategies focused on inflated responsibility and overestimation of threat, importance and control of thoughts, and the need for perfectionism and certainty. The role of concealment and the relationship to personal values are important maintaining and etiological factors. The short-term and long-term treatment outcome is reviewed, along with predictors of treatment response and mechanisms of action, and the chapter concludes with future directions regarding CT for OCD.

scholarly journals Responses of Vertebrate Wildlife to Oil and Natural Gas Development: Patterns and Frontiers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Chalfoun
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Natural Gas Development ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Oil And Natural Gas

Abstract Purpose of Review Anthropogenic activities can lead to the loss, fragmentation, and alteration of wildlife habitats. I reviewed the recent literature (2014–2019) focused on the responses of avian, mammalian, and herpetofaunal species to oil and natural gas development, a widespread and still-expanding land use worldwide. My primary goals were to identify any generalities in species’ responses to development and summarize remaining gaps in knowledge. To do so, I evaluated the directionality of a wide variety of responses in relation to taxon, location, development type, development metric, habitat type, and spatiotemporal aspects. Recent Findings Studies (n = 70) were restricted to the USA and Canada, and taxonomically biased towards birds and mammals. Longer studies, but not those incorporating multiple spatial scales, were more likely to detect significant responses. Negative responses of all types were present in relatively low frequencies across all taxa, locations, development types, and development metrics but were context-dependent. The directionality of responses by the same species often varied across studies or development metrics. Summary The state of knowledge about wildlife responses to oil and natural gas development has developed considerably, though many biases and gaps remain. Studies outside of North America and that focus on herpetofauna are lacking. Tests of mechanistic hypotheses for effects, long-term studies, assessment of response thresholds, and experimental designs that isolate the effects of different stimuli associated with development, remain critical. Moreover, tests of the efficacy of habitat mitigation efforts have been rare. Finally, investigations of the demographic effects of development across the full annual cycle were absent for non-game species and are critical for the estimation of population-level effects.

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