A Human Experiment Using a Hybrid Agent-Based Model

Agent-based modeling (ABM) provides a means to investigate the emergent phenomenon generated from interacting autonomous agents. However, there are some concerns with this modeling approach. One concern is how to integrate strategic group formation, into ABM, without imposing macro-level aggregation rules. Another concern is whether the computerized agents’ behavior is reflective of actual human behavior. Collins and Frydenlund developed a hybrid modeling approach to address the first concern in 2018. The focus of our paper is on the second concern, in the context of the hybrid model. An experiment was conducted to help determine whether a person’s experiences affect their behavior and whether their behavior is similar to those generated by the hybrid model. The experimental results confirmed these two assertions. Our experiment used a standard cooperative game-theoretic game, called the glove game, as its base scenario.