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Preface Agent and Multi-agent Systems Agent-based Systems

Agent-based systems serve as a foundation for a new breed of computer modeling and simulation technologies that act as virtual laboratories for scientists in many disciplines such as health sciences, social sciences, and ecosystem. One of the fundamental questions of agent-based systems has traditionally been how should agents make decisions given they inhabit an environment where their actions may have unforeseen or unpredictable effects on others? This question often raises interesting points about the extent to which the individual autonomy of agents should be sacrificed for global needs and desires of society. Volume 3 (2011) of the International Journal of Agent Technologies and Systems presents a contribution to solving this question. By employing realistic models based off of recent advances in decision-making and social interaction, we are able to reproduce realistic behavior based on rational agents.