DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/XV75-B917
Defense Date
2006
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Computer Science
First Advisor
Dr. David Primeaux
Abstract
In this research, a multi-agent system called KMAS is presented that models an environment of intelligent, autonomous, rational, and adaptive agents that reason about trust, and adapt trust based on experience. Agents reason and adapt using a modification of the k-Nearest Neighbor algorithm called (k X n) Nearest Neighbor where k neighbors recommend reputation values for trust during each of n interactions. Reputation allows a single agent to receive recommendations about the trustworthiness of others. One goal is to present a recommendation model of trust that outperforms MAS architectures relying solely on direct agent interaction. A second goal is to converge KMAS to an emergent system state where only successful cooperation is allowed. Three experiments are chosen to compare KMAS against a non-(k X n) MAS, and between different variations of KMAS execution. Research results show KMAS converges to the desired state, and in the context of this research, KMAS outperforms a direct interaction-based system.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
June 2008