Naming Game Research Articles

Aligning naming conventions through dialogue-like interaction in multi-agent systems

Abstract This paper highlights the influence of a dialogue-like interaction pattern on the behaviour of the alignment process in multi-agent Naming Game. In particular, it investigates the difference in performance (iteration- and memory-wise) of the process in baseline one-shot pair-wise interaction pattern against multi-turn pair-wise interaction pattern (similar to dialogue). Presented results indicate that the introduced extension to interaction pattern does affect and shapes the behaviour of the naming-convention alignment process. In particular, iteration-wise multi-turn pattern results in a visible improvement (understood as a significant reduction of needed interactions to reach a coherent state in the population) as compared to baseline one-shot pattern in the original formulation of the Naming Game.

The name game: The importance of resourcefulness, ruses, and recall in stock ticker symbols

A BABY, a GEEK, and a COW all walk into a bar looking for some BEER and VINO. What happens next? They all beat the market. Head, Smith, and Wilson (2009) (the “2009 Study”) found that a portfolio of stocks with clever ticker symbols beat the market by a substantial margin during the years 1984–2005.In recent years, the credibility of scientific research has been damaged by the reproducibility crisis—the failure of attempts to replicate published, peer-review studies. Two important examples are Herndon, Ash, and Pollin (2014) and Shanks et al. (2013).We re-examine the 2009 study’s surprising conclusion by updating the analysis for the subsequent years 2006 through 2018. In addition, we replicate its methodology with a new list of NASDAQ clever-ticker stocks.

Perioperative vestibular assessment and testing

Vestibular disorders can be difficult to accurately diagnose and manage. A careful history and focused physical examination are typically adequate to establish a diagnosis and initiate medical treatment. Vestibular testing is an important component of the work-up, but it is particularly essential for patients being considered for surgical intervention for a vestibular disorder, where the testing can be used to more definitively confirm a suspected diagnosis and to determine baseline vestibular organ function. In this article, we will first briefly review key components of the history and physical examination of patients with vestibular complaints. We will then discuss the most commonly used vestibular tests and their role in the preoperative assessment of patients undergoing vestibular surgery, including nystagmography, caloric testing, rotary chair testing, video head impulse testing, and vestibular evoked myogenic potential testing.

The Darfur Name Game: Use of Realpolitik by the United Nations in Decision-making and Intervention

The Darfur Name Game: Use of Realpolitik by the United Nations in Decision-making and Intervention

The Name Game: Archaeologies of the Land of the Bible, Eretz Yisrael, the Holy Land and Palestine

ABSTRACTIn post-modernist terms, archaeology, like history, is not practiced for itself but for someone or something. That much is clear with the archaeology of the cis-Jordanian region of the Near East where it has served to sustain anthropological-ethnological models driven by biblical and nationalistic-based theories. Words, terms, labels and names have meanings that not infrequently are consequential thus, constructing an archeology-abetted past of spaces named Holy Land, Eretz Yisrael and Land of the Bible belies the discipline’s claim to scientific neutrality. No less, naming the cis-Jordanian territories of the Bronze and Iron Ages a “Palestine” is anachronistic and not uniformly acceptable. As long as Archaeology is tasked with proving the veracity of ancient epigraphy and texts and legitimizing claims of ancestral privilege and ur-ownership of ancient lands, the more glaring its failure and the greater the impediment to settling the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

Sticky Impact – Building Teaching and Learning on Performative Practice

Based on research into the long term impact of participation in drama-based workshops focusing on goal setting, this workshop hoped to investigate how we can make the performative more ‘sticky’. How can performative approaches be combined with other modes of learning, methods of teaching to allow students and teachers new pathways to learning? Taking inspiration from the symposium question – ‘Wherein exactly lies the benefit of applying performative approaches?’ – this workshop asked participants to play with, and reflect on, different approaches to performativity in the classroom/seminar/lecture setting, with the aim of allowing participants to create ‘sticky impact’ – impact from participation that stays with the learner. The workshop was a practice based session with a focus on performative exercises and activities that have been/could be used in a teaching and learning context. The session began with an initial introduction via slides outlining the workshops themes, theoretical contexts, and the practice based nature of the workshop. Following this the workshop section began with participants engaging in a series of performative drama activities that allowed participants to suggest/influence/lead how the activity developed. An initial ‘warm up’ activity of a name game involved participants individually saying their name followed a sound and ...

The Information Systems name game revisited: Still muddled 20 years later

ABSTRACTThe Information Systems (IS) field has long suffered from an identity crisis. Academic programs in the field are represented with a multitude of names. For potential students interested in the field, a decision that could impact their academic path revolves around choosing the correct IS-related major. After all, why would there be different names if there were no differences in what is being taught? This study investigates these potential differences in curricula across the most popular major names in the IS field in AACSB-accredited schools of business in the United States. The findings show that, while the Information Technology-names major has many significant differences from more traditional IS-named majors, the differences between the IS-names majors are minor. Implications are provided along with future actions for the field.

Consensus dynamics in online collaboration systems

BackgroundIn this paper, we study the process of opinion dynamics and consensus building in online collaboration systems, in which users interact with each other following their common interests and their social profiles. Specifically, we are interested in how users similarity and their social status in the community, as well as the interplay of those two factors, influence the process of consensus dynamics.MethodsFor our study, we simulate the diffusion of opinions in collaboration systems using the well-known Naming Game model, which we extend by incorporating an interaction mechanism based on user similarity and user social status. We conduct our experiments on collaborative datasets extracted from the Web.ResultsOur findings reveal that when users are guided by their similarity to other users, the process of consensus building in online collaboration systems is delayed. A suitable increase of influence of user social status on their actions can in turn facilitate this process.ConclusionsIn summary, our results suggest that achieving an optimal consensus building process in collaboration systems requires an appropriate balance between those two factors.

Multi-language naming game

Naming game is a simulation-based experiment used to study the evolution of languages. The conventional naming game focuses on a single language. In this paper, a novel naming game model named multi-language naming game (MLNG) is proposed, where the agents are different-language speakers who cannot communicate with each other without a translator (interpreter) in between. The MLNG model is general, capable of managing k different languages with k≥ 2. For illustration, the paper only discusses the MLNG with two different languages, and studies five representative network topologies, namely random-graph, WS small-world, NW small-world, scale-free, and random-triangle topologies. Simulation and analysis results both show that: 1) using the network features and based on the proportion of translators the probability of establishing a conversation between two or three agents can be theoretically estimated; 2) the relationship between the convergence speed and the proportion of translators has a power-law-like relation; 3) different agents require different memory sizes, thus a local memory allocation rule is recommended for saving memory resources. The new model and new findings should be useful for further studies of naming games and for better understanding of languages evolution from a dynamical network perspective.

The naming game on the complete graph

We consider a model of language development, known as the naming game, in which agents invent, share and then select descriptive words for a single object, in such a way as to promote local consensus. When formulated on a finite and connected graph, a global consensus eventually emerges in which all agents use a common unique word. Previous numerical studies of the model on the complete graph with $n$ agents suggest that when no words initially exist, the time to consensus is of order $n^{1/2}$, assuming each agent speaks at a constant rate. We show rigorously that the time to consensus is at least $n^{1/2-o(1)}$, and that it is at most constant times $\log n$ when only two words remain. In order to do so we develop some useful estimates for semimartingales with bounded jumps.

Influence of periodic external fields in multiagent models with language dynamics.

We investigate large-scale effects induced by external fields, phenomenologically interpreted as mass media, in multiagent models evolving with the microscopic dynamics of the binary naming game. In particular, we show that a single external field, broadcasting information at regular time intervals, can reverse the majority opinion of the population, provided the frequency and the effectiveness of the sent messages lie above well-defined thresholds. We study the phase structure of the model in the mean field approximation and in numerical simulations with several network topologies. We also investigate the influence on the agent dynamics of two competing external fields, periodically broadcasting different messages. In finite regions of the parameter space we observe periodic equilibrium states in which the average opinion densities are reversed with respect to naive expectations. Such equilibria occur in two cases: (i) when the frequencies of the competing messages are different but close to each other; (ii) when the frequencies are equal and the relative time shift of the messages does not exceed half a period. We interpret the observed phenomena as a result of the interplay between the external fields and the internal dynamics of the agents and conclude that, depending on the model parameters, the naming game is consistent with scenarios of first- or second-mover advantage (to borrow an expression from the jargon of business strategy).

The Name Game: How Naming Products Increases Psychological Ownership and Subsequent Consumer Evaluations

Naming products is quite prevalent in American culture; however, we are not aware of any consumer research that explores the effects of this phenomenon. Across three studies, we demonstrate that when consumers name products, their evaluations of those products increase (e.g., attitudes, purchase intentions, and willingness to accept). We find that name fit and creativity as well as subsequent psychological ownership drive this effect. We also demonstrate that the naming effect is quite robust—replicating across multiple products, presentation formats, and populations as well as persisting over time. These results contribute to consumer research by opening up a new substantive line of inquiry into the effects of naming products.

Local communities obstruct global consensus: Naming game on multi-local-world networks

Community structure is essential for social communications, where individuals belonging to the same community are much more actively interacting and communicating with each other than those in different communities within the human society. Naming game, on the other hand, is a social communication model that simulates the process of learning a name of an object within a community of humans, where the individuals can generally reach global consensus asymptotically through iterative pair-wise conversations. The underlying network indicates the relationships among the individuals. In this paper, three typical topologies, namely random-graph, small-world and scale-free networks, are employed, which are embedded with the multi-local-world community structure, to study the naming game. Simulations show that (1) the convergence process to global consensus is getting slower as the community structure becomes more prominent, and eventually might fail; (2) if the inter-community connections are sufficiently dense, neither the number nor the size of the communities affects the convergence process; and (3) for different topologies with the same (or similar) average node-degree, local clustering of individuals obstruct or prohibit global consensus to take place. The results reveal the role of local communities in a global naming game in social network studies.

Domain learning naming game for color categorization.

Naming game simulates the evolution of vocabulary in a population of agents. Through pairwise interactions in the games, agents acquire a set of vocabulary in their memory for object naming. The existing model confines to a one-to-one mapping between a name and an object. Focus is usually put onto name consensus in the population rather than knowledge learning in agents, and hence simple learning model is usually adopted. However, the cognition system of human being is much more complex and knowledge is usually presented in a complicated form. Therefore, in this work, we extend the agent learning model and design a new game to incorporate domain learning, which is essential for more complicated form of knowledge. In particular, we demonstrate the evolution of color categorization and naming in a population of agents. We incorporate the human perceptive model into the agents and introduce two new concepts, namely subjective perception and subliminal stimulation, in domain learning. Simulation results show that, even without any supervision or pre-requisition, a consensus of a color naming system can be reached in a population solely via the interactions. Our work confirms the importance of society interactions in color categorization, which is a long debate topic in human cognition. Moreover, our work also demonstrates the possibility of cognitive system development in autonomous intelligent agents.

The Name Game: Time for Universal Descriptors in the Cosmetic Industry?

The Name Game: Time for Universal Descriptors in the Cosmetic Industry?

Name that tune: Mitigation of driver fatigue via a song naming game

Fatigued driving contributes to a substantial number of motor vehicle accidents each year. Music listening is often employed as a countermeasure during driving in order to mitigate the effects of fatigue. Though music listening has been established as a distractor in the sense that it increases cognitive load during driving, it is possible that increased cognitive load is desirable under particular circumstances. For instance, during situations that typically result in cognitive underload, such as driving in a low-traffic monotonous stretch of highway, it may be beneficial for cognitive load to increase, thereby necessitating allocation of greater cognitive resources to the task of driving and attenuating fatigue. In the current study, we employed a song-naming game as a countermeasure to fatigued driving in a simulated monotonous environment. During the first driving session, we established that driving performance deteriorates in the absence of an intervention following 30min of simulated driving. During the second session, we found that a song-naming game employed at the point of fatigue onset was an effective countermeasure, as reflected by simulated driving performance that met or exceeded fresh driving behavior and was significantly better relative to fatigued performance during the first driving session.

Teaching Classes of Organic Compounds with a Sticky Note on Forehead Game

An in-class game has been developed to teach students the classes of organic compounds that arise from the common functional groups in organic chemistry. The rules are simple and straightforward and are already familiar to students because they are based on a popular party game. All of the students have either the structure or name of an unknown class of compound written on a sticky note that they place on their foreheads. The objective is for each student to figure out what his or her molecule is by asking other students a series of provided questions. The game is a fun alternative to rote memorization or using flash cards. The strategy is effective because it requires students to think about these molecules through discussion, especially their similarities and differences. I call it The Organic Compound Name Game.

Communicating with sentences: A multi-word naming game model

Naming game simulates the process of naming an object by a single word, in which a population of communicating agents can reach global consensus asymptotically through iteratively pair-wise conversations. We propose an extension of the single-word model to a multi-word naming game (MWNG), simulating the case of describing a complex object by a sentence (multiple words). Words are defined in categories, and then organized as sentences by combining them from different categories. We refer to a formatted combination of several words as a pattern. In such an MWNG, through a pair-wise conversation, it requires the hearer to achieve consensus with the speaker with respect to both every single word in the sentence as well as the sentence pattern, so as to guarantee the correct meaning of the saying; otherwise, they fail reaching consensus in the interaction. We validate the model in three typical topologies as the underlying communication network, and employ both conventional and man-designed patterns in performing the MWNG.

Naming game with biased assimilation over adaptive networks

The dynamics of two-word naming game incorporating the influence of biased assimilation over adaptive network is investigated in this paper. Firstly an extended naming game with biased assimilation (NGBA) is proposed. The hearer in NGBA accepts the received information in a biased manner, where he may refuse to accept the conveyed word from the speaker with a predefined probability, if the conveyed word is different from his current memory. Secondly, the adaptive network is formulated by rewiring the links. Theoretical analysis is developed to show that the population in NGBA will eventually reach global consensus on either A or B. Numerical simulation results show that the larger strength of biased assimilation on both words, the slower convergence speed, while larger strength of biased assimilation on only one word can slightly accelerate the convergence; larger population size can make the rate of convergence slower to a large extent when it increases from a relatively small size, while such effect becomes minor when the population size is large; the behavior of adaptively reconnecting the existing links can greatly accelerate the rate of convergence especially on the sparse connected network.

Detection of communities with Naming Game-based methods.

Complex networks are often organized in groups or communities of agents that share the same features and/or functions, and this structural organization is built naturally with the formation of the system. In social networks, we argue that the dynamic of linguistic interactions of agreement among people can be a crucial factor in generating this community structure, given that sharing opinions with another person bounds them together, and disagreeing constantly would probably weaken the relationship. We present here a computational model of opinion exchange that uncovers the community structure of a network. Our aim is not to present a new community detection method proper, but to show how a model of social communication dynamics can reveal the (simple and overlapping) community structure in an emergent way. Our model is based on a standard Naming Game, but takes into consideration three social features: trust, uncertainty and opinion preference, that are built over time as agents communicate among themselves. We show that the separate addition of each social feature in the Naming Game results in gradual improvements with respect to community detection. In addition, the resulting uncertainty and trust values classify nodes and edges according to role and position in the network. Also, our model has shown a degree of accuracy both for non-overlapping and overlapping communities that are comparable with most algorithms specifically designed for topological community detection.