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Microcomputer Simulations and Simulation Writing Tools

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

Carl Grafton  and
Anne Permaloff
Carl Grafton
Affiliation:
Auburn University at Montgomery
Anne Permaloff
Affiliation:
Auburn University at Montgomery
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Extract

A simulation is a working model of a system. Simulations are useful when interaction with real systems is not possible (e.g., giving students a chance to be president) or when mathematical models cannot be solved but only approximated.

One of the many ways that simulations may be described or categorized is in terms of how they may be utilized (such as teaching or research). Another important distinction, completely independent of the first, is whether a simulation is interactive or noninteractive. An interactive simulation involves a set of transactions or turns between or among participants and a computer. The operation of a noninteractive simulation generally involves the setting of values for variables after which the simulation is begun and operates on its own with no user intervention. Simulations may also be distinguished by whether they are based on theory and include little data (e.g., prisoner's dilemma) or whether they are based primarily on empirical data supported more or less rigorously by a theory. They may also be characterized in terms of technical concerns such as whether they model continuous or discrete change.

Type
Research Article
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , June 1989 , pp. 247 - 257
Copyright
Copyright © The American Political Science Association 1989

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References

Notes

1. Neelamkavil, Francis, Computer Simulation and Modeling (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1987), pp. 6, 12–13 Google Scholar.

2. The program's print options do not work, requiring use of the print screen keyboard option. As a result, the printed charts are of poorer quality than the attractive screen graphics.

3. Huckfeldt, R. Robert, Kohfeld, C. W., and Likens, Thomas W., Dynamic Modeling: An Introduction (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1982)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Stokey, Edith and Zeckhauser, Richard, A Primer for Policy Analysis (New York: Norton, 1978), pp. 47–73 Google Scholar.

4. Stokey and Zeckhauser, p. 52.

5. Roberts, Nancy, et al. , Introduction to Computer Simulation: A System Dynamics Modeling Approach (Reading: Addison-Wesley, 1982)Google Scholar; Richardson, George P. and Pugh, Alexander L. III, Introduction to Systems Dynamics Modeling with DYNAMO (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1981)Google Scholar.

6. Grafton, Carl and Permaloff, Anne, “Six BASICS,” PS: Political Science and Politics, XX, No. I (Winter 1987), pp. 130–137 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7. Grafton, Carl and Permaloff, Anne, “Microcomputer Expert Systems,” Social Science Microcomputer Review, Vol. 5, No. 4 (Winter 1987), pp. 546–557 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. In this article we describe public domain versions of Prolog and LISP. They are: A.D.A. Prolog, Automata Design Associates, 1570 Aaran Way, Dresher, PA 19025, (215) 646-4894 ($10 when ordered from the manufacturer); and XLISP, David Betz, 114 Davenport Ave., Manchester, NH 03103, (603) 625-4691. Both programs are bargains, although the user will need to obtain reference works before they can be effectively used.

8. To test the use of Prolog in simulation, we translated a LISP program by Ruth Lane into Turbo Prolog. Her program makes postdictions of jimmy Carter's actions based on a cognitive map of his political values. Political events are entered into the program, and it predicts how Carter would respond. The translation process was performed easily. See Lane, Ruth, “Artificial Intelligence and the Political Construction of Reality: The Case of James E. Carter.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, September 1986 Google Scholar.

9. Nath, Sanjiva, Turbo Prolog: Features for Programmers (Portland: Management Information Source, Inc., 1986)Google Scholar; Shafer, Dan, Turbo Prolog Primer (Indianapolis: Howard W. Sams & Co., 1986)Google Scholar.

10. Shammas, Namir Clement, “Smalltalk a' la C,” Byte (October 1988), pp. 201–204 Google Scholar. This review examines C—talk, a version of Smalltalk that is used within the environment of Microsoft C, Turbo C, Lattice C, or C86.