Socially Situated Intelligence and Organizations

In recent years it has been increasingly recognized that many important aspects of intelligence are grounded in close interactions with a physical environment - what is called embodied intelligence. This special issue addresses the importance of aspects of intelligence and intelligent behavior that are grounded in interaction with a social environment.

Much research into intelligence and adaptive behavior has been done from the point of view of single agents. Even work into intelligence and adaptation in social situations has taken an approach where the intelligence or ability to adapt is built into the agent separately from the social situation it is then put into. However, it is clear that there may be a significant difference between an intelligence that has evolved (or at least significantly developed) in a social context, and an intelligence that is not socially grounded in this way.

The special issue aims at identifying the basic differences between these two conceptions of intelligence and wants to further a better understanding of the specific mechanisms which make natural or artificial agents social. In particular, this special issue aims at submissions which study the social embeddedness of intelligence and intelligent behavior and the extent to which socially situated intelligence influences the formation, stabilization and development of organizational structures. In addition to mathematical models we encourage submissions using computer simulations, artificial intelligence and artificial life models and techniques in order to study socially situated intelligence.

Models and computer simulations can target both artificial and natural agents, so that the following fields are relevant: ethology, sociology, social sciences, anthropology, artificial life and related fields. We particularly encourage submissions which compare models and computer simulations with actual human or animal forms of social organizations.

In the adaptive behavior research community the use of autonomous robots which are acting in the real world as models of animals (ants, crickets etc.) has become an accepted tool for scientific investigation which yields insight into animal behavior and provides a means to implement 'life-like' robots. In the same way organizational theory can possibly benefit from the study of robotic models which are interacting in a non-trivial way in a complex environment. Robots as models of social agents are relevant to this special issue only if they clearly address the issue of social embeddedness of intelligence and its implications for organization theory.

Examples of Relevant Topics

• evolution and operation of organizations
• emergence and self-organization versus design of sociality and organizations
• sociality as a prerequisite for the development and evolution of intelligence
• cooperative and competitive models of agents in organizations
• the impact and emergence of roles and norms in the formation of societies and organizations
• modeling other agents in societies and organizations: theory of mind and folk psychology
• modeling individuals and relationships in a social environments: effective heuristics for socially embedded agents
• mechanisms and levels of social coordination, organization and control in organizations
• co-evolution of social intelligence: prerequisites, differences and interdependencies between socially situated and individual intelligence
• the role, impact, and adaptive value of social intelligence in societies of agents
• evolution of organizations: the role of language, communication, social learning and imitation
• the role of memes and genes in the evolution of human organization and culture
• applications which require artificial social intelligence
• the role of teaching and education in the development of socially situated intelligence
• robotic societies as models of organizations
• contributions from artificial life and robotics to organization theory

About CMOT

Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory is an international journal which is published by Kluwer Academic publishers. Editors in Chief: Kathleen M. Carley and William A. Wallace. The journal provides an international forum for research that advances organizational theory and analysis through the use of computational and mathematical techniques. More information about the journal can be found at URL:

http://www.wkap.nl/journalhome.htm/1381-298X

Submission Information

Submissions should be original full papers, that are not published, nor under consideration for publication elsewhere, although revised versions of conference papers will be considered. Submitted papers should arrive no later than November 2, 1998.

Authors intending to submit a manuscript are advised to contact the guest editors as soon as possible to discuss paper ideas and suitability for this issue. Email B.Edmonds@mmu.ac.uk or K.Dautenhahn@cyber.reading.ac.uk.

The procedure for submission is the normal one for CMOT, but be sure to specify that your paper is intended for this special issue in a covering letter.

Submit a cover letter, five copies of your manuscript, and an abstract. CMOT will acknowledge receipt of your manuscript. Manuscripts are not returned after review. The cover letter should contain the following information (failure to provide this information may delay the review of your manuscript):

1. A request that the paper be submitted for this special issue (as opposed to being a general submission to CMOT).
2. Names and addresses, email, fax, and phone of up to four possible reviewers (or identify individuals that CMOT should not use).
3. The statement I (we) affirm that my (our) manuscript conforms to the submission policy of Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory (see submission policy).
4. In 50 words or less, justify how and why paper is appropriate for publication in this special issue of CMOT.
5. The name, address, email, phone, and fax number for author to whom correspondence should be sent.

Send manuscripts to:

Kelly Riddle,
Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory,
Journal Editorial Office,
Kluwer Academic Publishers,
101 Philip Drive Norwell,
Massachusetts 02061, USA.

Phone: (+1) 617-871-6300 Fax: (+1) 617-878-0449
E-mail krluwer@world.std.com

Full information about the submission and formatting of papers can be found at URL:

http://www.hss.cmu.edu/HTML/departments/sds/faculty/cmot_web.html

Important Dates

• Submission Deadline - 2 November 1998
• Notification of Acceptance - 12 January 1999
• Deadline for final versions - 5 February 1999
• Actual Issue - June/July/August 1999

Guest Editors of the Special Issue