A system dynamics view of stress: Towards human-factor modeling with computer agents

Human-factor models are important for computer systems to i) make such systems more human aware (ie. better estimators of human behavior) and ii) make such systems demonstrate more realistic human behaviors (ie. display more human-like AI). These models expand the research horizons in domains such as multi-agent organizational simulation, as the impact of various human-factors can be investigated. This is particularly important in safety and security as organizational conflicts are largely impacted by human failures. Human-factor calculations, however, are difficult to quantify, validate, and encode because human behavior is both fuzzy and complex. This paper applies system dynamics, a modeling technique for understanding complex systems, to human-factors (stress in particular). It is a way that is computationally useful, and may be validated by experts in human studies. We first model stress as a causal loop diagram to discuss relationships between key components, and then produce a stocks and flows diagram to simulate behavior which, in future work, would be used for “mental models” in computer programs and agent simulations.