Generating consensus fuzzy cognitive maps

The Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCM) of B. Kosko (1986) are useful tools for exploring the impacts of inputs to fuzzy dynamical systems. The development of an FCM often occurs within a group context because it is felt that the variety of perspectives on the given dynamical system improves the effort to identify the relevant concepts and the causal relationships between the concepts. The assumption is that combining incomplete, conflicting opinions of different experts may cancel out the effects of oversight, ignorance and prejudice. There is also then need to accommodate the inherent fuzziness of the problem. We present an integrated process for rating of the intensity of causal relationships, generating mean FCMs, assessing group consensus, and supporting the building of group consensus