Agent-based models of social behaviour and communication in evacuations: A systematic review

• Published in: Safety science 2024-08, Vol.176, p.106520, Article 106520
• Main Authors: Templeton, Anne, Xie, Hui, Gwynne, Steve, Hunt, Aoife, Thompson, Pete, Köster, Gerta
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agent-based models; Emergency communication; Evacuation; Group processes
• ISSN: 0925-7535
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ssci.2024.106520

•We created four categories of information communication between agents in state-of-the-art agent-based evacuation models.•We established eight ways that social interactions are implemented in agent-based evacuation models.•We identified the variables commonly used in agent-based evacuation models and demonstrate their use over recent years.•We discuss how agent-based evacuation models can simulate communication and social behaviour in evacuations based on empirical evidence. Most modern agent-based evacuation models involve interactions between evacuees. However, the assumed reasons for interactions and portrayal of them may be overly simple. Research from social psychology suggests that people interact and communicate with one another when evacuating and evacuee response is impacted by the way information is communicated. Thus, we conducted a systematic review of agent-based evacuation models to identify 1) how social interactions and communication approaches between agents are simulated, and 2) what key variables related to evacuation are addressed in these models. We searched Web of Science and ScienceDirect to identify articles that simulated social behaviour and information exchange between agents during evacuations. From the final 70 included articles, we categorised eight types of social interaction that increased in social complexity from collision avoidance to social influence based on strength of social connections with other agents. In the 17 models which simulated communication, we categorised four ways that agents communicate information: spatially through information trails or radii around agents, via social networks and via external communication. Finally, the variables either manipulated or measured in the models were categorised into the following groups: environmental condition, personal attributes of the agents, procedure, and source of information. We discuss promising directions for agent-based evacuation models to capture the effects of communication and group dynamics on evacuee behaviour. Moreover, we demonstrate how communication and group dynamics may impact the variables commonly used in agent-based evacuation models.