<div dir="ltr"><div><p><font size="4">Dear all,</font></p>
<p><font size="4">I<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,0)"> would </span>like to share our new publication that may be of interest to the ACT-R and cognitive modeling community:</font></p>
<p><font size="4"><strong><em>Cognitively-plausible reinforcement learning in epidemiological agent-based simulations</em></strong><br>
Konstantinos Mitsopoulos, Lawrence Baker, Christian Lebiere, Peter Pirolli, Mark Orr, Raffaele Vardavas<br></font><a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fepid.2025.1563731/full">🔗</a><font size="4"><em><a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fepid.2025.1563731/full">Frontiers in Epidemiology, 2025</a></em></font><br></p><div style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,0)" class="gmail_default">🔹We present a framework that integrates the ACT-R cognitive architecture with agent-based modeling. This replaces fixed-rule agents with learning agents that adapt 
dynamically, without parametric training (e.g. gradient descent), while 
remaining cognitively interpretable.<br>🔹We show how this is achieved by grounding the architecture in <b>Statistical Learning Theory</b>, enabling it to perform both <b>Supervised Learning</b> (regression, classification) and <b>Reinforcement Learning</b>.</div><div style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,0)" class="gmail_default"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,0)" class="gmail_default">The framework can be extended to support other learning paradigms (e.g. <b>Multi-agent RL</b> to account for <b>group-level decision making</b>) and to integrate components such as <b>LLMs</b> for additional capabilities.</div><div style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,0)" class="gmail_default"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,0)" class="gmail_default">We demonstrate the framework in the context of epidemiological simulations, but the methodology is applicable to social simulations, policy modeling, and beyond.</div><div style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,0)" class="gmail_default"><br></div><font size="4">If you have any questions, feedback, or thoughts, feel free to email me<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,0)"> - I would be happy to discuss</span><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,0)">.</span></font></div><div><font size="4"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br></span></font></div><div><font size="4"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Best regards,</span></font></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font size="4"><br></font></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font size="4">Konstantinos<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,0)"> Mitsopoulos</span></font></span></div></div></div></div></div></div>