University of Pennsylvania
Network Dynamics of Social Behavior
University of Pennsylvania

Network Dynamics of Social Behavior

Taught in English

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13,099 already enrolled

Course

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals

Damon Centola

Instructor: Damon Centola

4.6

(378 reviews)

Beginner level
No prior experience required
5 hours to complete
3 weeks at 1 hour a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

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Assessments

6 quizzes

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There are 6 modules in this course

This week will introduce students to agent-based modeling and social network theory. We will present one of the earliest and most famous agent-based models, Thomas Schelling’s model of segregation, which shows how segregation can emerge in a population even when people individually prefer diversity. This week will demonstrate this model both conceptually and with NetLogo, and illustrate how agent-based models can be used to demonstrate sufficient conditions for the emergence of social phenomena.

What's included

7 videos1 quiz

This week will introduce students to social network theory and the “small worlds” paradox. We will introduce contagion models of diffusion, and discuss how network structure can impact the speed with which information spreads through a population. This week includes both high level conceptual overviews of social network theory, explaining how networks are used to represent complex social relationships, as well as technical descriptions of two basic types of networks.

What's included

7 videos1 quiz

This week will begin by discussing the limitations of simple disease-like models of social contagion, introducing the idea of “complex contagions” to model people’s frequent need for social reinforcement before spreading a piece of information or behavior. While simple contagions always spread faster as networks get smaller, this week will demonstrate the paradoxical nature of complex contagions, which can spread slower (or not at all!) in the smallest networks.

What's included

6 videos1 quiz

How can behaviors become popular even when most people dislike them? This week will introduce a model based on the classic allegory by Hans Christian Anderson, “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” We will first provide a conceptual overview of the model, discussing the role of private versus public beliefs and the enforcement of social norms. We will then present this model in NetLogo, showing which conditions favor the spread of unpopular behaviors.

What's included

6 videos1 quiz

This week will tackle another puzzle in social conventions: how can populations reach widely shared social conventions in the absence of any central organizing mechanism? We will begin by discussing classic explanations for the emergence of conventions, and why these explanations are insufficient to explain our social world. We will then discuss an agent-based model of conventions that builds on a model of local peer-to-peer coordination, and use NetLogo to show how local interactions can generate global convergence.

What's included

5 videos1 reading1 quiz

How can you best organize a team to produce innovative solutions to complex problems? If people on the team can’t communicate, then they can’t share strategies, and won’t learn from each other’s success. But if they communicate too much, they’ll cluster around just a few ideas, and won’t explore the entire problem space. This week introduces an agent-based model of problem solving and shows how network structure can be used to navigate this classic exploration/exploitation trade-off.

What's included

7 videos1 quiz

Instructor

Instructor ratings
4.7 (84 ratings)
Damon Centola
University of Pennsylvania
1 Course13,099 learners

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4.6

378 reviews

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    20.37%

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    0.79%

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    1.58%

VG
5

Reviewed on Dec 9, 2019

AS
5

Reviewed on Mar 20, 2021

JP
5

Reviewed on Apr 11, 2020

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