Agents with a theory of mind in virtual training

Virtual training provides an effective means to train complex, dynamic tasks like social interaction, negotiation and crisis management. The virtual characters with whom the trainee interacts are often played by autonomous, intelligent agents. For effective training, it is required that the agents behave in a believable way. In order to display believable social behavior, the agents must be able to take others’ perspectives into account. This can be achieved by equipping them with a theory of mind, that is, the ability to attribute mental states such as beliefs and desires to others. In this chapter the authors describe an executable model for agents with a theory of mind, based on the BDI (belief desire intention) approach. The aim of the model is to develop agents that display believable social behavior and provide explanations about their behavior