Constructing Learning Environments for Complex Social Skills

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Abstract
This article addresses issues faced in the construction of computer programs that teach complex social skills. We describe a software architecture called Guided Social Simulation (GuSS). GuSS combines a simulation in which students can practice social skills with guidance that enhances the simulated experience. One of the applications of GuSS, called YELLO, teaches how to sell Yellow Pages advertising. YELLO is described in detail. The social simulation and guidance components of GuSS each present a set of technical and theoretical challenges. We discuss both sets. In discussing the techniques we use for constructing a social simulation, we emphasize the mechanisms that implement social agents as simple social planners. We then focus on one particular guidance component of GuSS—the storyteller. The storyteller is a teaching module that contains the real-life stories of experienced practitioners captured on videodisk. The storyteller monitors the student's actions in the simulation and interjects stories that are relevant to the student's experience.
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