Computer simulation for exploring theories: Models of interpersonal cooperation and competition

Computer simulation for exploring substantive theories is both powerful and convenient, but there are few standards for doing simulations. Some criteria me suggested and their importance illustrated in detail via our adaptation and augmentation of a species competition model to reflect interpersonal cooperation or competition. Outcomes of the simulation and their substantive interpretation can vary due to minor variation in parameters, to convenient functional forms assumed by the program, and to settings of function parameters which seem to have no direct relevance for the substantive interpretation of the model. Under certain circumstances, chaos-like patterns emerge from the simulation.