Experimental dramas: Prototyping a multiuser negotiation simulation

This article describes the use, in prototype form, of a distributed system for simulating negotiation. Participants are provided with a common initial model of a situation, in this case an industrial relations dispute. They then communicate with each other via e-mail before each side commits itself to a particular choice of strategy. The system is considered both as a means of investigating conflict behavior in general (including possible use as a training device) and as a means of testing specific hypotheses about emotion and preference change.