Graphically explaining norms

While much work has focused on the creation of norm aware agents, much less has been concerned with aiding a system designers in understanding the effects of norms on a system. However, since norms are generally pre-determined by designers, providing such support can be critical in enabling norm refinement for more effective or efficient system regulation. In this paper, we address just this problem by providing explanations as to why some norm is applicable, violated, or in some other state. We make use of conceptual graph based semantics to provide an easily interpretable graphical representation of the norms within a system.Such a representation allows for visual explanation of the state of norms, showing for example why they may have been activated or violated. Such an explanation enables easy understanding of the system operation without needing to follow the system’s underlying logic.