Affiliations: Institute for Creative Technologies, University of
Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, USA. E-mail: {kim,hill}@ict.usc.edu | U. S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and
Social Sciences, Orlando, FL, USA. E-mail: paula.durlach@us.army.mil | Institute for Creative Technologies, University of
Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, USA. E-mail: {lane,forbell,core,marsella,pynadath}@ict.usc.edu | U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering
Command Simulation and Training Technology Center, Orlando, FL, USA.
E-mail: John.HartIII@us.army.mil
Abstract: Negotiation skills are essential in everyday life, whether in a
professional or personal context. Negotiation enables two parties to address
misunderstandings and avoid conflicts through an exchange that depends as much
on the interpersonal skills of the negotiators as the tactics employed.
Acquiring these skills requires not only sound conceptual knowledge but also
practice and mentoring. This paper describes the BiLAT game-based simulation
and tutoring system developed to provide students, initially United States Army
soldiers, with an environment to practice preparing for and conducting
bilateral negotiations. We describe the models that were created to implement
BiLAT, with a particular focus on the challenge of designing for and tutoring
in the ill-defined domain of negotiation. An initial assessment of the training
effectiveness of the system indicates significant situation-judgment gains by novices.
