APPROVED: Paul Tarau, Major Professor Armin Mikler, Committee Member Rada Mihalcea, Committee Member Robert Brazile, Graduate Coordinator Krishna Kavi, Chair of the Department Computer Science and Engineering Oscar Garcia, Dean of the College of Engineering Sandra L. Terrell, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies AN EMPIRICAL EVALUATION OF COMMUNICATION AND COORDINATION EFFECTIVENESS IN AUTONOMOUS REACTIVE MULTIAGENT SYSTEMS David Hurt, B.S. Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2005