3 research outputs found
Genetic algorithms with implicit memory
This thesis investigates the workings of genetic algorithms in
dynamic optimisation problems where fitness landscapes materialise
that are identical to, or resemble in some way, landscapes
previously encountered. The objective is to appraise the
performances of the various approaches offered by the GAs.
Approaches specifically tailored for different kinds of dynamic
environment lie outside the remit of the thesis.
The main topics that are explored are: genetic redundancy,
modularity, neutral evolution, explicit memory, and implicit memory.
It is in the matter of implicit memory that the thesis makes the
majority of its novel contributions. It is demonstrated via
experimental analysis that the pre-existing techniques are
deficient, and a new algorithm – the pointer genetic algorithm
(pGA) – is expounded and assessed in an attempt to offer an
improvement. It is shown that though it outperforms its rivals, it
cannot attain the performance levels of an explicit memory algorithm
(that is, an algorithm using an external memory bank).
The main claims of the thesis are that with regard to memory, the
pre-existing implicit-memory algorithms are deficient, the new
pointer GA is superior, and that because all of the implicit
approaches are inferior to explicit approaches, it is explicit
approaches that should be used in real-world problem solving
Initial Modelling of the Alternative Phenotypes Hypothesis
The alternative phenotype hypothesis contends that multiple phenotypes exist in a single genotype and are expressed by environmental or genetic cues. It further states that these multiple phenotypes will be maintained and improved in a population where the environment is unstable, in spite of the increased cost of this plasticity. In this work we propose a simple computational model to investigate the conditions under which alternative phenotypes become beneficial, and persist over evolutionary timescales. We find that the environment must vary to realise this hypothesis, and that these adaptations not only provide a fitness benefit in highly unstable environments but also continue to arise despite increasing stability and a corresponding gradual decline in fitness