An investigation of niche and species formation in genetic function optimization
Proceedings of the third international conference on Genetic algorithms
When Both Individuals and Populations Search: Adding Simple Learning to the Genetic Algorithm
Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Genetic Algorithms
The Puzzle of the Persistent Question Marks: A Case Study of Genetic Drift
Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Genetic Algorithms
Modeling Building-Block Interdependency
PPSN V Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Parallel Problem Solving from Nature
Landscapes, learning costs, and genetic assimilation
Evolutionary Computation
Symbiotic Composition and Evolvability
ECAL '01 Proceedings of the 6th European Conference on Advances in Artificial Life
Symbiotic Combination as an Alternative to Sexual Recombination in Genetic Algorithms
PPSN VI Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Parallel Problem Solving from Nature
Genetic assimilation and canalisation in the baldwin effect
ECAL'05 Proceedings of the 8th European conference on Advances in Artificial Life
Symbiogenesis as a mechanism for building complex adaptive systems: a review
EvoApplicatons'10 Proceedings of the 2010 international conference on Applications of Evolutionary Computation - Volume Part I
| Hi-index | 0.00 |
Hinton and Nowlan have demonstrated a model of how lifetime plasticity can guide evolution. They show how acquired traits change the shape of the reward landscape in which subsequent genetic variation takes place, and in so doing encourage the discovery of equivalent heritable traits. This enables the seemingly Lamarkian inheritance of acquired characteristics without the direct transfer of information from the phenotype to the genotype. This paper draws direct inspiration from their work to illustrate a different phenomenon. We demonstrate how the formation of symbiotic relationships in an ecosystem can guide the course of subsequent genetic variation. This phenomenon can be described as two phases: First, symbiotic groups find solutions where individual organisms cannot, simply because lifetime interaction produces new combinations of abilities more rapidly than the relatively slow genetic variation of individuals. Second, these symbiotic groups subsequently change the shape of the reward landscape for evolution, providing a gradient that guides genetic variation to the same solution. Ultimately, an individual organism exhibits the capabilities formerly exhibited by the group. This process enables the combination of characteristics from organisms of distinct species without direct transfer of genetic information.