Posted by Kevin Hobbs on July 27, 2003 at 07:08:25:
In Reply to: mutations are too big posted by hatch on July 26, 2003 at 22:15:54:
The mutations are big now, that is part of the process. In the beginning of a GA run the individuals are far from where they need to be and so the mutations that do the most good are big ones. Later on when relativly good individuals are competing the most benificail mutations are small ones. Some systems hare a means to enforce this.
The number of children per generation is a very important factor in a GA, relative to the harshness of selection it determines whether the population is likely to spread to new solutions or refine a single solution. The most agressive reproduction I have seen is two children for every parent per generation, with selection killing two thirds of the population per generation.
Keep in mind that the important thing in the long run is how many children eventually recieve favorable gens not when they get them. Fit parents can have children for many generations with different genetic operators.