This paper introduces a new analysis tool called {\it reverse hillclimbing}, and demonstrates how it can be used to evaluate the performance of a genetic algorithm. Using reverse hillclimbing, one can calculate the exact probability that hillclimbing will attain some point in a landscape. From...

Genetic Algorithms (GAs) and heuristic search are shown to be structurally similar. The strength of the correspondence and its practical consequences are demonstrated by considering the relationship between fitness functions in GAs and the heuristic functions of AI. By examining the extent to...

A measure of search difficulty, fitness distance correlation (FDC), is introduced and its power as a predictor of genetic algorithm (GA) performance is investigated. The sign and magnitude of this correlation can be used to predict the performance of a GA on many problems where the global maxima...

Complex adaptive systems (CAS) consist of many interacting and adapting components. Echo is a computational CAS model in which evolving agents are situated in a resource-limited environment. Different views of the notion of species within Echo are compared to biological experiments on relative...

The use of the term ``landscapes'' is increasing rapidly in the field of evolutionary computation, yet in many cases it remains poorly, if at all, defined. This situtation has perhaps developed because everyone grasps the imagery immediately, and the questions that would be asked of a less...

A new model of fitness landscapes suitable for the consideration of evolutionary and other search algorithms is developed and its consequences are investigated. Answers to the questions "What is a landscape?" "Are landscapes useful?" and "What makes a landscape difficult to search?" are...

This report is concerned with an implementation of a family of models of complex adaptive systems called Echo models. In what follows, you will find: An Introduction to Echo; Information on how to obtain, install and run the Echo system; A description of Echo's graphical interface and...

This note contains a description of John Holland's Royal Road function, which was presented at the Fifth International Conference on Genetic Algorithms in July 1993, and posted to the Internet Genetic Algorithms mailing list in August 1993 [2].

A Genetic Algorithm (GA) maintains a population of individuals for the express purpose of improving performance via communication of information between contemporary individuals. This is achieved in a GA through the use of a crossover operator. If crossover is not a useful method for this...