SHES 2402 ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS

TUTORIAL 1

1. Let us apply a GA to obtain the word HELLOWORLD, using a starting

population of five 10-letter strings. Fill in the missing information in the
following table.
fi
String fi f¯
Random number Copies
ABCDEFGHIJ

RFTZZWKAIM 1

FORMAHRQAS

KHANGTFSRD 0.82

EEELAQPJLO 3

2. Discuss the performance of the GA for evolving the word HELLOWORLD in

two cases: the mutation operator is missing , and the mutation rate is set
too high.

3. Except for the major operations, the details of GAs for solving the same
problem need not be the same. Use your biology background to suggest
additional modifications that are possible for the crossover step. You may
have also noticed that the population size of subsequent generations may
expand, or contract, depending on the fitness of the population that is being
evaluated, as well the random factor affecting the probability of leaving an
offspring. Suggest what can be done to keep the population size constant.

4. Prove that for a K-bit string, the number of hyperplanes is given by

2K − 1. Then, show that if we treat “*” as a category in addition to 0 and
1, there are 3K − 1 possible schemata that we can construct.

Hint: Use the binomial theorem

n  
n
X n
(a + b) = ai bn−i .
i=1
i