
Genetic Algorithms Digest    Tuesday, 27 February 1990    Volume 4 : Issue 4

 - Send submissions to GA-List@AIC.NRL.NAVY.MIL
 - Send administrative requests to GA-List-Request@AIC.NRL.NAVY.MIL

Today's Topics:
	- Re: A GA skeleton
	- Re: Problem with fitness values of zero
	- SAB90 Call for Papers
	- Artificial Life mailing list
	- Turing 1990 Programme

******************************************************************************

CALENDAR OF GA-RELATED ACTIVITIES: (with GA-List issue reference)

Double Auction Tournament - Sante Fe Institute  (v3n12)       Mar 1990
Workshop on GAs, Sim. Anneal., Neural Nets - Glasgow (v3n15)  May 9, 1990
7th Intl. Conference on Machine Learning (submissions 2/1/90) Jun 21-23, 1990
Workshop Foundations of GAs (v3n19)                           Jul 15-18, 1990
Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior, Paris (v3n21)  Sep 24-28, 1990

(Send announcements of other activities to GA-List@aic.nrl.navy.mil)

******************************************************************************

--------------------------------

Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 11:07:07 EST
From: jrv@sdimax2.mitre.org
Subject: Re: A GA skeleton

> Below is a skeleton GA proposed by Dekang Lin. I would be
> interested in any comments.
> 
>   (0) Create population of size N
>   (1) Sort population in ascending order of fitness
>   (2) generate random x, where  1 <= x <= N-1
>   (3) generate random y, where  x < y <= N
>   (4) C1 := xth member of population
>   (5) C2 := yth member of population
>   (6) C3 := first or second crossover(C1 C2 random(L))
>   (7) Get fitness of C3
>   (8) merge C3 into population
>   (9) Remove first (weakest) member of population
>   (10) apply secondary genetic operators probabilistically
>   (11) Terminate or go to (2)
> 
> Patrick Prosser

Interesting.  y has a probability distribution proportional to 
         -ln(1 - y/(N+1))
(with a logarithmic singularity favoring the most fit members).

What data structure would work best?  I believe the time required for
the slowest steps would be:

           array     linked list     heap
(4)         O(1)        O(N)         O(N)?
(8)         O(N)        O(N)     O(log N)
(9)         O(N)        O(1)     O(log N)

One might use a binary tree (which favor steps (8) and (9)), and
maintain in each node a count of the number of decendents (thereby
easing step (4)).  However, keeping the tree balanced would be a
problem.  How about a splay tree with decendent counts?

Rather than the "devil take the hindmost" rule, one might replace (9) with:
        (9a) generate random z, where 1 <= z <= x
        (9b) remove zth member of population
...culling and breeding in the same spirit.

                                 - Jim Van Zandt (jrv@mbunix.mitre.org)

--------------------------------

Date: Tue, 27 Feb 90 12:04 EST
From: David Sirag <DJS%UTRC@utrcgw.utc.com>
Subject: Re: Problem with fitness values of zero

I don't think that there is any difficulty associated with subtracting the
observed fitness from the worst case fitness in order to convert your
problem into a maximization problem (as required by the GA), but you should
be aware that this will probably modify the relative fitnesses of the
individuals. This effect will vary depending on the actual value of the
worst case.

     The method I use is to use the reciprocal of one plus the fitness
(assuming the fitness is always non-negative).

                                      1
                          Fnew = ----------
                                  Fold + 1

This isn't necessarily any better than your suggestion, but at least I dont
have to know the worst case value, and the relative fitnesses of the best
case values (the ones I care about) are not affected by the worst case
value (one which I probably don't care about).

     For example, if I change my representation so that I now include a new
worst case or exclude the old worst case (maybe it was a member of a class
of solutions which I now consider to be illegal), my approach will leave
the relative fitnesses of the remaining solutions unaffected, while your
approach may change them regardless of whether this will improve or hinder
your convergence.

In my work I have noticed that my results can be improved by modifying the
fitness values. I have added a routine to my GA to monitor the number of
offspring which would be produced by individuals under the standard
algorithm and automatically scale the original fitnesses (up or down) to
assure that the best individuals are adequately rewarded while not allowing
them to take over the entire population (too quickly).

                                 Good luck,

                                       David Sirag
                                       DJS%UTRC@UTC.COM

--------------------------------

Date: Thu, 01 Feb 90 11:03:17 EST
From: Stewart Wilson <wilson@Think.COM>
Subject: SAB90 Call for Papers

Dear colleagues,

   Dr. Meyer and I would be very grateful if you would again distribute
the following call for papers on your email list.  It was distributed
a month ago--this is for readers who may have missed it then.
Thank you.

Sincerely,
Stewart Wilson


==============================================================================
==============================================================================

                               Call for Papers

           SIMULATION OF ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR: FROM ANIMALS TO ANIMATS

                An International Conference to be held in Paris
                            September 24-28, 1990


        The object of the conference is to bring together researchers in
        ethology, ecology, cybernetics, artificial intelligence, robotics,
        and related fields so as to further our understanding of the behaviors
        and underlying mechanisms that allow animals and, potentially,
        robots to adapt and survive in uncertain environments.

        The conference will focus particularly on simulation models in
        order to help characterize and compare various organizational principles
        or architectures capable of inducing adaptive behavior in real or
        artificial animals.

        Contact among scientists from diverse disciplines should contribute
        to better appreciation of each other's approaches and vocabularies,
        to cross-fertilization of fundamental and applied research, and
        to defining objectives, constraints, and challenges for future work.

        Contributions treating any of the following topics from the
        perspective of adaptive behavior will receive special emphasis.


   Individual and collective behaviors   Autonomous robots
   Action selection and behavioral       Hierarchical and parallel organizations
    sequences                            Self organization of behavioral
   Conditioning, learning and induction   modules
   Neural correlates of behavior         Problem solving and planning
   Perception and motor control          Goal directed behavior
   Motivation and emotion                Neural networks and classifier
   Behavioral ontogeny                    systems
   Cognitive maps and internal           Emergent structures and behaviors
    world models


        Authors are requested to send two copies (hard copy only) of a
        full paper to each of the Conference chairmen:

          Jean-Arcady MEYER                 Stewart WILSON
          Groupe de Bioinformatique         The Rowland Institute for Science
          URA686.Ecole Normale Superieure   100 Cambridge Parkway
          46 rue d'Ulm                      Cambridge, MA  02142
          75230 Paris Cedex 05              USA
          France
          e-mail: meyer%FRULM63.bitnet@     e-mail: wilson@think.com
                         cunyvm.cuny.edu

       A brief preliminary letter to one chairman indicating the intention to
       participate--with the tentative title of the intended paper and a list 
       of the topics addressed--would be appreciated for planning purposes.  
       For conference information, please also contact one of the chairmen.

        Conference committee:

          Conference Chair              J.A. Meyer, S. Wilson

          Organizing Committee      Groupe de BioInformatique.ENS.France.
          and local arrangements    A. Guillot, J.A. Meyer, P. Tarroux,
                                       P. Vincens

          Program Committee     L. Booker, USA          R. Brooks, USA
                                P. Colgan, Canada       P. Greussay, France
                                D. McFarland, UK        L. Steels, Belgium
                                R. Sutton, USA          F. Toates, UK
                                D. Waltz, USA

        Official Language: English

        Important Dates

           31 May 90  Submissions must be received by the chairmen
           30 June 90  Notification of acceptance or rejection
           31 August 90   Camera ready revised versions due
           24-28 September 90  Conference dates

===============================================================================
===============================================================================

--------------------------------

Date: Sat, 24 Feb 90 01:31:35 -0500
From: Marek Lugowski <marek@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>
Subject: Artificial Life mailing list

Hello.  The following is what we send to the new subscribers of the
barely started Artificial Life emailing list, alife@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu

The list has been in operation for about a week now, on a subscribe-by-request
basis only, and we are still waiting to receive the email addresses from the 
Santa Fe's 2nd Artificial Life Workshop for possible inclusion, in this case,
by-consent-when-asked.  Already, we have about 400 readers.  Many are overseas.

The informaton that follows may answer all your questions about the list, if
any, and about its intended mission, but feel free to contact me or all of us
at alife-request@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu for more answers.

Best,
				-- Marek

            The Artificial Life e-mail distribution list
            --------------------------------------------

   At the second workshop for Artificial Life in Santa Fe, February 1990,
the need emerged for an email distribution list to provide a forum for 
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Research.  

	Artificial Life is the study of man-made systems that exhibit
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	complements the traditional biological sciences concerned with
	the analysis of living organisms by attempting to synthesize
	life-like behaviors within computers and other
	artificial media.  By extending the empirical foundation
	upon which biology is based beyond the carbon-chain life
	that has evolved on Earth, Artificial Life can contribute
	to theoretical biology by locating life-as-we-know-it 
	within the larger picture of life-as-it-could-be.

		Christopher Langton, 1989.

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You will find under "alife/" one world-writable subdirectory, "public",
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Please deposit in "public" whatever you wish to have installed as read-only.
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Since we wish to retain touch with the list subscribers and maintain
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			Eric Freeman
			Marek Lugowski

			Artificial Life Research Group
			Computer Science Department
			Indiana University
			Bloomington, IN 47405
			U.S.A.

--------------------------------

From: Turing Conference <turing%ctcs.leeds.ac.uk@NSFnet-Relay.AC.UK>
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 90 16:43:27 GMT
Subject: Turing 1990 Programme

____________________________________________________________________________

                           TURING 1990 COLLOQUIUM

               At the University of Sussex, Brighton, England

                            3rd - 6th April 1990

              PROGRAMME OF SPEAKERS AND REGISTRATION DOCUMENTS

____________________________________________________________________________


                              INVITED SPEAKERS


Paul CHURCHLAND (Philosophy, University of California at San Diego)

       Title to be announced


Joseph FORD (Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology)

       CHAOS :  ITS PAST, ITS PRESENT, BUT MOSTLY ITS FUTURE


Robin GANDY (Mathematical Institute, Oxford)

       HUMAN VERSUS MECHANICAL INTELLIGENCE


Clark GLYMOUR (Philosophy, Carnegie-Mellon)

       COMPUTABILITY, CONCEPTUAL REVOLUTIONS AND THE LOGIC OF DISCOVERY


Andrew HODGES (Oxford, author of "Alan Turing: the enigma of intelligence")

       BACK TO THE FUTURE :  ALAN TURING IN 1950


Douglas HOFSTADTER (Computer Science, Indiana)

       Title to be announced


J.R. LUCAS (Merton College, Oxford)

       MINDS, MACHINES AND GODEL :  A RETROSPECT


Donald MICHIE (Turing Institute, Glasgow)

       MACHINE INTELLIGENCE - TURING AND AFTER


Christopher PEACOCKE (Magdalen College, Oxford)

       PHILOSOPHICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CONCEPTS


Herbert SIMON (Computer Science and Psychology, Carnegie-Mellon)

       MACHINE AS MIND

____________________________________________________________________________


                               OTHER SPEAKERS


Most of the papers to be given at the Colloquium are interdisciplinary,  and
should hold considerable interest for those working in any area of Cognitive
Science or related disciplines.   However the papers below will be presented
in paired parallel sessions,  which have been arranged as far as possible to
minimise clashes of subject area,  so  that  those  who  have  predominantly
formal  interests,   for  example,  will be able to attend all of the papers
which are most relevant to their work, and a similar point applies for those
with mainly philosophical, psychological, or purely computational interests.


Jonathan Cohen (The Queen's College, Oxford)
     "Does Belief Exist?"

Mario Compiani (ENIDATA, Bologna, Italy)
     "Remarks on the Paradigms of Connectionism"

Martin Davies (Philosophy, Birkbeck College, London)
     "Facing up to Eliminativism"

Chris Fields (Computing Research Laboratory, New Mexico)
     "Measurement and Computational Description"

Robert French (Center for Research on Concepts and Cognition, Indiana)
     "Subcognition and the Limits of the Turing Test"

Beatrice de Gelder (Psychology and Philosophy, Tilburg, Netherlands)
     "Cognitive Science is Philosophy of Science Writ Small"

Peter Mott (Computer Studies and Philosophy, Leeds)
     "A Grammar Based Approach to Commonsense Reasoning"

Aaron Sloman (Cognitive and Computing Sciences, Sussex)
     "Beyond Turing Equivalence"

Antony Galton (Computer Science, Exeter)
     "The Church-Turing Thesis: its Nature and Status"

Ajit Narayanan (Computer Science, Exeter)
     "The Intentional Stance and the Imitation Game"

Jon Oberlander and Peter Dayan (Centre for Cognitive Science, Edinburgh)
     "Altered States and Virtual Beliefs"

Philip Pettit and Frank Jackson (Social Sciences Research, ANU, Canberra)
     "Causation in the Philosophy of Mind"

Ian Pratt (Computer Science, Manchester)
     "Encoding Psychological Knowledge"

Joop Schopman and Aziz Shawky (Philosophy, Utrecht, Netherlands)
     "Remarks on the Impact of Connectionism on our Thinking about Concepts"

Murray Shanahan (Computing, Imperial College London)
     "Folk Psychology and Naive Physics"

Iain Stewart (Computing Laboratory, Newcastle)
     "The Demise of the Turing Machine in Complexity Theory"

Chris Thornton (Artificial Intelligence, Edinburgh)
     "Why Concept Learning is a Good Idea"

Blay Whitby (Cognitive and Computing Sciences, Sussex)
     "The Turing Test: AI's Biggest Blind Alley?"

____________________________________________________________________________


                           TURING 1990 COLLOQUIUM

               At the University of Sussex, Brighton, England

                            3rd - 6th April 1990


This Conference commemorates the 40th anniversary of the publication in Mind
of Alan Turing's influential paper  "Computing  Machinery and Intelligence". 
It  is hosted by the School of  Cognitive  and  Computing  Sciences  at  the
University of  Sussex  and  held under the auspices of the Mind Association.
Additional  support  has been received  from  the  Analysis  Committee,  the
Aristotelian Society, The  British Logic Colloquium, The International Union
of History and Philosophy  of  Science, POPLOG, Philosophical Quarterly, and
the SERC Logic for IT Initiative.

The aim of the Conference  is to draw together people working in Philosophy,
Logic,  Computer  Science,  Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive  Science  and
related fields, in order  to  celebrate  the  intellectual and technological
developments which owe so much to Turing's seminal  thought.  Papers will be
presented  on  the  following  themes:  Alan  Turing  and the  emergence  of
Artificial Intelligence,  Logic and the Theory of Computation,  The  Church-
Turing  Thesis, The Turing Test, Connectionism, Mind and Content, Philosophy
and Methodology of Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science.    Invited
talks  will be  given by  Paul Churchland, Joseph Ford,  Robin Gandy,  Clark
Glymour,  Andrew Hodges,   Douglas Hofstadter,  J.R. Lucas,   Donald Michie,
Christopher Peacocke and Herbert Simon, and there  are  many other prominent
contributors, whose names and papers are listed above.

Anyone wishing to attend this  Conference should complete the form below and
send it to Andy Clark, TURING  1990  Registrations,  School of Cognitive and
Computing  Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QH, England, U.K.,
enclosing a  STERLING  cheque  or  money order for the total amount payable,
made out to "Turing 1990".  We regret that we cannot accept payment in other
currencies.  The form should be returned  not  later than Thursday 1st March
1990, after which an extra fee of #5.00 for late registration is payable and
accommodation cannot be guaranteed.

The conference will start after lunch on Tuesday 3rd April 1990, and it will
end on Friday 6th April after tea.  Final details will be sent to registered
participants towards the end of February.


                     Conference Organizing Committee

     Andy Clark (Cognitive and Computing Sciences, Sussex University)
     David Holdcroft (Philosophy, Leeds University)
     Peter Millican (Computer Studies and Philosophy, Leeds University)
     Steve Torrance (Information Systems, Middlesex Polytechnic)

___________________________________________________________________________


                   REGISTRATION DOCUMENT :  TURING 1990


NAME AND TITLE :  __________________________________________________________

INSTITUTION :  _____________________________________________________________

STATUS :    ________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS :   ________________________________________________________________

            ________________________________________________________________

POSTCODE :  _________________       COUNTRY :   ____________________________

Any special requirements (eg. diet, disability) :  _________________________


I wish to register for  the  Turing  1990  Colloquium and enclose a Sterling
cheque  or money order,  payable to  "Turing 1990", for  the   total  amount
listed below :

Please ENTER AMOUNTS as appropriate.


1.  Registration Fee:  Mind Association Members       #30.00  ..............
      (Compulsory)
                       Full-time students             #30.00  ..............
                      (enclose proof of status
                      - e.g. letter from tutor)

                       Academics (including
                        retired academics)            #50.00  ..............

                       Non-Academics                  #80.00  ..............

                       Late Registration Fee           #5.00  ..............
                      (payable after 1st March)



2.  Full Board including all meals from Dinner        #84.00  ..............
    on Tuesday 3rd April to Lunch on Friday
    6th April, except for Thursday evening
                       OR
    All meals from Dinner on Tuesday 3rd April        #33.00  ..............
    to Lunch on Friday 6th April, except for
    Thursday evening



3.  Conference banquet in the Royal Pavilion,         #25.00  ..............
    Brighton on Thursday 5th April
                       OR
    Dinner in the University on Thursday 5th April     #6.00  ..............



4.  Lunch on Tuesday 3rd April                         #6.00  ..............



5.  Dinner on Friday 6th April                         #6.00  ..............


                                                              ______________

                                                        TOTAL   #
                                                              ______________



Signed ________________________________          Date ______________________


Please return this form, with your cheque or money order (payable to "Turing
1990"), to:

                     Dr Andy Clark,
                     Turing 1990 Registrations,
                     Cognitive and Computing Sciences,
                     University of Sussex,
                     Falmer,  Brighton,  BN1 9QH,
                     England.


Email responses to:     turing@uk.ac.sussex.syma
     ( from BITNET:     turing@syma.sussex.ac.uk -NM )

____________________________________________________________________________


IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR STUDENTS AND SUPERVISORS:

The Analysis Committee has kindly  made a donation to subsidise students who
would  benefit from attending the Colloquium  but  who  might  otherwise  be
unable to do so.   The amount of any such subsidy will depend on the overall
demand and  the quality of the candidates,  but it would certainly cover the
registration fee and  probably  a  proportion of the accommodation expenses. 
Interested  parties should write  immediately to  Andy Clark  at the address
above, enclosing a brief supporting comment from a tutor or supervisor.

____________________________________________________________________________


PLEASE SEND ON THIS NOTICE to any researchers,  lecturers or students in the 
fields  of  Artificial Intelligence,  Cognitive  Science,  Computer Science,
Logic, Mathematics, Philosophy or Psychology, in Britain  or  abroad, and to
ANY APPROPRIATE BULLETIN BOARDS which have not previously displayed it.

--------------------------------

End of Genetic Algorithms Digest
********************************

