Developmental Memetic Algorithms: A Fast and
Efficient Approach for Optimization Applications

Ramin Ayanzadeh
10:30am, Monday, 22 February 2016, ITE 346

A Memetic algorithm, as a hybrid strategy, is an intelligent optimization method in problem solving. These algorithms are similar in nature to genetic algorithms as they follow evolutionary strategies, but they also incorporate a refinement phase during which they learn about the problem and search space. The efficiency of these algorithms depends on the nature and architecture of the imitation operator used. In this presentation, after a brief introduction, pros and cons of employing memetic algorithms would be discussed. Afterwards, developmental memetic algorithms will be proposed as an approach for subsiding the costs of using standard memetic algorithms. Developmental memetic algorithm is an adaptive memetic algorithm that has been developed in which the influence factor of environment on the learning abilities of each individual is set adaptively. This translates into a level of autonomous behavior, after a while that individuals gain some experience. Simulation results on benchmark function proved that this adaptive approach can increase the quality of the results and decrease the computation time simultaneously. The adaptive memetic algorithm also shows better stability when compared with the classic memetic algorithm.