Till now in this tutorial, whatever we have discussed corresponds to the Darwinian model of evolution – natural selection and genetic variation through recombination and mutation. In nature, only the information contained in the individual’s genotype can be transmitted to the next generation. This is the approach which we have been following in the tutorial so far.

However, other models of lifetime adaptation – Lamarckian Model and Baldwinian Model also do exist. It is to be noted that whichever model is the best, is open for debate and the results obtained by researchers show that the choice of lifetime adaptation is highly problem specific.

Often, we hybridize a GA with local search – like in Memetic Algorithms. In such cases, one might choose do go with either Lamarckian or Baldwinian Model to decide what to do with individuals generated after the local search.

Lamarckian Model

The Lamarckian Model essentially says that the traits which an individual acquires in his/her lifetime can be passed on to its offspring. It is named after French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.

Even though, natural biology has completely disregarded Lamarckism as we all know that only the information in the genotype can be transmitted. However, from a computation view point, it has been shown that adopting the Lamarckian model gives good results for some of the problems.

In the Lamarckian model, a local search operator examines the neighborhood (acquiring new traits), and if a better chromosome is found, it becomes the offspring.

Baldwinian Model

The Baldwinian model is an intermediate idea named after James Mark Baldwin (1896). In the Baldwin model, the chromosomes can encode a tendency of learning beneficial behaviors. This means, that unlike the Lamarckian model, we don’t transmit the acquired traits to the next generation, and neither do we completely ignore the acquired traits like in the Darwinian Model.

The Baldwin Model is in the middle of these two extremes, wherein the tendency of an individual to acquire certain traits is encoded rather than the traits themselves.

In this Baldwinian Model, a local search operator examines the neighborhood (acquiring new traits), and if a better chromosome is found, it only assigns the improved fitness to the chromosome and does not modify the chromosome itself. The change in fitness signifies the chromosomes capability to “acquire the trait”, even though it is not passed directly to the future generations.