The revival of the Baldwin effect

Author(s)

Fontanari, Jose F. ^[1] ; Santos, Mauro ^[2]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Fis Sao Carlos, Caixa Postal 369, BR-13560970 Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Autonoma Barcelona, Dept Genet & Microbiol, Grp Genom Bioinformat & Biol Evolut GGBE, Barcelona 08193 - Spain

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: European Physical Journal B; v. 90, n. 10 OCT 11 2017.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

The idea that a genetically fixed behavior evolved from the once differential learning ability of individuals that performed the behavior is known as the Baldwin effect. A highly influential paper {[}G.E. Hinton, S.J. Nowlan, Complex Syst. 1, 495 (1987)] claimed that this effect can be observed in silico, but here we argue that what was actually shown is that the learning ability is easily selected for. Then we demonstrate the Baldwin effect to happen in the in silico scenario by estimating the probability and waiting times for the learned behavior to become innate. Depending on parameter values, we find that learning can increase the chance of fixation of the learned behavior by several orders of magnitude compared with the non-learning situation. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/21689-2 - Collective intelligence: the distributed cooperative systems approach
• Grantee: José Fernando Fontanari
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants