The model of interaction between learning and evolutionary optimization

The model of interaction between learning and evolutionary optimization is designed and investigated. The evolving population of modeled organisms is considered. The mechanism of genetic assimilation of the acquired features during a number of generations of Darwinian evolution is studied. The genetic assimilation means that individually acquired features are “re-invented” by evolution and recorded directly into genotypes of organisms. It is shown that the genetic assimilation takes place as follows: the organism distribution moves towards the optimum at learning and further selection; then genotypes of selected organisms also move towards the optimum. The mechanism of influence of the learning load is analyzed. It is shown that the learning load leads to a significant acceleration of evolution. The hiding effect is also studied; this effect means that a strong learning inhibits the evolutionary search in some situations.