Developmental Learning and Environmental Change

We study the interaction of mutations, developmental learning, and environmental change, as these processes effect changes in the genetic makeup of a population over time. Employing simulation based in genetic algorithms, we find that mutations have a consistent Diversifying Effect, which, in the presence of a changing environment, becomes an Adaptive Effect as average fitness increases, as well. The impact of developmental learning is dependent upon the conquerability of an environment. In conquerable environments, which have lower degrees of epistatic interaction allowing evolution without developmental learning to realize near optimal average fitness, developmental learning exhibits a Blurring Effect by increasing genetic diversity and lowering average fitness. In changing, conquerable environments, developmental learning has an Adaptive Effect as the increased genetic diversity allows evolution to better track change. In unconquerable environments, whether changing or unchanging, developmental learning exhibits a Baldwin Effect, improving average fitness while decreasing genetic diversity.