Improving the success of recombination by varying broodsize and sibling rivalry

The effect of varying the number of offspring (broodsize) each pair of parents produces as a function of the degree of difference between parents is investigated. The children within each family, firstly compete with each other to see who will survive (sibling rivalry). Only then do they interact with the rest of the population. The idea is tested on three test functions that commonly appear in the literature on building blocks: the hierarchical if and only if HIFF function, a royal road function and a concatenated trap function. The simulations reveal a statistically significant reduction in the number of fitness evaluations required to find a global optimum.