Miikkulainen, Risto568181892008-08-282017-05-112008-08-282017-05-112002http://hdl.handle.net/2152/773textAny transmission of behavior from one generation to the next via non–genetic means is a process of culture. Culture provides major advantages for survival in the biological world. This dissertation develops four methods that harness the mechanisms of culture to enhance the power of neuroevolution: culling overlarge litters, mate selection by complementary competence, phenotypic diversity maintenance, and teaching offspring to respond like an elder. The methods are efficient because they operate without requiring additional fitness evaluations, and because each method addresses a different aspect of neuroevolution, they also combine smoothly. The combined system balances diversity and selection pressure, and improves performance both in terms of learning speed and solution quality in sequential decision tasks.electronicengCopyright is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the Libraries' web site by University Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works.Evolutionary computationEvolutionary programming (Computer science)Genetic algorithmsNeural networks (Computer science)Thesis3099492