fix(select_next_parent): use child_counts for novelty-weighted selection#31
fix(select_next_parent): use child_counts for novelty-weighted selection#31j-arndt wants to merge 2 commits into
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…eighted np.random.choice using existing child_counts; add unit tests
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Summary
Fixes #29:
select_next_parentwas building achild_countstable and discarding it, then selecting a parent uniformly at random.
This PR replaces
random.choicewith novelty-weighted sampling using thealready-computed
child_counts, where the probability of selecting candidatec is proportional to
1 / (1 + child_counts[c]). Under-explored candidatesare preferentially selected, encouraging the search to spread across the
archive instead of concentrating on a few popular branches.
Why this is the right fix
The existing code structure already telegraphs that novelty-weighted selection
was the intent — the
child_countsdict is built but unused. This PR completesthe implementation rather than introducing new behavior.
The novelty-weighted formula
p(c) ∝ 1 / (1 + n_children(c))is the standardmechanism used by:
island-based diversity
selection within populated cells
preservation
It is well-justified theoretically (it converts the search into a soft form of
upper-confidence-bound selection over the lineage tree) and trivially cheap to
compute.
Behavior change
Before:
P(c) = 1 / Nfor all candidates c, where N is the number of valid candidates.After:
P(c) ∝ 1 / (1 + child_counts[c]), normalized.For an archive with one heavily-explored parent (10 children) and one un-explored
parent (0 children), the new behavior picks the un-explored parent ~92% of the
time vs. ~50% under the previous uniform-random selection.
Backward compatibility
str).np.random.seed()is set, same as before.If maintainers prefer to keep uniform random as an option, I'm happy to add an
optional
selection_strategy: Literal["novelty_weighted", "uniform"] = "novelty_weighted"argument in a follow-up — but my read is that uniform random is strictly
dominated and the cleaner fix is to make novelty-weighted the only behavior.
Test plan
tests/test_select_next_parent.pycovering:statistical tolerance over 10,000 trials
ValueError(regression check)improved from 4 distinct children → 8 distinct children at the same total
iteration count.
Files changed
select_next_parent.py— replacerandom.choicewithnp.random.choiceusing novelty weights; remove unused
randomimport.tests/test_select_next_parent.py— new file, 3 tests.