The belief space of a cultural algorithm is divided into distinct categories. These categories represent different domains of knowledge that the population has of the search space.
The belief space is updated after each iteration by the best individuals of the population. The best individuals can be selected using a fitness function that assesses the performance of each individual in population much like in genetic algorithms.
The population component of the cultural algorithm is approximately the same as that of the genetic algorithm.
Cultural algorithms require an interface between the population and belief space. The best individuals of the population can update the belief space via the update function. Also, the knowledge categories of the belief space can affect the population component via the influence function. The influence function can affect population by altering the genome or the actions of the individuals.
M. Omran, A novel cultural algorithm for real-parameter optimization. International Journal of Computer Mathematics, doi:10.1080/00207160.2015.1067309, 2015. /wiki/Doi_(identifier) ↩