  In this paper, the issue of adapting probabilities for Evolutionary Algorithm
(EA) search operators is revisited. A framework is devised for distinguishing
between measurements of performance and the interpretation of those
measurements for purposes of adaptation. Several examples of measurements and
statistical interpretations are provided. Probability value adaptation is
tested using an EA with 10 search operators against 10 test problems with
results indicating that both the type of measurement and its statistical
interpretation play significant roles in EA performance. We also find that
selecting operators based on the prevalence of outliers rather than on average
performance is able to provide considerable improvements to adaptive methods
and soundly outperforms the non-adaptive case.
