Experiments with the M & N tree-searching program

The M & N procedure is an improvement to the mini-max backing-up procedure widely used in computer programs for game-playing and other purposes. It is based on the principle that it is desirable to have many options when making decisions in the face of uncertainty. The mini-max procedure assigns to a MAX (MIN) node the value of the highest (lowest) valued successor to that node. The M & N procedure assigns to a MAX (MIN) node some function of the M (N) highest (lowest) valued successors. An M & N procedure was written in LISP to play the game of kalah, and it was demonstrated that the M & N procedure is significantly superior to the mini-max procedure. The statistical significance of important conclusions is given. Since information on statistical significance has often been lacking in papers on computer experiments in the artificial intelligence field, these experiments can perhaps serve as a model for future work.

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