Abstract
Catastrophic interference occurs when an agent improves in one training instance but becomes worse in other instances. Many methods intended to combat interference have been reported in the literature that modulate properties of a neural controller, such as synaptic plasticity or modularity. Here, we demonstrate that adjustments to the body of the agent, or the way its performance is measured, can also reduce catastrophic interference without requiring changes to the controller. Additionally, we introduce new metrics to quantify catastrophic interference. We do not show that our approach outperforms others on benchmark tests. Instead, by more precisely measuring interactions between morphology, fitness, and interference, we demonstrate that embodiment is an important aspect of this problem. Furthermore, considerations into morphology and fitness can combine with, rather than compete with, existing methods for combating catastrophic interference.