Multistrategy Learning: A Case Study

Abstract

Two of the most popular approaches to induction are instance-based learning (IBL) and rule generation. Their strengths and weaknesses are largely comple-mentary. IBL methods are able to identify small details in the instance space, but have trouble with attributes that are relevant in some parts of the space but not oth-ers. Conversely, rule induction methods may overlook small exception regions, but are able to select different attributes in different parts of the instance space. The two methods have been unified in the RISE algorithm (Domingos 1995). RISE views instances as maximally specific rules, forms more general rules by gradually clustering instances of the same class, and classifies a test example by letting the nearest rule win. This approach potentially combines the advantages of rule