Fuzzy feature selection

In fuzzy classifier systems the classification is obtained by a number of fuzzy If-Then rules including linguistic terms such as Low and High that fuzzify each feature. This paper presents a method by which a reduced linguistic (fuzzy) set of a labeled multi-dimensional data set can be identified automatically. After the projection of the original data set onto a fuzzy space, the optimal subset of fuzzy features is determined using conventional search techniques. The applicability of this method has been demonstrated by reducing the number of features used for the classification of four real-world data sets. This method can also be used to generate an initial rule set for a fuzzy neural network. (C) 1999 Pattern Recognition Society. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.