A rule discovery program which enables discovery of a rule by automatically searching for a feature portion which is effective for generation of a rule in multimedia data. When sample data items are inputted, a search unit selects evaluation positions on a data array constituting each of the sample data items so as to generate a selection pattern. Next, an integration unit integrates the evaluation positions in the selection pattern so as to generate a predetermined number of evaluation regions, and a rule-candidate generation unit generates a rule candidate indicating a relationship common to the sample data items. A rule-candidate evaluation unit evaluates the generated rule candidate, and an output unit outputs, as a rule, the rule candidate when the rule candidate satisfies a predetermined criterion.
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