Pattern recognition using generalized association rules

摘要

A method and system for predicting an unknown value of an attribute of interest of a given item from a population of items, each item in the population having a plurality of variable attributes including the attribute of interest. Known attribute values regarding a training sample of items within the population including the attribute of interest are stored in a memory. The stored attribute values are processed to determine association rules regarding the training sample, including at least one generalized association rule, each association rule including one or more conditions on one or more respective attribute values of the items predictive of the value of the attribute of interest, and the at least one generalized rule including a logical combination of a plurality of such conditions using at least one logical operation from the group consisting of disjunction and negation. Data are received from an input device, the data including values of at least some of the attributes of the given item. The association rules including the at least one generalized association rule are applied to the values included in the data so as to predict the unknown value of the attribute of interest of the given item.