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Genetic programming with a genetic algorithm for feature construction and selection

Smith, Matthew G.; Bull, Larry

Authors

Matthew G. Smith

Lawrence Bull Larry.Bull@uwe.ac.uk
School Director (Research & Enterprise) and Professor



Abstract

The use of machine learning techniques to automatically analyse data for information is becoming increasingly widespread. In this paper we primarily examine the use of Genetic Programming and a Genetic Algorithm to pre-process data before it is classified using the C4.5 decision tree learning algorithm. Genetic Programming is used to construct new features from those available in the data, a potentially significant process for data mining since it gives consideration to hidden relationships between features. A Genetic Algorithm is used to determine which such features are the most predictive. Using ten well-known datasets we show that our approach, in comparison to C4.5 alone, provides marked improvement in a number of cases. We then examine its use with other well-known machine learning techniques. © 2005 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Sep 1, 2005
Journal Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines
Print ISSN 1389-2576
Electronic ISSN 1573-7632
Publisher Springer (part of Springer Nature)
Peer Reviewed Not Peer Reviewed
Volume 6
Issue 3
Pages 265-281
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10710-005-2988-7
Keywords genetic programming, genetic algorithm, feature construction, feature selection, classification, machine learning
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1056232
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10710-005-2988-7