Data Mining

Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques

Slides for Chapter 3 of Data Mining by I. H. Witten, E. Frank and M. A. Hall

Output: Knowledge representation

Tables Linear models Trees Rules Classification rules Association rules Rules with exceptions More expressive rules Instance-based representation Clusters

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Output: representing structural patterns

Many different ways of representing patterns

Decision trees, rules, instance-based,

Also called knowledge representation Representation determines inference method Understanding the output is the key to understanding the underlying learning methods Different types of output for different learning problems (e.g. classification, regression, )

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Tables

Simplest way of representing output:

Use the same format as input!

Decision table for the weather problem:

Outlook Sunny Sunny Overcast Overcast Rainy Rainy Humidity High Normal High Normal High Normal Play No Yes Yes Yes No No

Main problem: selecting the right attributes

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Linear models

Another simple representation Regression model

Inputs (attribute values) and output are all numeric The trick is to find good values for the weights

Output is the sum of weighted attribute values

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A linear regression function for the CPU performance data

PRP = 37.06 + 2.47CACH

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Linear models for classification

Binary classification Line separates the two classes

Decision boundary - defines where the decision changes from one class value to the other

Prediction is made by plugging in observed values of the attributes into the expression

Predict one class if output 0, and the other class if output < 0

Boundary becomes a high-dimensional plane (hyperplane) when there are multiple attributes

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Separating setosas from versicolors

2.0 0.5PETAL-LENGTH 0.8PETAL-WIDTH = 0

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Trees
Divide-and-conquer approach produces tree Nodes involve testing a particular attribute Usually, attribute value is compared to constant Other possibilities:

Comparing values of two attributes Using a function of one or more attributes

Leaves assign classification, set of classifications, or probability distribution to instances Unknown instance is routed down the tree

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Nominal and numeric attributes

Nominal:
number of children usually equal to number values attribute wont get tested more than once Other possibility: division into two subsets

Numeric:
test whether value is greater or less than constant attribute may get tested several times Other possibility: three-way split (or multi-way split)

Integer: less than, equal to, greater than Real: below, within, above

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Missing values

Does absence of value have some significance? Yes missing is a separate value No missing must be treated in a special way

Solution A: assign instance to most popular branch Solution B: split instance into pieces

Pieces receive weight according to fraction of training instances that go down each branch Classifications from leave nodes are combined using the weights that have percolated to them

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Trees for numeric prediction

Regression: the process of computing an expression that predicts a numeric quantity Regression tree: decision tree where each leaf predicts a numeric quantity

Predicted value is average value of training instances that reach the leaf

Model tree: regression tree with linear regression models at the leaf nodes

Linear patches approximate continuous function

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Linear regression for the CPU data

PRP = - 56.1 + 0.049 MYCT + 0.015 MMIN + 0.006 MMAX + 0.630 CACH - 0.270 CHMIN + 1.46 CHMAX

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Regression tree for the CPU data

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Model tree for the CPU data

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Classification rules

Popular alternative to decision trees Antecedent (pre-condition): a series of tests (just like the tests at the nodes of a decision tree) Tests are usually logically ANDed together (but may also be general logical expressions) Consequent (conclusion): classes, set of classes, or probability distribution assigned by rule Individual rules are often logically ORed together

Conflicts arise if different conclusions apply

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From trees to rules

Easy: converting a tree into a set of rules

One rule for each leaf:

Antecedent contains a condition for every node on the path from the root to the leaf Consequent is class assigned by the leaf

Produces rules that are unambiguous

Doesnt matter in which order they are executed Pruning to remove redundant tests/rules

But: resulting rules are unnecessarily complex

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From rules to trees

More difficult: transforming a rule set into a tree

Tree cannot easily express disjunction between rules

Example: rules which test different attributes

If a and b then x If c and d then x

Symmetry needs to be broken Corresponding tree contains identical subtrees ( replicated subtree problem)

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A tree for a simple disjunction

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The exclusive-or problem

If x = 1 and y = 0 then class = a If x = 0 and y = 1 then class = a If x = 0 and y = 0 then class = b If x = 1 and y = 1 then class = b

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A tree with a replicated subtree

If x = 1 and y = 1 then class = a If z = 1 and w = 1 then class = a Otherwise class = b

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Nuggets of knowledge

Are rules independent pieces of knowledge? (It seems easy to add a rule to an existing rule base.) Problem: ignores how rules are executed Two ways of executing a rule set:

Ordered set of rules (decision list)

Order is important for interpretation Rules may overlap and lead to different conclusions for the same instance

Unordered set of rules

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Interpreting rules

What if two or more rules conflict?

Give no conclusion at all? Go with rule that is most popular on training data? Give no conclusion at all? Go with class that is most frequent in training data?

What if no rule applies to a test instance?

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Special case: boolean class

Assumption: if instance does not belong to class yes, it belongs to class no Trick: only learn rules for class yes and use default rule for no
If x = 1 and y = 1 then class = a If z = 1 and w = 1 then class = a Otherwise class = b

Order of rules is not important. No conflicts! Rule can be written in disjunctive normal form

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Association rules

Association rules

can predict any attribute and combinations of attributes are not intended to be used together as a set Output needs to be restricted to show only the most predictive associations only those with high support and high confidence

Problem: immense number of possible associations

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Support and confidence of a rule

Support: number of instances predicted correctly Confidence: number of correct predictions, as proportion of all instances that rule applies to Example: 4 cool days with normal humidity
If temperature = cool then humidity = normal

= 4, confidence = 100% Normally: minimum support and confidence pre-specified (e.g. 58 rules with support 2 and confidence 95% for weather data)

Support

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Interpreting association rules

Interpretation is not obvious:

If windy = false and play = no then outlook = sunny and humidity = high

is not the same as

If windy = false and play = no then outlook = sunny If windy = false and play = no then humidity = high

It means that the following also holds:

If humidity = high and windy = false and play = no then outlook = sunny

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Rules with exceptions

Idea: allow rules to have exceptions Example: rule for iris data New instance:
Sepal length 5.1 Sepal width 3.5 Petal length 2.6 Petal width 0.2 Type Iris-setosa

If petal-length 2.45 and petal-length < 4.45 then Iris-versicolor

Modified rule:

If petal-length 2.45 and petal-length < 4.45 then Iris-versicolor EXCEPT if petal-width < 1.0 then Iris-setosa

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A more complex example

Exceptions to exceptions to exceptions

default: Iris-setosa except if petal-length 2.45 and petal-length < 5.355 and petal-width < 1.75 then Iris-versicolor except if petal-length 4.95 and petal-width < 1.55 then Iris-virginica else if sepal-length < 4.95 and sepal-width 2.45 then Iris-virginica else if petal-length 3.35 then Iris-virginica except if petal-length < 4.85 and sepal-length < 5.95 then Iris-versicolor

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Advantages of using exceptions

Rules can be updated incrementally

Easy to incorporate new data Easy to incorporate domain knowledge

People often think in terms of exceptions Each conclusion can be considered just in the context of rules and exceptions that lead to it

Locality property is important for understanding large rule sets Normal rule sets dont offer this advantage

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More on exceptions

Default...except if...then... is logically equivalent to if...then...else (where the else specifies what the default did) But: exceptions offer a psychological advantage Assumption: defaults and tests early on apply more widely than exceptions further down Exceptions reflect special cases

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Rules involving relations

So far: all rules involved comparing an attribute-value to a constant (e.g. temperature < 45) These rules are called propositional because they have the same expressive power as propositional logic What if problem involves relationships between examples (e.g. family tree problem from above)?

Cant be expressed with propositional rules More expressive representation required

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The shapes problem

Target concept: standing up Shaded: standing Unshaded: lying

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A propositional solution
Width 2 3 4 7 7 2 9 10 Height 4 6 3 8 6 9 1 2 Sides 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 3 Class Standing Standing Lying Standing Lying Standing Lying Lying

If width 3.5 and height < 7.0 then lying If height 3.5 then standing

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A relational solution

Comparing attributes with each other

If width > height then lying If height > width then standing

Generalizes better to new data Standard relations: =, <, > But: learning relational rules is costly Simple solution: add extra attributes (e.g. a binary attribute is width < height?)

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Rules with variables

Using variables and multiple relations:

If height_and_width_of(x,h,w) and h > w then standing(x)

The top of a tower of blocks is standing:

If height_and_width_of(x,h,w) and h > w and is_top_of(y,x) then standing(x)

The whole tower is standing:

If is_top_of(x,z) and height_and_width_of(z,h,w) and h > w and is_rest_of(x,y)and standing(y) then standing(x) If empty(x) then standing(x)

Recursive definition!
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Inductive logic programming

Recursive definition can be seen as logic program Techniques for learning logic programs stem from the area of inductive logic programming (ILP) But: recursive definitions are hard to learn

Also: few practical problems require recursion Thus: many ILP techniques are restricted to non-recursive definitions to make learning easier

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Instance-based representation

Simplest form of learning: rote learning

Training instances are searched for instance that most closely resembles new instance The instances themselves represent the knowledge Also called instance-based learning

Similarity function defines whats learned Instance-based learning is lazy learning Methods: nearest-neighbor, k-nearest-neighbor,

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The distance function

Simplest case: one numeric attribute

Distance is the difference between the two attribute values involved (or a function thereof)

Several numeric attributes: normally, Euclidean distance is used and attributes are normalized Nominal attributes: distance is set to 1 if values are different, 0 if they are equal Are all attributes equally important?

Weighting the attributes might be necessary

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Learning prototypes

Only those instances involved in a decision need to be stored Noisy instances should be filtered out Idea: only use prototypical examples
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Rectangular generalizations

Nearest-neighbor rule is used outside rectangles Rectangles are rules! (But they can be more conservative than normal rules.) Nested rectangles are rules with exceptions

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Representing clusters I
Simple 2-D representation Venn diagram

Overlapping clusters

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Representing clusters II
Probabilistic assignment
1 a b c d e f g h 0.4 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.7 0.5 2 0.1 0.8 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.4 3 0.5 0.1 0.4 0.8 0.4 0.5 0.1 0.1

Dendrogram

NB: dendron is the Greek word for tree

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