Decision Tree Induction Systems: A Bayesian Analysis

Wray L. Buntine

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arXiv · 1304.2732

Decision Tree Induction Systems: A Bayesian Analysis

Wray L. Buntine

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Abstract

Decision tree induction systems are being used for knowledge acquisition in noisy domains. This paper develops a subjective Bayesian interpretation of the task tackled by these systems and the heuristic methods they use. It is argued that decision tree systems implicitly incorporate a prior belief that the simpler (in terms of decision tree complexity) of two hypotheses be preferred, all else being equal, and that they perform a greedy search of the space of decision rules to find one in which there is strong posterior belief. A number of improvements to these systems are then suggested.

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Wray L. Buntine. 2013-03-27. Decision Tree Induction Systems: A Bayesian Analysis. https://arxiv.org/abs/1304.2732

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