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Feature selection for label distribution learning using Dempster-Shafer evidence theory

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Abstract

In the contemporary epoch of massive data, the fuzziness of labels and the high dimensionality of feature space are prevalent characteristics of data. As a mathematical methodology for managing uncertainty, Dempster-Shafer evidence theory has found widespread applications in artificial intelligence, pattern recognition, and decision analysis. However, it has not garnered adequate attention in label distribution learning (LDL). This paper studies feature selection for LDL using Dempster-Shafer evidence theory. First, for a LDL data, distance maps in the feature space and in the label space are given, respectively. Furthermore, a tunable parameter to regulate the proximity level of features or labels is implemented. Then, the \(\alpha \)-upper and \(\alpha \)-lower approximations in the LDL data are put forward. Subsequently, to alleviate the influence of uncertainty on classification performance, robust feature evaluation measures for a LDL data, namely, “belief map" and “plausibility map" are defined, and they are based on the approximations. Next, feature selection algorithms utilizing belief and plausibility maps are specially designed. Finally, experimental results and statistical analyses demonstrate that the defined belief and plausibility maps can effectively measure the indeterminacy of LDL data, and the designed feature selection algorithms outperform five existing algorithms regarding classification performance.

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The data used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author after the paper is accepted for publication.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the editors and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions, which have helped immensely in improving the quality of the paper. This work is startup fund for doctoral research of Guangdong University of Science and technology (GKY-2024BSQDK-11), and Science Foundation in Guangdong University of Science and Technology (GKY-2023KYZDK-1).

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Contributions

Zhengwei Zhao: Methodology, Writing-Original draft; Rongrong Wang: Software, Writing-Original draft; Wei Pang: Editing, Investigation; Zhaowen Li: Validation, Editing.

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Correspondence to Wei Pang or Zhaowen Li.

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Zhao, Z., Wang, R., Pang, W. et al. Feature selection for label distribution learning using Dempster-Shafer evidence theory. Appl Intell 55, 259 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10489-024-05879-z

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