A Hybrid Approach for Modular Neural Network Design Using Intercriteria Analysis and Intuitionistic Fuzzy Logic

Intercriteria analysis (ICA) is a new method, which is based on the concepts of index matrices and intuitionistic fuzzy sets, aiming at detection of possible correlations between pairs of criteria, expressed as coefficients of the positive and negative consonance between each pair of criteria. Here, the proposed method is applied to study the behavior of one type of neural networks, the modular neural networks (MNN), that combine several simple neural models for simplifying a solution to a complex problem. They are a tool that can be used for object recognition and identification. Usually the inputs of the MNN can be fed with independent data. However, there are certain limits when we may use MNN, and the number of the neurons is one of the major parameters during the implementation of the MNN. On the other hand, a high number of neurons can slow down the learning process, which is not desired. In this paper, we propose a method for removing part of the inputs and, hence, the neurons, which in addition leads to a decrease of the error between the desired goal value and the real value obtained on the output of the MNN. In the research work reported here the authors have applied the ICA method to the data from real datasets with measurements of crude oil probes, glass, and iris plant. The method can also be used to assess the independence of data with good results.