Deriving two-stage learning sequences from knowledge in fuzzy sequential pattern mining

A fuzzy sequential pattern consisting of several fuzzy sets represents a frequently occurring behavior related to time and can be discovered from transaction bases. An example is that large purchase amounts of one product were bought by customers after these consumers had bought small purchase amounts of another product. Recently, Hu et al. (2003) proposed a fuzzy data mining method to discover fuzzy sequential patterns. In this method, consumers’ products preferences and consumers’ product buying orders related to purchase behaviors can be found in the fuzzy sequential pattern mining. Since for each decision problem, there is a competence set consisting of ideas, knowledge, information, and skills for solving that problem, we consider knowledge found in fuzzy sequential pattern mining as a needed competence set for solving one decision problem. This paper uses a known competence set expansion method, the minimum spanning table method, to find appropriate two-stage learning sequences that can effectively acquire individual fuzzy knowledge sets found in the fuzzy sequential pattern mining. A numerical example is used to show the usefulness of the proposed method. 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.