Validation techniques for case-based reasoning systems

Case-Based Reasoning (CaBR) systems, by their nature, have a built-in set of test cases in their case library. Effective use of this unusual feature can facilitate the validation process by minimizing the involvement of domain experts in the process. This can reduce the cost of the validation process, and eliminate the subjective component introduced by experts. This article proposes a validation technique which makes use of the case library to validate the CaBR system. Called the Case Library Subset Test Technique (CLST), it evaluates the correctness of the retrieval and adaptation functions of the CaBR engine with respect to the domain as represented by the case library. It is composed of two phases, 1) the Retrieval Test, and 2) the Adaptation Test. A complete description of the technique, as well as an application of the technique to validate an existing CaBR system are discussed in this paper.