Encyclopedia of Machine Learning

Encyclopedia of Machine Learning

Encyclopedia of Machine Learning

Abduction is a form of reasoning, sometimes described
as “deduction in reverse,” whereby given a rule that
“A follows from B” and the observed result of “A” we
infer the condition “B” of the rule. More generally,
given a theory, T, modeling a domain of interest and
an observation, “A,” we infer a hypothesis “B” such that
the observation follows deductively from T augmented
with “B.” We think of “B” as a possible explanation
for the observation according to the given theory that
contains our rule. is new information and its consequences
(or ramications) according to the given theory
can be considered as the result of a (or part of a) learning
process based on the given theory and driven by the
observations that are explained by abduction. Abduction
can be combined with 7induction in dišerent ways
to enhance this learning process.

Claude Sammut, Geoffrey I. Webb (Eds.)