A generalized adaptive ensemble generation and aggregation approach for multiple classifier systems

In this paper, a generalized adaptive ensemble generation and aggregation (GAEGA) method for the design of multiple classifier systems (MCSs) is proposed. GAEGA adopts an “over-generation and selection” strategy to achieve a good bias–variance tradeoff. In the training phase, different ensembles of classifiers are adaptively generated by fitting the validation data globally with different degrees. The test data are then classified by each of the generated ensembles. The final decision is made by taking into consideration both the ability of each ensemble to fit the validation data locally and reducing the risk of overfitting. In this paper, the performance of GAEGA is assessed experimentally in comparison with other multiple classifier aggregation methods on 16 data sets. The experimental results demonstrate that GAEGA significantly outperforms the other methods in terms of average accuracy, ranging from 2.6% to 17.6%.