Generalisation and Model Selection in Supervised Learning with Evolutionary Computation

EC-based supervised learning has been demonstrated to be an effective approach to forming predictive models in genomics, spectral interpretation, and other problems in modern biology. Longer-established methods such as PLS and ANN are also often successful. In supervised learning, overtraining is always a potential problem. The literature reports numerous methods of validating predictive models in order to avoid overtraining. Some of these approaches can be applied to EC-based methods of supervised learning, though the characteristics of EC learning are different from those obtained with PLS and ANN and selecting a suitably general model can be more difficult. This paper reviews the issues and various approaches, illustrating salient points with examples taken from applications in bioinformatics.