Heuristics for Signature Table Analysis as a Pattern Recognition Technique

The signature table method is a hierarchical approach for the recognition of binary patterns which are described by means of many features. The method was first applied by A. L. Samuel and his students for prediction of whether a given checker position was master quality or not. The variants of the methods discussed herein consider it as a general pattern recognition technique. Examples are presented to suggest both the potential and hazards of using the method for recognition of patterns. Advantages of the method are the extraction of nonlinear Boolean relationships among the variables, the use of incomplete data in a routine way, and that it sometimes may provide better prediction at less cost than multiple regression. The principle disadvantage, the lack of a theory to guide the choice of key parameters in the method, can sometimes be overcome by systematic computer search.