Intuitionistic fuzzy reasoning with cognitive maps

Fuzzy cognitive maps have proven an exceptional means to reasoning for decision support. In this paper we propose a novel approach to hesitancy-aware reasoning based on cognitive maps and intuitionistic fuzzy logic. Intuitionistic fuzzy sets are considered for the linguistic representation of both the concepts of a cognitive map and the relations defined between them. A comparative advantage of this approach over the state of the art is an intrinsic mechanism of modeling human hesitancy, as introduced in the construction of a cognitive model, and propagated through the reasoning process to a final decision. A numerical example demonstrates its effectiveness which can extend to a variety of real-world applications.