Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences

We present an approach to modeling the average case behavior of learning algorithms. Our motivation is to mathematically model the performance of learning algorithms in order to better understand the nature of their empirical behavior. We are interested in how differences in learning algorithms influence the expected accuracy of the concepts learned.

We present the Average Case Learning Model and apply the model to three learning algorithms: a purely empirical algorithm (Bruner's Wholist), an algorithm which prefers analytical (explanation-based) learning over empirical learning (EBL-FIRST-TM) and an algorithm integrating both analytical and empirical learning (lOSC-TM). The Average Case Learning Model is unique in that it is able to accurately predict the expected behavior of learning algorithms. We compare average case analysis to Valiant's Probably Approximately Correct (PAC) learning model.