A Novel Hybrid Algorithm for Feature Selection Based on Whale Optimization Algorithm

Abstract

Feature selection enhances classification accuracy by removing irrelevant and redundant feature. Feature selection plays an important role in data mining and pattern recognition. In this paper, we propose a hybrid feature subset selection algorithm called the maximum Pearson maximum distance improved whale optimization algorithm (MPMDIWOA). First, based on Pearson's correlation coefficient and correlation distance, a filter algorithm is proposed named maximum Pearson maximum distance (MPMD). Two parameters are proposed in MPMD to adjust the weights of the relevance and redundancy. Second, the modified whale optimization algorithm can act as a wrapper algorithm. After introducing the maximum value without change (MVWC) and the threshold, the filter algorithm and the wrapper algorithm are combined to form an algorithm called MPMDIWOA. In MPMDIWOA, the filter algorithm and wrapper algorithm are called different times according to changes in MVWC and threshold. Finally, the optimal classification accuracy was found. The proposed method is tested on 10 benchmark datasets from UCI machine learning databases. The experimental results show that the classification accuracy of the proposed algorithm is significantly higher than that of the other three wrapper algorithms and one hybrid algorithm.