Function approximation on high-dimensional spaces is often thwarted by a lack of sufficient data to adequately "fill" the space, or lack of sufficient computational resources. The technique of local variable selection provides a partial solution to these problems by attempting to approximate functions locally using fewer than the complete set of input dimensions.

This paper extends work reported in (Hayashi & Nakai.

We present a logical relationship between a small number of intuitive properties for measures of belief and the axioms of probability theory. The relationship was first demonstrated several decades ago but has remained obscure. We introduce the proof and discuss its relevance to research on reasoning under uncertainty in artificial intelligence. In particular, we demonstrate that the logical relationship can facilitate the identification of differences among alternative plausible reasoning methodologies. Finally, we make use of the relationship to examine popular non-probabilistic strategies.

The theory of possibility described in this paper is related to the theory of fuzzy sets by defining the concept of a possibility distribution as a fuzzy restriction which acts as an elastic constraint on the values that may be assigned to a variable. More specifically, if F is a fuzzy subset of a universe of discourse U={u} which is characterized by its membership function μF, then a proposition of the form “X is F,” where X is a variable taking values in U, induces a possibility distribution ∏X which equates the possibility of X taking the value u to μF(u)—the compatibility of u with F. In this way, X becomes a fuzzy variable which is associated with the possibility distribution ∏x in much the same way as a random variable is associated with a probability distribution. In general, a variable may be associated both with a possibility distribution and a probability distribution, with the weak connection between the two expressed as the possibility/probability consistency principle. A thesis advanced in this paper is that the imprecision that is intrinsic in natural languages is, in the main, possibilistic rather than probabilistic in nature. Thus, by employing the concept of a possibility distribution, a proposition, p, in a natural language may be translated into a procedure which computes the probability distribution of a set of attributes which are implied by p. Several types of conditional translation rules are discussed and, in particular, a translation rule for propositions of the form “X is F is α-possible,” where α is a number in the interval [0, 1], is formulated and illustrated by examples.