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Neural Networks and Computational Learning Theory

 

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NeuroCOLT Technical Report NC-TR-96-024

Lower Bounds on Identification Criteria for Perceptron-like Learning Rules

Michael Schmitt
Institute for Theoretical Computer Science
Technische Universitaet Graz
Austria

Abstract
Topic of this paper is the computational complexity of identifying neural weights using Perceptron-like learning rules. By Perceptron-like rules we understand instructions to modify weight vectors by adding or subtracting constant values after occurrence of an error. By computational complexity we mean worst-case bounds on the number of correction steps. The training examples are taken from Boolean functions computable by McCulloch-Pitts neurons. Exact identification by the Perceptron rule is known to take exponential time in the worst case. Therefore, we define identification criteria that do not require that the learning process exactly identifies the function being learned: PAC identification, order identification, and sign identification. Our results show that Perceptron-like learning rules cannot satisfy any of these criteria when the number of correction steps is to be bounded by a polynomial. This indicates that even by considerably lowering one's demands on the learning process one cannot prevent Perceptron rules from being computationally infeasible.

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