Anamorphosis of fuzzy cognitive maps for operation in ambiguous and multi-stimulus real world environments

Abstract

FCMs were presented in the middle eighties and extended through studies, which enhanced the basic principles and proposed domains of successful application. The special scientific interest about FCMs is due to their favorable characteristics, in conjunction with the representation ability and the inference mechanism. Indeed, FCMs embrace flexibility, functionality and simplicity, while simultaneously they maintain the advantageous features of typical fuzzy systems. Although the core concepts of FCM theory have been clarified, robustness of the functional framework is still under question, as various aspects have not been explicitly described and in many cases, the current practice seems to restrict efficiency and credibility. The present work aims to improve the FCM background by conducting a thorough analysis of the basic principles, exposing modifications of the operating framework and, mainly, introducing an innovative inference procedure that manages more reasonably multi-stimulus situations, which constitute a common phenomenon in the real world.