abstract = "This paper presents a new algorithm called Feature
Selection Age Layered Population Structure (FSALPS) for
feature subset selection and classification of varied
supervised learning tasks. FSALPS is a modification of
Hornby's ALPS algorithm - an evolutionary algorithm
renown for avoiding pre-mature convergence on difficult
problems. FSALPS uses a novel frequency count system to
rank features in the GP population based on evolved
feature frequencies. The ranked features are translated
into probabilities, which are used to control
evolutionary processes such as terminal-symbol
selection for the construction of GP trees/sub-trees.
The FSALPS meta-heuristic continuously refines the
feature subset selection process whiles simultaneously
evolving efficient classifiers through a non-converging
evolutionary process that favours selection of features
with high discrimination of class labels. We compared
the performance of canonical GP, ALPS and FSALPS on
some high-dimensional benchmark classification
datasets, including a hyperspectral vision problem.
Although all algorithms had similar classification
accuracy, ALPS and FSALPS usually dominated canonical
GP in terms of smaller and efficient trees.
Furthermore, FSALPS significantly outperformed
canonical GP, ALPS, and other feature selection
strategies in the literature in its ability to perform
dimensionality reduction",