Fuzzy cognitive maps reasoning with words based on triangular fuzzy numbers

Abstract

A pivotal difference between Artificial Neural Networks and Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) is that the latter allow modeling a physical system in terms of concepts and causal relations, thus equipping the network with interpretability features. However, such components are normally described by quantitative terms, which may be difficult to handle by domain experts. In this paper, we explore a reasoning mechanism for FCMs based on the Computing with Words paradigm where numerical concepts and relations are replaced with linguistic terms. More explicitly, we include triangular fuzzy numbers into the qualitative reasoning process attached to our model, thus proving further interpretability and transparency. The simulations show the potential behind the symbolic reasoning mechanism proposed in this study.