Word sense disambiguation via high order of learning in complex networks

¹ Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of São Paulo - P. O. Box 369, Postal Code 13560-970, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil
² Institute of Physics of São Carlos, University of São Paulo - P. O. Box 369, Postal Code 13560-970, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil

^a thiagoch@icmc.usp.br
^b thiagochris@gmail.com
^c diego.amancio@usp.br
^d diegoraphael@gmail.com

Received: 11 April 2012
Accepted: 7 May 2012

Abstract

Complex networks have been employed to model many real systems and as a modeling tool in a myriad of applications. In this paper, we use the framework of complex networks to the problem of supervised classification in the word disambiguation task, which consists in deriving a function from the supervised (or labeled) training data of ambiguous words. Traditional supervised data classification takes into account only topological or physical features of the input data. On the other hand, the human (animal) brain performs both low- and high-level orders of learning and it has facility to identify patterns according to the semantic meaning of the input data. In this paper, we apply a hybrid technique which encompasses both types of learning in the field of word sense disambiguation and show that the high-level order of learning can really improve the accuracy rate of the model. This evidence serves to demonstrate that the internal structures formed by the words do present patterns that, generally, cannot be correctly unveiled by only traditional techniques. Finally, we exhibit the behavior of the model for different weights of the low- and high-level classifiers by plotting decision boundaries. This study helps one to better understand the effectiveness of the model.