The ability of case-based reasoning systems to solve novel problems depends on their capability to adapt past solutions to new circumstances. However, acquiring the knowledge required for case adaptation is a classic challenge for CBR. This motivates the use of machine learning methods to generate adaptation knowledge. A popular approach uses the case difference heuristic (CDH) to generate adaptation rules from pairs of cases in the case base, based on the premise that the observed differences in case solutions result from the differences in the problems they solve, so can form the basic of rules to adapt cases with similar problem differences. Extensive research has successfully applied the CDH approach to adaptation rule learning for case-based regression (numerical prediction) tasks. However, classification tasks have been outside of its scope. The work presented in this paper addresses that gap by extending CDH-based learning of adaptation rules to apply to cases with categorical features and solutions. It presents the generalized case value heuristic to assess case and solution differences and applies it in an ensemble-based case-based classification method, ensembles of adaptations for classification (EAC), built on the authors' previous work on ensembles of adaptations for regression (EAR). Experimental results support the effectiveness of EAC.

In case-based reasoning (CBR), problems are solved by retrieving prior cases and adapting their solutions to fit; learning occurs as new cases are stored. Controlling the growth of the case base is a fundamental problem, and research on case-base maintenance has developed methods for compacting case bases while maintaining system competence, primarily by competence-based deletion strategies assuming static case adaptation knowledge. This paper proposes adaptation-guided case-base maintenance (AGCBM), a case-base maintenance approach exploiting the ability to dynamically generate new adaptation knowledge from cases. In AGCBM, case retention decisions are based both on cases' value as base cases for solving problems and on their value for generating new adaptation rules. he paper illustrates the method for numerical prediction tasks (case-based regression) in which adaptation rules are generated automatically using the case difference heuristic. In comparisons of AGCBM to five alternative methods in four domains, for varying case base densities, AGCBM outperformed the alternatives in all domains, with greatest benefit at high compression.