Generalized fuzzy indices for similarity matching

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new family of fuzzy similarity indices, referred to as the generalised Tversky index (GTI). The developmen t of GTI is based on the theoretical findings by Amos Tversky regarding the human perception of similarity between different objects, as formulated by the Features Contrast model (FC). Although GTI was developed starting from Tversky's FC, it is shown that it provides a fuzzy extension and generaliz ation of several widely used similarity indices like the Jaccard and Dice c oefficients. The mathematical properties of two members of the GTI family, namely TIM and TIP, are studied and their interpretation of similarity is e xplained by comparison to other conventional indices. (C) 2001 Elsevier Sci ence B.V. All rights reserved.