Influence factor-based transformation method for translating mass function to probability in Dempster-Shafer evidence theory

Haocheng Shao, Lipeng Pan, Jiahui Chen, Xiaozhuan Gao, Bingyi Kang

Abstract: Dempster–Shafer evidence theory provides an effective mathematical tool to represent uncertain information by assigning information into power set. Among its associated studies, a pivotal challenge is the transformation of mass functions into probability distributions which can enhance the robustness and reliability of decision-making. In this paper, influence factor is constructed by considering the impact of transformation between multi-element propositions and single-element propositions. Then based on influence factor, the novel transformation method is proposed. In addition, some numerical examples are used to explain effectiveness of new method by analyzing the probability information capacity of different methods. Finally, this paper applies the novel method to target recognition and validates its effectiveness as well as its enhanced support for decision-making through the utilization of real-world datasets.