TY - GEN
T1 - Dormant independence
AU - Shpitser, Ilya
AU - Pearl, Judea
PY - 2008/12/24
Y1 - 2008/12/24
N2 - The construction of causal graphs from non-experimental data rests on a set of constraints that the graph structure imposes on all probability distributions compatible with the graph. These constraints are of two types: conditional independencies and algebraic constraints, first noted by Verma. While conditional independencies are well studied and frequently used in causal induction algorithms, Verma constraints are still poorly understood, and rarely applied. In this paper we examine a special subset of Verma constraints which are easy to understand, easy to identify and easy to apply; they arise from "dormant independencies," namely, conditional independencies that hold in interventional distributions. We give a complete algorithm for determining if a dormant independence between two sets of variable!; is entailed by the causal graph, such that this independence is identifiable, in other words if it resides in an interventional distribution that can be predicted without resorting to interventions. We further show the usefulness of dormant independencies in model testing and induction by giving an algorithm that uses constraints entailed by dormant independencies to prune extraneous edges from a given causal graph.
AB - The construction of causal graphs from non-experimental data rests on a set of constraints that the graph structure imposes on all probability distributions compatible with the graph. These constraints are of two types: conditional independencies and algebraic constraints, first noted by Verma. While conditional independencies are well studied and frequently used in causal induction algorithms, Verma constraints are still poorly understood, and rarely applied. In this paper we examine a special subset of Verma constraints which are easy to understand, easy to identify and easy to apply; they arise from "dormant independencies," namely, conditional independencies that hold in interventional distributions. We give a complete algorithm for determining if a dormant independence between two sets of variable!; is entailed by the causal graph, such that this independence is identifiable, in other words if it resides in an interventional distribution that can be predicted without resorting to interventions. We further show the usefulness of dormant independencies in model testing and induction by giving an algorithm that uses constraints entailed by dormant independencies to prune extraneous edges from a given causal graph.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=57749174832&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=57749174832&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:57749174832
SN - 9781577353683
T3 - Proceedings of the National Conference on Artificial Intelligence
SP - 1081
EP - 1087
BT - AAAI-08/IAAI-08 Proceedings - 23rd AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and the 20th Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence Conference
T2 - 23rd AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and the 20th Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence Conference, AAAI-08/IAAI-08
Y2 - 13 July 2008 through 17 July 2008
ER -