Title
Estimating the DINA model parameters using the No-U-Turn Sampler
Date Issued
01 March 2018
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
da Silva M.A.
de Oliveira E.S.B.
von Davier A.A.
Universidad de São Paulo
Publisher(s)
Wiley-VCH Verlag
Abstract
The deterministic inputs, noisy, “and” gate (DINA) model is a popular cognitive diagnosis model (CDM) in psychology and psychometrics used to identify test takers' profiles with respect to a set of latent attributes or skills. In this work, we propose an estimation method for the DINA model with the No-U-Turn Sampler (NUTS) algorithm, an extension to Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC) method. We conduct a simulation study in order to evaluate the parameter recovery and efficiency of this new Markov chain Monte Carlo method and to compare it with two other Bayesian methods, the Metropolis Hastings and Gibbs sampling algorithms, and with a frequentist method, using the Expectation–Maximization (EM) algorithm. The results indicated that NUTS algorithm employed in the DINA model properly recovers all parameters and is accurate for all simulated scenarios. We apply this methodology in the mental health area in order to develop a new method of classification for respondents to the Beck Depression Inventory. The implementation of this method for the DINA model applied to other psychological tests has the potential to improve the medical diagnostic process.
Start page
352
End page
368
Volume
60
Issue
2
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencias de la computación Matemáticas aplicadas
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85036577087
PubMed ID
Source
Biometrical Journal
ISSN of the container
03233847
Sponsor(s)
The first and second authors are grateful to CAPES/MEC/Brazil Government for its scholarship during their PhD studies. The last author was partially supported by FAPESP (2017/07773-6). We also acknowledge the editorial help given by Andrew Cantine (ACTNext) during the preparation of the last version. The research was conducted with use of the computing resources of the Center of Mathematical Sciences Applied to Industry (CeMEAI), financed by FAPESP. The authors thank the editor, the associate editor, and the referees for useful comments that improved the original version of the article. The authors also thank Professor Mariana Curi for making available the database used in this work.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus