A review of applications of the Bayes factor in psychological research

Daniel W Heck; Udo Boehm; Florian Böing-Messing; Paul-Christian Bürkner; Koen Derks; Zoltan Dienes; Qianrao Fu; Xin Gu; Diana Karimova; Henk A L Kiers; Irene Klugkist; Rebecca M Kuiper; Michael D Lee; Roger Leenders; Hidde J Leplaa; Maximilian Linde; Alexander Ly; Marlyne Meijerink-Bosman; Mirjam Moerbeek; Joris Mulder; Bence Palfi; Felix D Schönbrodt; Jorge N Tendeiro; Don van den Bergh; Caspar J Van Lissa; Don van Ravenzwaaij; Wolf Vanpaemel; Eric-Jan Wagenmakers; Donald R Williams; Mariëlle Zondervan-Zwijnenburg; Herbert Hoijtink

doi:10.1037/met0000454

A review of applications of the Bayes factor in psychological research

Daniel W Heck, Udo Boehm, Florian Böing-Messing, Paul-Christian Bürkner, Koen Derks, Zoltan Dienes, Qianrao Fu, Xin Gu, Diana Karimova, Henk A L Kiers, Irene Klugkist, Rebecca M Kuiper, Michael D Lee, Roger Leenders, Hidde J Leplaa, Maximilian Linde, Alexander Ly, Marlyne Meijerink-Bosman, Mirjam Moerbeek, Joris MulderBence Palfi, Felix D Schönbrodt, Jorge N Tendeiro, Don van den Bergh, Caspar J Van Lissa, Don van Ravenzwaaij, Wolf Vanpaemel, Eric-Jan Wagenmakers, Donald R Williams, Mariëlle Zondervan-Zwijnenburg, Herbert Hoijtink

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The last 25 years have shown a steady increase in attention for the Bayes factor as a tool for hypothesis evaluation and model selection. The present review highlights the potential of the Bayes factor in psychological research. We discuss six types of applications: Bayesian evaluation of point null, interval, and informative hypotheses, Bayesian evidence synthesis, Bayesian variable selection and model averaging, and Bayesian evaluation of cognitive models. We elaborate what each application entails, give illustrative examples, and provide an overview of key references and software with links to other applications. The article is concluded with a discussion of the opportunities and pitfalls of Bayes factor applications and a sketch of corresponding future research lines.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	558-579
Number of pages	22
Journal	Psychological Methods
Volume	28
Issue number	3
Early online date	17 Mar 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000454
Publication status	Published - 17 Mar 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Daniel W. Heck, proposed the idea for this article. Herbert Hoijtink, initiated the article. They jointly collected all contributions and constructed the article and accompanying website. The names of all contributing authors are listed in alphabetical order. While working on this article, the last author was supported by a fellowship from the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS-KNAW).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Psychological Association

Keywords

Bayes factor
Evidence
Hypothesis testing
Model selection
Theory evaluation

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10.1037/met0000454

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Heck, D. W., Boehm, U., Böing-Messing, F., Bürkner, P.-C., Derks, K., Dienes, Z., Fu, Q., Gu, X., Karimova, D., Kiers, H. A. L., Klugkist, I., Kuiper, R. M., Lee, M. D., Leenders, R., Leplaa, H. J., Linde, M., Ly, A., Meijerink-Bosman, M., Moerbeek, M., ... Hoijtink, H. (2022). A review of applications of the Bayes factor in psychological research. Psychological Methods, 28(3), 558-579. https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000454

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abstract = "The last 25 years have shown a steady increase in attention for the Bayes factor as a tool for hypothesis evaluation and model selection. The present review highlights the potential of the Bayes factor in psychological research. We discuss six types of applications: Bayesian evaluation of point null, interval, and informative hypotheses, Bayesian evidence synthesis, Bayesian variable selection and model averaging, and Bayesian evaluation of cognitive models. We elaborate what each application entails, give illustrative examples, and provide an overview of key references and software with links to other applications. The article is concluded with a discussion of the opportunities and pitfalls of Bayes factor applications and a sketch of corresponding future research lines.",

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note = "Funding Information: Daniel W. Heck, proposed the idea for this article. Herbert Hoijtink, initiated the article. They jointly collected all contributions and constructed the article and accompanying website. The names of all contributing authors are listed in alphabetical order. While working on this article, the last author was supported by a fellowship from the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS-KNAW). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 American Psychological Association",

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Heck, DW, Boehm, U, Böing-Messing, F, Bürkner, P-C, Derks, K, Dienes, Z, Fu, Q, Gu, X, Karimova, D, Kiers, HAL, Klugkist, I , Kuiper, RM, Lee, MD, Leenders, R, Leplaa, HJ, Linde, M, Ly, A, Meijerink-Bosman, M, Moerbeek, M, Mulder, J, Palfi, B, Schönbrodt, FD, Tendeiro, JN, van den Bergh, D, Van Lissa, CJ, van Ravenzwaaij, D, Vanpaemel, W, Wagenmakers, E-J, Williams, DR, Zondervan-Zwijnenburg, M & Hoijtink, H 2022, 'A review of applications of the Bayes factor in psychological research', Psychological Methods, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 558-579. https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000454

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AU - Boehm, Udo

AU - Böing-Messing, Florian

AU - Bürkner, Paul-Christian

AU - Derks, Koen

AU - Dienes, Zoltan

AU - Fu, Qianrao

AU - Gu, Xin

AU - Karimova, Diana

AU - Kiers, Henk A L

AU - Klugkist, Irene

AU - Kuiper, Rebecca M

AU - Lee, Michael D

AU - Leenders, Roger

AU - Leplaa, Hidde J

AU - Linde, Maximilian

AU - Ly, Alexander

AU - Meijerink-Bosman, Marlyne

AU - Moerbeek, Mirjam

AU - Mulder, Joris

AU - Palfi, Bence

AU - Schönbrodt, Felix D

AU - Tendeiro, Jorge N

AU - van den Bergh, Don

AU - Van Lissa, Caspar J

AU - van Ravenzwaaij, Don

AU - Vanpaemel, Wolf

AU - Wagenmakers, Eric-Jan

AU - Williams, Donald R

AU - Zondervan-Zwijnenburg, Mariëlle

AU - Hoijtink, Herbert

N1 - Funding Information: Daniel W. Heck, proposed the idea for this article. Herbert Hoijtink, initiated the article. They jointly collected all contributions and constructed the article and accompanying website. The names of all contributing authors are listed in alphabetical order. While working on this article, the last author was supported by a fellowship from the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS-KNAW). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 American Psychological Association

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AB - The last 25 years have shown a steady increase in attention for the Bayes factor as a tool for hypothesis evaluation and model selection. The present review highlights the potential of the Bayes factor in psychological research. We discuss six types of applications: Bayesian evaluation of point null, interval, and informative hypotheses, Bayesian evidence synthesis, Bayesian variable selection and model averaging, and Bayesian evaluation of cognitive models. We elaborate what each application entails, give illustrative examples, and provide an overview of key references and software with links to other applications. The article is concluded with a discussion of the opportunities and pitfalls of Bayes factor applications and a sketch of corresponding future research lines.

KW - Bayes factor

KW - Evidence

KW - Hypothesis testing

KW - Model selection

KW - Theory evaluation

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DO - 10.1037/met0000454

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C2 - 35298215

SN - 1082-989X

VL - 28

SP - 558

EP - 579

JO - Psychological Methods

JF - Psychological Methods

IS - 3

ER -

A review of applications of the Bayes factor in psychological research

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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