A tutorial on Dirichlet process mixture modeling Journal Article


Authors: Li, Y.; Schofield, E.; Gönen, M.
Article Title: A tutorial on Dirichlet process mixture modeling
Abstract: Bayesian nonparametric (BNP) models are becoming increasingly important in psychology, both as theoretical models of cognition and as analytic tools. However, existing tutorials tend to be at a level of abstraction largely impenetrable by non-technicians. This tutorial aims to help beginners understand key concepts by working through important but often omitted derivations carefully and explicitly, with a focus on linking the mathematics with a practical computation solution for a Dirichlet Process Mixture Model (DPMM)—one of the most widely used BNP methods. Abstract concepts are made explicit and concrete to non-technical readers by working through the theory that gives rise to them. A publicly accessible computer program written in the statistical language R is explained line-by-line to help readers understand the computation algorithm. The algorithm is also linked to a construction method called the Chinese Restaurant Process in an accessible tutorial in this journal (Gershman and Blei, 2012). The overall goals are to help readers understand more fully the theory and application so that they may apply BNP methods in their own work and leverage the technical details in this tutorial to develop novel methods. © 2019 Elsevier Inc.
Keywords: gibbs sampling; mixture model; dirichlet process; bayesian nonparametric; chinese restaurant process
Journal Title: Journal of Mathematical Psychology
Volume: 91
ISSN: 0022-2496
Publisher: Elsevier Inc.  
Date Published: 2019-08-01
Start Page: 128
End Page: 144
Language: English
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmp.2019.04.004
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC6583910
PUBMED: 31217637
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Export Date: 3 June 2019 -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Yuelin Li
    220 Li
  2. Mithat Gonen
    1030 Gonen
  3. Elizabeth A Schofield
    162 Schofield
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