Analyzing Spatial Responses: A Comparison of IRT-Based Approaches
Date
2023-03-07
Authors
Luby, Amanda
Daillak, Thomas
Huang, Sherry
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© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Abstract
We investigate two approaches for analyzing spatial coordinate responses using models inspired by Item Response Theory (IRT). In the first, we use a two-stage approach to first construct a pseudoresponse matrix using the spatial information and then apply standard IRT techniques to estimate proficiency and item parameters. In the second approach, we introduce the Spatial Error Model and use the spatial coordinates directly to infer information about the true locations and participant precision. As a motivating example, we use a study from forensic science designed to measure how fingerprint examiners use minutiae (small details in the fingerprint that form the basis for uniqueness) to come to an identification decision. The study found substantial participant variability, as different participants tend to focus on different areas of the image and some participants mark more minutiae than others. Using simulated data, we illustrate the relative strengths and weaknesses of each modeling approach, and demonstrate the advantages of modeling the spatial coordinates directly in the Spatial Error Model.
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Comments
This is the manuscript of a proceeding published as Luby, A., Daillak, T., Huang, S. (2023). Analyzing Spatial Responses: A Comparison of IRT-Based Approaches. In: Wiberg, M., Molenaar, D., González, J., Kim, JS., Hwang, H. (eds) Quantitative Psychology. IMPS 2022. Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics, vol 422. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27781-8_31. Posted with permission of CSAFE.