Investigating the Impact of Observation Errors on the Statistical Performance of Network-based Diffusion Analysis
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Investigating the Impact of Observation Errors on the Statistical Performance of Network-based Diffusion Analysis
| Title: | Investigating the Impact of Observation Errors on the Statistical Performance of Network-based Diffusion Analysis |
| Author: |
Franz, Mathias; Nunn, Charles Lindsay
Note: Order does not necessarily reflect citation order of authors. |
| Citation: | Franz, Mathias and Charles L. Nunn. 2010. Investigating the impact of observation errors on the statistical performance of network-based diffusion analysis. Learning and Behavior 38(3): 235-242. |
| Full Text & Related Files: |
Franz & Nunn 2010 L&B submitted MS.pdf (148.7Kb; PDF) 
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| Abstract: | Experiments in captivity have provided evidence for social learning, but it remains challenging to demon- strate social learning in the wild. Recently, we developed network-based diffusion analysis (NBDA; 2009) as a new approach to inferring social learning from observational data. NBDA fits alternative models of asocial and social learning to the diffusion of a behavior through time, where the potential for social learning is related to a social network. Here, we investigate the performance of NBDA in relation to variation in group size, network heterogeneity, observer sampling errors, and duration of trait diffusion. We find that observation errors, when severe enough, can lead to increased Type I error rates in detecting social learning. However, elevated Type I error rates can be prevented by coding the observed times of trait acquisition into larger time units. Collectively, our results provide further guidance to applying NBDA and demonstrate that the method is more robust to sampling error than initially expected. Supplemental materials for this article may be downloaded from http:// lb.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental. |
| Published Version: | doi:10.3758/LB.38.3.235 |
| Other Sources: | http://www.springerlink.com/content/r540146383466234/ |
| Terms of Use: | This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#OAP |
| Citable link to this page: | http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:5344185 |
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FAS Scholarly Articles [5128]
Peer reviewed scholarly articles from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University
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