ERIC Number: EJ1214826
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Jun
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1076-9986
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Estimating the Entropy Rate of Finite Markov Chains with Application to Behavior Studies
Vegetabile, Brian G.; Stout-Oswald, Stephanie A.; Davis, Elysia Poggi; Baram, Tallie Z.; Stern, Hal S.
Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, v44 n3 p282-308 Jun 2019
Predictability of behavior is an important characteristic in many fields including biology, medicine, marketing, and education. When a sequence of actions performed by an individual can be modeled as a stationary time-homogeneous Markov chain the predictability of the individual's behavior can be quantified by the entropy rate of the process. This article compares three estimators of the entropy rate of finite Markov processes. The first two methods directly estimate the entropy rate through estimates of the transition matrix and stationary distribution of the process. The third method is related to the sliding-window Lempel-Ziv compression algorithm. The methods are compared via a simulation study and in the context of a study of interactions between mothers and their children.
Descriptors: Markov Processes, Prediction, Behavior, Computation, Sampling, Statistical Inference, Error of Measurement, Parent Child Relationship, Mothers, Young Children
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (DHHS)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: P50MH096889
Author Affiliations: N/A