conditional_effects.bmmfit: Conditional Effects for BMM Models

In bmm: Easy and Accessible Bayesian Measurement Models Using 'brms'

Conditional Effects for BMM Models

Description

Compute conditional effects for parameters of a bmmfit object. This method provides a more intuitive interface than directly calling brms::conditional_effects() on bmmfit objects, by:

• Accepting model parameter names directly (e.g., "kappa", "thetat")

• Automatically determining whether parameters are distributional or non-linear

• Optionally applying inverse link transformations to show parameters on their natural scale

Usage

## S3 method for class 'bmmfit'
conditional_effects(x, par = NULL, scale = c("native", "sampling"), ...)

Arguments

x	A bmmfit object (created by bmm())
par	Character string. Name of the model parameter to compute effects for. This should be one of the parameter names from the original model specification (see names(x$bmm$model$parameters)). If NULL (the default), conditional effects are computed for all estimated (non-fixed) parameters.
scale	Character. Scale on which to show the parameter: "native" (default) Show on natural scale using inverse link transformation. For example, kappa with log link shown on exp scale, thetat with logit (mixture2p) or softmax (mixture3p) link shown on the probability scale. "sampling" Show on the sampling scale (as used during MCMC). For example, kappa with log link shown on log scale.
...	Additional arguments passed to brms::conditional_effects(). Common arguments include: effects: Character vector specifying which predictor effects to plot conditions: Named list for setting values of covariates int_conditions: Conditions for interactions prob: Probability mass to include in credible intervals (default 0.95) spaghetti: Logical, whether to add spaghetti lines method: Method for computing effects ("posterior_predict" or "posterior_epred"; "posterior_predict" is not available for models with a multinomial family, see Details)

Details

Parameter Types

bmm models use two types of parameters internally:

• Non-linear parameters (nlpar): Model parameters that enter the likelihood through a non-linear formula, like kappa and thetat of mixture3p() or c and a of m3()

• Distributional parameters (dpar): Parameters of the response distribution itself, like kappa and c of sdm()

Users should not need to know this distinction - conditional_effects.bmmfit() automatically routes to the correct parameter type.

Scale Transformations

By default (scale = "native"), parameters are shown on their natural scale by applying inverse link transformations:

• log link → exp transformation

• logit link → inverse logit (probability scale)

• tan_half link → 2*atan transformation (radians)

• identity link → no transformation

Use scale = "sampling" to see parameters on the scale used during MCMC sampling.

estimate__, lower__, upper__ and the spaghetti lines follow scale. se__ does not: it is the spread of the draws on the scale brms or bmm summarises them on, so for a link other than identity it can sit on a different scale than estimate__. For example, se__ of kappa is on the sampling scale in mixture3p() and on the native scale in sdm(), at either scale. Use lower__ and upper__ to describe uncertainty on the requested scale. With robust = FALSE, estimate__ is the mean and se__ the standard deviation of the draws on that scale, and estimate__ is then mapped to the requested scale: at scale = "native" the estimate of a non-linear parameter with a log link is the exponential of the mean log value, not the mean of the exponentiated draws.

The default of robust is TRUE (median and MAD), as in brms::conditional_effects(), with one exception: thetat and thetant of mixture3p() at scale = "native" default to robust = FALSE (mean and standard deviation).

Models with a multinomial family

In models fitted with a multinomial response (m3(), sdt_rating(), sdt_cdp(), sdt_ranking()), the parameters are latent quantities: they have no predictive distribution, no response categories and no response points. For these models:

• The effect is the posterior of the parameter itself, summarised by the median and MAD of the draws; use robust = FALSE for their mean and standard deviation.

• The grid of the plotted predictor and the values of all other predictors are set by the rules of brms::conditional_effects().

• Without effects, only the effects brms lists for the parameter's own formula are returned. A parameter without predictors has no effects.

• categorical, ordinal, select_points and transform are errors, and method must be "posterior_epred" or "posterior_linpred" (or an alias brms::conditional_effects() reads as one of them, such as "fitted"), which agree for a parameter.

Value

A brms_conditional_effects object (from brms), which can be:

• Plotted directly using plot()

• Converted to a data frame for custom plotting

• Combined with other conditional effects plots

See Also

brms::conditional_effects() for the underlying brms function

Examples

## Not run: 
# Fit a mixture model with set size effect on kappa
fit <- bmm(
  formula = bmf(kappa ~ 0 + setsize, thetat ~ 1),
  data = zhang_luck_2008,
  model = mixture3p(
    resp_error = "response_error",
    nt_features = paste0("col_lure", 1:5),
    set_size = "setsize"
  )
)

# Get conditional effects for kappa on natural scale (exp of log)
ce_kappa <- conditional_effects(fit, par = "kappa")
plot(ce_kappa)

# Get conditional effects for kappa on log scale (sampling scale)
ce_kappa_log <- conditional_effects(fit, par = "kappa", scale = "sampling")
plot(ce_kappa_log)

# Get effects for thetat (memory probability)
ce_thetat <- conditional_effects(fit, par = "thetat")
plot(ce_thetat)

# Specify which effects to plot
ce_specific <- conditional_effects(fit, par = "kappa", effects = "setsize")

# Combine with other brms options
ce_detailed <- conditional_effects(
  fit,
  par = "kappa",
  effects = "setsize",
  spaghetti = TRUE,
  ndraws = 100
)

## End(Not run)

bmm documentation built on Oct. 16, 2026, 9:08 a.m.