Zita Oravecz
Biographic Data
| ID | 124853 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Zita Oravecz |
| GIVEN NAMES | Zita |
| FAMILY NAME | Oravecz |
| SIGNATURE | ORAVECZ Z |
| AFFILIATIONS | Pennsylvania State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9070-3329 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 43 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Simultaneous detection of gradual and abrupt structural changes in Bayesian longitudinal modelling using entropy and model fit measures
Although individuals may exhibit both gradual and abrupt changes in their dynamic properties as shaped by both slowly accumulating influences and acute events, existing statistical frameworks offer limited capacity for the simultaneous detection and representation of these distinct change patterns. We propose a Bayesian regime‐switching (RS) modelling framework and an entropy measure adapted from the frequentist framework to facilitate simultaneo…
Multiple Imputation with Factor Scores: A Practical Approach for Handling Simultaneous Missingness Across Items in Longitudinal Designs
full-information maximum likelihood) under different conditions. Across conditions, we found MI-based methods overall outperformed the LD; the MI-FS approach yielded lower root mean square errors (RMSEs) and higher coverage rates for auto-regression (AR) parameters compared to MI-MV; and the PMI-MV and MI-MV approaches yielded higher coverage rates for most parameters except AR parameters compared to MI-FS. These approaches were also compared usi…
Computational Phenotyping of Cognitive Decline With Retest Learning
Objectives Cognitive change is a complex phenomenon encompassing both retest-related performance gains and potential cognitive decline. Disentangling these dynamics is necessary for effective tracking of subtle cognitive change and risk factors for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). Method We applied a computational cognitive model of learning and forgetting to data from Einstein Aging Study (EAS; n = 316). EAS participants complet…
Quantifying Evidence for—and against—Granger Causality with Bayes Factors
Testing for Granger causality relies on estimating the capacity of dynamics in one time series to forecast dynamics in another. The canonical test for such temporal predictive causality is based on fitting multivariate time series models and is cast in the classical null hypothesis testing framework. In this framework, we are limited to rejecting the null hypothesis or failing to reject the null - we can never validly accept the null hypothesis o…
What makes early adults feel loved? Cultural consensus of felt love experiences in early adulthood
The experience of love plays an integral role in human development as adolescents transition into adulthood. However, little is known about whether early adults have a shared understanding about indicators of love in daily life in this transitional phase. Using Cultural Consensus Theory informed by developmental theory, this study examined whether college-attending early adults in the United States reach a consensus on what makes people feel love…
A Growth of Hierarchical Autoregression Model for Capturing Individual Differences in Changes of Dynamic Characteristics of Psychological Processes
Several methodological innovations have been advanced in the past decades that combine growth curve models (GCMs) with models of autoregressive (AR) processes. However, most of these approaches do not effectively capitalize on known (e.g., study design-related) information to structure the growth curves into meaningful between- and within-phase changes, while simultaneously accommodating interindividual differences in these intraindividual change…
Momentary Perma: An Adapted Measurement Tool for Studying Well-Being in Daily Life
PERMA is a multidimensional framework that explains well-being through five hedonic and eudaimonic psychological elements–Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment. Soon after the PERMA framework was proposed, PERMA-Profiler was introduced as a validated assessment tool for measuring these five elements of well-being from a global perspective. The current study aimed to shed further light onto the measurement of PERMA …
Fitting Bayesian Stochastic Differential Equation Models with Mixed Effects through a Filtering Approach
Recent advances in technology contribute to a fast-growing number of studies utilizing intensive longitudinal data, and call for more flexible methods to address the demands that come with them. One issue that arises from collecting longitudinal data from multiple units in time is nested data, where the variability observed in such data is a mixture of within-unit changes and between-unit differences. This article aims to provide a model-fitting …
Fitting Multilevel Vector Autoregressive Models in Stan, Jags, and Mplus
The influx of intensive longitudinal data creates a pressing need for complex modeling tools that help enrich our understanding of how individuals change over time. Multilevel vector autoregressive (mlVAR) models allow for simultaneous evaluations of reciprocal linkages between dynamic processes and individual differences, and have gained increased recognition in recent years. High-dimensional and other complex variations of mlVAR models, though …
Are paranoid ideation and hallucination spectrum experiences differently associated with affect dynamics? A continuous-time modeling approach
Psychotic experiences have been associated with distortions in affective functioning, including aberrancies in affect dynamics. However, it remains unclear whether the two principal symptom dimensions of psychosis, namely paranoid ideation and hallucination spectrum experiences, are differently associated with affect dynamics, and whether associations hold after statistically controlling for depressive symptoms. We investigate this by using a nov…
Assessing psychological well-being in early adulthood: Empirical evidence for the structure of daily well-being via network analysis
The transitional years of early adulthood, with key tasks of identity and intimacy development, engender both opportunities and risks for well-being. We propose that the conceptualization and measurement of early adults’ well-being can be improved through (a) an integration of ideas from developmental and psychological science on well-being, (b) the use of short, daily momentary assessments of well-being, and (c) a developmentally-informed examin…
I feel loved when other people feel loved: Cultural congruence in beliefs on love is related to well-being
Cultural conformity in psychological constructs has been shown to play a critical role in people's health and well-being. The more people's individual beliefs about a construct aligns with the cultural norms, their cultural identity is more cultivated, leading to higher levels of well-being. Considering feeling loved in everyday contexts as a social construct that people indicate shared beliefs and cultural consensus for, in the current study, we…
A Bayesian Approach to Estimate the Spatial Distribution of Crowdsourced Radiation Measurements around Fukushima
Citizen-led movements producing spatio-temporal big data are potential sources of useful information during hazards. Yet, the sampling of crowdsourced data is often opportunistic and the statistical variations in the datasets are not typically assessed. There is a scientific need to understand the characteristics and geostatistical variability of big spatial data from these diverse sources if they are to be used for decision making. Crowdsourced …
Daily Implications of Felt Love for Sleep Quality
This study introduces the concept of felt love as the monadic experience of love, a parallel of dyadic love, and presents a study examining the relationships between daily felt love and sleep quality across 28 days. Before beginning the daily protocol, participants answered 60 questions assessing common situations that may make people feel loved. These questions were used to establish a consensus on the meaning of felt love for the specific parti…
Associations Between Slow- and Fast-Timescale Indicators of Emotional Functioning
“Core affect”—defined as momentary valence (pleasantness) and arousal (activation) levels—plays an important role in our emotional experiences. We examined the relationship between the “fast-timescale” (moment-to-moment) changes in core affect and “slow-timescale” (trait-level) indicators of emotional functioning. Results from an experience sampling study showed that daily valence and arousal baselines were positively related to emotional well-be…
A Novel Hierarchical Later Process Model: Evaluating Latent Sources of Variation in Reaction Times of Adult Daily Smokers
Reaction time data from cognitive tasks continue to be a key way to assess decision-making in various contexts to better understand addiction. The goal of this paper is twofold: to introduce a nuanced modeling approach for reaction time data and to demonstrate the novel insights it can provide into the decision processes of nicotine-dependent individuals in different contexts. We focus on the Linear Approach to Threshold with Ergodic Rate (LATER)…
What does it mean to feel loved: Cultural consensus and individual differences in felt love
Cultural consensus theory is a statistical framework (CCT) for the study of individual differences in the knowledge of culturally shared opinions. In this article, we demonstrate how a CCT analysis can be used to study individual differences and cultural consensus on what makes people feel loved, or more generally any social behaviors that are governed by cognitive schemata. To highlight the advantages of the method, we describe a study in which …
Modeling Intraindividual Dynamics Using Stochastic Differential Equations: Age Differences in Affect Regulation
The results highlight the utility of SDE models for studying affect dynamics and informing theoretical predictions about how intraindividual dynamics change over the life course
Bayesian Data Analysis with the Bivariate Hierarchical Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Process Model
In this paper, we propose a multilevel process modeling approach to describing individual differences in within-person changes over time. To characterize changes within an individual, repeated measures over time are modeled in terms of three person-specific parameters: a baseline level, intraindividual variation around the baseline, and regulatory mechanisms adjusting toward baseline. Variation due to measurement error is separated from meaningfu…
Bayesian Cultural Consensus Theory
In this article, we present a Bayesian inference framework for cultural consensus theory (CCT) models for dichotomous (True/False) response data and provide an associated, user-friendly software package along with a detailed user’s guide to carry out the inference. We believe that the time is ripe for Bayesian statistical inference to become the default choice in the field of CCT. Unfortunately, a lack of publications presenting a practical descr…
An Extended Cultural Consensus Theory Model to Account for Cognitive Processes in Decision Making in Social Surveys
In recent decades, cultural consensus theory (CCT) models have been extensively applied across research domains to explore shared cultural knowledge and beliefs. These models are parameterized in terms of person-specific cognitive parameters such as abilities and guessing biases as well as item difficulties. Although psychometric test theory is also formalized in terms of abilities and item difficulties, a quality that clearly sets CCT models apa…
Feelings change: Accounting for individual differences in the temporal dynamics of affect
People display a remarkable variability in the patterns and trajectories with which their feelings change over time. In this article, we present a theoretical account for the dynamics of affect (DynAffect) that identifies the major processes underlying individual differences in the temporal dynamics of affective experiences. It is hypothesized that individuals are characterized by an affective home base, a baseline attractor state around which af…
Feelings change: Accounting for individual differences in the temporal dynamics of affect
People display a remarkable variability in the patterns and trajectories with which their feelings change over time. In this article, we present a theoretical account for the dynamics of affect (DynAffect) that identifies the major processes underlying individual differences in the temporal dynamics of affective experiences. It is hypothesized that individuals are characterized by an affective home base, a baseline attractor state around which af…
An Extended Cultural Consensus Theory Model to Account for Cognitive Processes in Decision Making in Social Surveys
In recent decades, cultural consensus theory (CCT) models have been extensively applied across research domains to explore shared cultural knowledge and beliefs. These models are parameterized in terms of person-specific cognitive parameters such as abilities and guessing biases as well as item difficulties. Although psychometric test theory is also formalized in terms of abilities and item difficulties, a quality that clearly sets CCT models apa…
What does it mean to feel loved: Cultural consensus and individual differences in felt love
Cultural consensus theory is a statistical framework (CCT) for the study of individual differences in the knowledge of culturally shared opinions. In this article, we demonstrate how a CCT analysis can be used to study individual differences and cultural consensus on what makes people feel loved, or more generally any social behaviors that are governed by cognitive schemata. To highlight the advantages of the method, we describe a study in which …
I feel loved when other people feel loved: Cultural congruence in beliefs on love is related to well-being
Cultural conformity in psychological constructs has been shown to play a critical role in people's health and well-being. The more people's individual beliefs about a construct aligns with the cultural norms, their cultural identity is more cultivated, leading to higher levels of well-being. Considering feeling loved in everyday contexts as a social construct that people indicate shared beliefs and cultural consensus for, in the current study, we…
Modeling Intraindividual Dynamics Using Stochastic Differential Equations: Age Differences in Affect Regulation
The results highlight the utility of SDE models for studying affect dynamics and informing theoretical predictions about how intraindividual dynamics change over the life course
Computational Phenotyping of Cognitive Decline With Retest Learning
Objectives Cognitive change is a complex phenomenon encompassing both retest-related performance gains and potential cognitive decline. Disentangling these dynamics is necessary for effective tracking of subtle cognitive change and risk factors for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). Method We applied a computational cognitive model of learning and forgetting to data from Einstein Aging Study (EAS; n = 316). EAS participants complet…
Feelings change: Accounting for individual differences in the temporal dynamics of affect
People display a remarkable variability in the patterns and trajectories with which their feelings change over time. In this article, we present a theoretical account for the dynamics of affect (DynAffect) that identifies the major processes underlying individual differences in the temporal dynamics of affective experiences. It is hypothesized that individuals are characterized by an affective home base, a baseline attractor state around which af…
Bayesian Cultural Consensus Theory
In this article, we present a Bayesian inference framework for cultural consensus theory (CCT) models for dichotomous (True/False) response data and provide an associated, user-friendly software package along with a detailed user’s guide to carry out the inference. We believe that the time is ripe for Bayesian statistical inference to become the default choice in the field of CCT. Unfortunately, a lack of publications presenting a practical descr…
An Extended Cultural Consensus Theory Model to Account for Cognitive Processes in Decision Making in Social Surveys
In recent decades, cultural consensus theory (CCT) models have been extensively applied across research domains to explore shared cultural knowledge and beliefs. These models are parameterized in terms of person-specific cognitive parameters such as abilities and guessing biases as well as item difficulties. Although psychometric test theory is also formalized in terms of abilities and item difficulties, a quality that clearly sets CCT models apa…
Bayesian Data Analysis with the Bivariate Hierarchical Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Process Model
In this paper, we propose a multilevel process modeling approach to describing individual differences in within-person changes over time. To characterize changes within an individual, repeated measures over time are modeled in terms of three person-specific parameters: a baseline level, intraindividual variation around the baseline, and regulatory mechanisms adjusting toward baseline. Variation due to measurement error is separated from meaningfu…
Modeling Intraindividual Dynamics Using Stochastic Differential Equations: Age Differences in Affect Regulation
The results highlight the utility of SDE models for studying affect dynamics and informing theoretical predictions about how intraindividual dynamics change over the life course
Associations Between Slow- and Fast-Timescale Indicators of Emotional Functioning
“Core affect”—defined as momentary valence (pleasantness) and arousal (activation) levels—plays an important role in our emotional experiences. We examined the relationship between the “fast-timescale” (moment-to-moment) changes in core affect and “slow-timescale” (trait-level) indicators of emotional functioning. Results from an experience sampling study showed that daily valence and arousal baselines were positively related to emotional well-be…
A Novel Hierarchical Later Process Model: Evaluating Latent Sources of Variation in Reaction Times of Adult Daily Smokers
Reaction time data from cognitive tasks continue to be a key way to assess decision-making in various contexts to better understand addiction. The goal of this paper is twofold: to introduce a nuanced modeling approach for reaction time data and to demonstrate the novel insights it can provide into the decision processes of nicotine-dependent individuals in different contexts. We focus on the Linear Approach to Threshold with Ergodic Rate (LATER)…
What does it mean to feel loved: Cultural consensus and individual differences in felt love
Cultural consensus theory is a statistical framework (CCT) for the study of individual differences in the knowledge of culturally shared opinions. In this article, we demonstrate how a CCT analysis can be used to study individual differences and cultural consensus on what makes people feel loved, or more generally any social behaviors that are governed by cognitive schemata. To highlight the advantages of the method, we describe a study in which …
A Bayesian Approach to Estimate the Spatial Distribution of Crowdsourced Radiation Measurements around Fukushima
Citizen-led movements producing spatio-temporal big data are potential sources of useful information during hazards. Yet, the sampling of crowdsourced data is often opportunistic and the statistical variations in the datasets are not typically assessed. There is a scientific need to understand the characteristics and geostatistical variability of big spatial data from these diverse sources if they are to be used for decision making. Crowdsourced …
Daily Implications of Felt Love for Sleep Quality
This study introduces the concept of felt love as the monadic experience of love, a parallel of dyadic love, and presents a study examining the relationships between daily felt love and sleep quality across 28 days. Before beginning the daily protocol, participants answered 60 questions assessing common situations that may make people feel loved. These questions were used to establish a consensus on the meaning of felt love for the specific parti…
Fitting Multilevel Vector Autoregressive Models in Stan, Jags, and Mplus
The influx of intensive longitudinal data creates a pressing need for complex modeling tools that help enrich our understanding of how individuals change over time. Multilevel vector autoregressive (mlVAR) models allow for simultaneous evaluations of reciprocal linkages between dynamic processes and individual differences, and have gained increased recognition in recent years. High-dimensional and other complex variations of mlVAR models, though …
Are paranoid ideation and hallucination spectrum experiences differently associated with affect dynamics? A continuous-time modeling approach
Psychotic experiences have been associated with distortions in affective functioning, including aberrancies in affect dynamics. However, it remains unclear whether the two principal symptom dimensions of psychosis, namely paranoid ideation and hallucination spectrum experiences, are differently associated with affect dynamics, and whether associations hold after statistically controlling for depressive symptoms. We investigate this by using a nov…
Assessing psychological well-being in early adulthood: Empirical evidence for the structure of daily well-being via network analysis
The transitional years of early adulthood, with key tasks of identity and intimacy development, engender both opportunities and risks for well-being. We propose that the conceptualization and measurement of early adults’ well-being can be improved through (a) an integration of ideas from developmental and psychological science on well-being, (b) the use of short, daily momentary assessments of well-being, and (c) a developmentally-informed examin…
I feel loved when other people feel loved: Cultural congruence in beliefs on love is related to well-being
Cultural conformity in psychological constructs has been shown to play a critical role in people's health and well-being. The more people's individual beliefs about a construct aligns with the cultural norms, their cultural identity is more cultivated, leading to higher levels of well-being. Considering feeling loved in everyday contexts as a social construct that people indicate shared beliefs and cultural consensus for, in the current study, we…
Momentary Perma: An Adapted Measurement Tool for Studying Well-Being in Daily Life
PERMA is a multidimensional framework that explains well-being through five hedonic and eudaimonic psychological elements–Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment. Soon after the PERMA framework was proposed, PERMA-Profiler was introduced as a validated assessment tool for measuring these five elements of well-being from a global perspective. The current study aimed to shed further light onto the measurement of PERMA …
Fitting Bayesian Stochastic Differential Equation Models with Mixed Effects through a Filtering Approach
Recent advances in technology contribute to a fast-growing number of studies utilizing intensive longitudinal data, and call for more flexible methods to address the demands that come with them. One issue that arises from collecting longitudinal data from multiple units in time is nested data, where the variability observed in such data is a mixture of within-unit changes and between-unit differences. This article aims to provide a model-fitting …
Quantifying Evidence for—and against—Granger Causality with Bayes Factors
Testing for Granger causality relies on estimating the capacity of dynamics in one time series to forecast dynamics in another. The canonical test for such temporal predictive causality is based on fitting multivariate time series models and is cast in the classical null hypothesis testing framework. In this framework, we are limited to rejecting the null hypothesis or failing to reject the null - we can never validly accept the null hypothesis o…
What makes early adults feel loved? Cultural consensus of felt love experiences in early adulthood
The experience of love plays an integral role in human development as adolescents transition into adulthood. However, little is known about whether early adults have a shared understanding about indicators of love in daily life in this transitional phase. Using Cultural Consensus Theory informed by developmental theory, this study examined whether college-attending early adults in the United States reach a consensus on what makes people feel love…
A Growth of Hierarchical Autoregression Model for Capturing Individual Differences in Changes of Dynamic Characteristics of Psychological Processes
Several methodological innovations have been advanced in the past decades that combine growth curve models (GCMs) with models of autoregressive (AR) processes. However, most of these approaches do not effectively capitalize on known (e.g., study design-related) information to structure the growth curves into meaningful between- and within-phase changes, while simultaneously accommodating interindividual differences in these intraindividual change…
Multiple Imputation with Factor Scores: A Practical Approach for Handling Simultaneous Missingness Across Items in Longitudinal Designs
full-information maximum likelihood) under different conditions. Across conditions, we found MI-based methods overall outperformed the LD; the MI-FS approach yielded lower root mean square errors (RMSEs) and higher coverage rates for auto-regression (AR) parameters compared to MI-MV; and the PMI-MV and MI-MV approaches yielded higher coverage rates for most parameters except AR parameters compared to MI-FS. These approaches were also compared usi…
Computational Phenotyping of Cognitive Decline With Retest Learning
Objectives Cognitive change is a complex phenomenon encompassing both retest-related performance gains and potential cognitive decline. Disentangling these dynamics is necessary for effective tracking of subtle cognitive change and risk factors for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). Method We applied a computational cognitive model of learning and forgetting to data from Einstein Aging Study (EAS; n = 316). EAS participants complet…
Simultaneous detection of gradual and abrupt structural changes in Bayesian longitudinal modelling using entropy and model fit measures
Although individuals may exhibit both gradual and abrupt changes in their dynamic properties as shaped by both slowly accumulating influences and acute events, existing statistical frameworks offer limited capacity for the simultaneous detection and representation of these distinct change patterns. We propose a Bayesian regime‐switching (RS) modelling framework and an entropy measure adapted from the frequentist framework to facilitate simultaneo…
Psychology (14 works) · Mental Health Research Topics (13 works) · Computer Science (12 works) · Machine learning (9 works) · Mathematics (9 works) · Bayesian probability (8 works) · Social Psychology (8 works) · Artificial Intelligence (7 works) · Developmental psychology (7 works) · Statistics (7 works)