A gentle introduction to Bayesian statistics, with applications to bilingualism research

Bibliographic Data

ID21201693
AuthorsJoão Veríssimo (0000-0002-1264-3017, University of Lisbon, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume15
Issue4
Pages453-486
Publication date2025-08-29
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLinguistic Approaches to Bilingualism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1879-9264 • E-ISSN: 1879-9272
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/lab.24027.ver
OpenAlexW4410538741
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited55

Bayesian analyses have been increasingly adopted in psychology and linguistics as an addition (or replacement) to traditional frequentist methods. However, Bayesian methods are not yet widely applied in bilingualism research, possibly because existing introductions and tutorials have not been directed specifically at our field. The current paper highlights the advantages of Bayesian statistics to the bilingualism researcher, by providing both an introduction to its foundational principles and a practical tutorial on estimation and hypothesis testing using the brms R package. The examples build up from simple linear regression to more advanced mixed-effects models and showcase different aspects of a Bayesian workflow. All data, code, models, and supplementary materials are publicly available at https://osf.io/n3jgm

Bayesian inference · Bayesian probability · Bayesian statistics · Econometrics · Neuroscience of multilingualism · Statistics · Computer Science · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Mathematics · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Neuroscience · Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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