Model Specification Searches in Structural Equation Modeling Using Bee Swarm Optimization.

ABSTRACT: Metaheuristics are optimization algorithms that efficiently solve a variety of complex combinatorial problems. In psychological research, metaheuristics have been applied in short-scale construction and model specification search. In the present study, we propose a bee swarm optimization (BSO) algorithm to explore the structure underlying a psychological measurement instrument. The algorithm assigns items to an unknown number of nested factors in a confirmatory bifactor model, while simultaneously selecting items for the final scale. To achieve this, the algorithm follows the biological template of bees' foraging behavior: Scout bees explore new food sources, whereas onlooker bees search in the vicinity of previously explored, promising food sources. Analogously, scout bees in BSO introduc

SUBMITTER: Schroeders U 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10795566 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature