Identifying Qualitative Between-Subject and Within-Subject Variability: A Method for Clustering Regime-Switching Dynamics

Front Psychol. 2020 Jun 4:11:1136. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01136. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Technological advancement provides an unprecedented amount of high-frequency data of human dynamic processes. In this paper, we introduce an approach for characterizing qualitative between and within-subject variability from quantitative changes in the multi-subject time-series data. We present the statistical model and examine the strengths and limitations of the approach in potential applications using Monte Carlo simulations. We illustrate its usage in characterizing clusters of dynamics with phase transitions with real-time hand movement data collected on an embodied learning platform designed to foster mathematical learning.

Keywords: clustering; dynamic model; functional data analysis; regime-switching model; time-series data.