A hitchhiker’s guide to information theoretical measures in psychology

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• Niels Van Santen, Ghent University, NL
• Monday 23 March 2026, 12:30-13:30
• MRC-CBU, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Dace Apšvalka.

Speaker: Niels Van Santen, Ghent University, NL

Title: A hitchhiker’s guide to information theoretical measures in psychology

Abstract: Information theory and psychology share an interesting history. In psychology, as in other sciences, information theory can be used as a tool for data analysis. It is important to see the potential of information theoretical measures as statistical tools without implying a connection to their origins in communication theory and engineering. The use of these measures may provide us with additional insights due to their sensitivity to non-linear relationships, their flexibility to the mixing of data types, and their more straightforward generalization towards investigating higher-order interactions. We briefly reintroduce information theory and compare several measures such as mutual information and co-information with correlation and regression-based methods for the investigation of variable relations, before giving some examples of how they can be used in the search for higher-order behaviours.

Bio: I am a third-year Ph.D. student at Ghent university and have a background in statistical physics and network science. Now I work under the supervision of Prof. Daniele Marinazzo and Prof. Yves Rosseel on developing and applying information theoretical measures for investigating higher-order statistical behaviours in (network) psychometrics.

Venue: MRC CBU West Wing Seminar Room and Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82385113580?pwd=RmxIUmphQW9Ud1JBby9nTDQzR0NRdz09 (Meeting ID: 823 8511 3580; Passcode: 299077)

This talk is part of the CBU Monday Methods Meeting series.

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