Virginia Tech® home

In Person Special Seminar: Building Superior Multivariable Systems to Enhance Precision in Models of Behavior Change

Insert your title here

Holly O'Rourke, Ph.D.

Holly O'Rourke, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics
Arizona State University

In Person Seminar: Building Superior Multivariable Systems to Enhance Precision in Models of Behavior Change

Date: Aug. 23, 2023

Time:  11 a.m.

About this Seminar

Statistical theories of change are like theories of behavior in that they can be enhanced to address more refined hypotheses. Complex research questions are often addressed with studies that involve many variables, and they require statistical models that are correspondingly complex. Such research questions can be modeled with some form of multivariable system (MVS). Dr. O’Rourke’s statistical research both develops novel MVSs and enhances existing ones, with the objective of creating superior statistical models that are widely adoptable and easy to implement. This enables applied researchers to investigate more sophisticated theoretical questions concerning behavior change. In this talk Dr. Rourke will describe her research on several MVSs for modeling behavior change that range in complexity from few variables and time points (mediation models) to many variables and time points (latent change score models and Group Iterative Multiple Model Estimation: GIMME). She will briefly introduce these MVSs and their relation to one another in the context of her past and ongoing work, describe their usefulness in applied settings, and end with future directions for building upon these MVSs.

You May Also Be Interested In...

  • Home Item
    Organization and Control of Hippocampal Networks
    Organization and Control of Hippocampal Networks , home

    Oct. 17, 2025, 11:00 a.m. | Ivan Soltesz, Ph.D., James R. Doty Professor of Neurosurgery and Neurosciences, Stanford University | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Neurobiology Research

  • Home Item
    How Fluid Flow Shapes the Brain: Cancer and Cognitive Function
    How Fluid Flow Shapes the Brain: Cancer and Cognitive Function , home

    Oct. 30, 2025, 5:30 p.m. (Reception at 5 p.m.) | Jennifer Munson, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Cancer Research Center — Roanoke, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute; Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, Virginia Tech College of Engineering | Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture

  • Home Item
    Thinking the Right Thoughts
    Thinking the Right Thoughts , home

    Oct. 31, 2025, 11 a.m. | Nathaniel Daw, Ph.D., Professor, Computational and Theoretical Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Princeton University | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Human Neuroscience Research

  • Home Item
    Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture
    Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture , home

    Nov. 6, 2025, 5:30 p.m. (Reception at 5 p.m.) | Teresa Lambe, Ph.D., OBE, Calleva Head of Vaccine Immunology, Professor of Vaccinology and Immunology, University of Oxford | Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture

  • Home Item
    Understanding Vascular Morphogenesis and Morphology: Live Insights from Zebrafish
    Understanding Vascular Morphogenesis and Morphology: Live Insights from Zebrafish , home

    Nov. 21, 2025, 11:00 a.m. | Arndt F. Siekmann, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania | Co-Sponsored by the Center for Vascular and Heart Research, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute

  • Home Item
    The Metabolic Switch in Development and Degeneration
    The Metabolic Switch in Development and Degeneration , home

    Dec. 12, 2025, 11:00 a.m. | Elizabeth Jonas, M.D., Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Internal Medicine (Endocrinology), Yale School of Medicine | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Neurobiology Research