AUTHOR=Zheng Chanjin , Meng Xiangbin , Guo Shaoyang , Liu Zhengguang 

TITLE=Expectation-Maximization-Maximization: A Feasible MLE Algorithm for the Three-Parameter Logistic Model Based on a Mixture Modeling Reformulation

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02302

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02302

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>Stable maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) of item parameters in 3PLM with a modest sample size remains a challenge. The current study presents a mixture-modeling approach to 3PLM based on which a feasible Expectation-Maximization-Maximization (EMM) MLE algorithm is proposed. The simulation study indicates that EMM is comparable to the Bayesian EM in terms of bias and RMSE. EMM also produces smaller standard errors (SEs) than MMLE/EM. In order to further demonstrate the feasibility, the method has also been applied to two real-world data sets. The point estimates in EMM are close to those from the commercial programs, BILOG-MG and flexMIRT, but the SEs are smaller.</p>