Main content
Limitations of Bayesian Leave-One-Out Cross-Validation for Model Selection /
Limitations of Bayesian Leave-One-Out Cross-Validation for Model Selection
Date created: | Last Updated:
: DOI | ARK
Creating DOI. Please wait...
Category: Project
Description: Cross-validation (CV) is increasingly popular as a generic method to adjudicate between mathematical models of cognition and behavior. In order to measure model generalizability, CV quantifies out-of-sample predictive performance, and the CV preference goes to the model that predicted the out-of-sample data best. The advantages of CV include theoretic simplicity and practical feasibility. Despite its prominence, however, the limitations of CV are often underappreciated. Here we demonstrate the limitations of a particular form of CV --Bayesian leave-one-out cross-validation or LOO-- with three concrete examples. In each example, a data set of infinite size is perfectly in line with the predictions of a simple model (i.e., a general law or invariance). Nevertheless, LOO shows bounded and relatively modest support for the simple model. We conclude that CV is not a panacea for model selection.