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Neural Network Copulas for Generating Synthetic Test Data Preserving Psychometric Properties
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Neural Network Copulas for Generating Synthetic Test Data Preserving Psychometric Properties

Juyoung Jung, Minho Lee and Won-Chan Lee
Journal of intelligence, Vol.14(5), 77
05/02/2026
DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence14050077
PMID: 42188263
url
https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence14050077View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

In intelligence research, the sharing of item response data from cognitive ability assessments is often restricted by privacy concerns, while traditional parametric simulation methods frequently fail to capture complex response dependencies. This study proposes a neural network copula (NNC) framework for generating synthetic dichotomous item response data that preserves essential psychometric properties without revealing sensitive examinee information. By decoupling the modeling of marginal item probabilities from the dependence structure using a deep autoencoder and kernel density estimation, the framework accommodates the discrete nature of binary item response data while minimizing distributional assumptions. Validation against large-scale empirical data demonstrated high correspondence across multiple facets. At the data consistency level, the NNC-based synthetic data reproduced total score distributions and inter-item correlations. Psychometrically, the method yielded consistent item characteristic curve parameter estimates, item fit statistics, and test information functions. Furthermore, Monte Carlo replications demonstrated algorithmic stability and inferential precision.
 synthetic data generation neural network copula item response theory intelligence assessment psychometric properties privacy protection

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