Replace brms prior distributions — .replace

This function takes an existing set of prior distributions and updates them with new prior specifications. It matches priors based on their parameter class, coefficient, group, response, distributional parameter, and non-linear parameter.

Usage

.replace_prior(old_prior, prior, enforce_presence = TRUE)

Arguments

old_prior: One or more prior distributions in the class brmsprior to be updated.
prior: One or more prior distributions in the class brmsprior containing the new specifications. Can include manually specified priors using the syntax parameter ~ distribution.
enforce_presence: If TRUE then only keep rows that have both old and new priors. If FALSE then keep all rows but use new priors where available, otherwise keep old priors. Defaults to TRUE.

Value

A brmsprior object containing the updated prior distributions.

Details

Prior distributions can be specified in two ways:

Using the standard brms prior specification format. These priors are replaced based on matching parameter metadata (class, coefficient, group, etc.).
Using manually specified priors with the syntax parameter ~ distribution. These replace existing manual priors for the same parameter name and are otherwise left alone. Manual priors are excluded from the metadata based matching.