Probability (Part 2)

M. Drew LaMar
September 9, 2020

“I know too well that these arguments from probabilities are imposters, and unless great caution is observed in the use of them, they are apt to be deceptive.”

- Plato

Course Announcements

  • Solutions for Homeworks #1 and 2 will be on Blackboard soon!!!
  • Exam #1
    • Will go live Friday, September 18, 3:00 pm
    • Due on Monday, September 21, 2:00 pm (subject to change)
    • NO R!
    • Material covered:
      • Whitlock & Schluter, Chapters 1-4
    • How to study:
      • Do Practice Problems
      • Read chapter summaries
      • Come to lecture next week!

Course Announcements

  • Reading Assignment for Friday: Chapter 6!! (NO QUIZ)
  • New office hour: Wednesdays, 11 am
  • Homework #3 is on Blackboard (Chapter 5 only)
    • Due Tuesday, September 15, 11:59 pm
  • Lab #4 will be posted to Blackboard tonight

Understanding Probability

…or not ¯\(ツ)

https://xkcd.com/1985/

(Mis)Understanding Probability

Mosaic plots are awesome!

Totally, dude...

Definition: The probability of an event not occurring is one minus the probability that it occurs. \[ \mathrm{Pr[{\it not}\ A]} = 1-\mbox{Pr[A]} \]

Definition: The law of total probability is given by \[ \begin{align*} \mathrm{Pr[A]} & = \sum_{B\ \mathrm{in} \ \mathcal{M}}\mathrm{Pr[A \ and \ B]} \\ & = \sum_{B\ \mathrm{in} \ \mathcal{M}} \mathrm{Pr[B]}\ \mathrm{Pr[A\ | \ B]}, \end{align*} \] where \( \mathcal{M} \) is a set of mutually exclusive events such that \[ \sum_{B\ \mathrm{in} \ \mathcal{M}}\mathrm{Pr[B]} = 1 \]

Totally, dude...

Law of total probability and mosaic plots

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Visualizing probability - Probability trees

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Probability distributions

Definition: A probability distribution is a list of the probabilities of all mutually exclusive outcomes of a random trial.

Compare to:

Definition: A probability distribution (or relative frequency distribution) is a list of the probabilities of all values of a random variable in a sample or population.

Discrete probability distributions

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How is this different? same?

Continuous probability distributions

Probability densities alt text

Tips for Solving Probability Problems

  1. Write out the probability that you are being asked to find. Is it a conditional probability? AND? OR?
  2. Identify probabilities that you are given (again, are these conditionals? ANDs? ORs?)
  3. Draw a probability tree (if appropriate)