5.3A Conditional Probability, General Multiplication Rule and Tree Diagrams AP Statistics

What is Conditional Probability? The probability that one event happens given that another event is already known to have happened is called a conditional probability. Suppose we know that event A has happened. Then the probability that event B happens given that event A has happened is denoted by P(B | A). Read | as “given that” or “under the condition that”

Calculating Conditional Probabilities To find the conditional probability P(A | B), use the formula The conditional probability P(B | A) is given by

Calculating Conditional Probabilities Define events E: the grade comes from an EPS course, and L: the grade is lower than a B. Total 3392 2952 3656 10000 Total 6300 1600 2100 Find P(L) Find P(E | L) Find P(L | E) Try Exercise 39 P(L) = 3656 / 10000 = 0.3656 P(E | L) = 800 / 3656 = 0.2188 P(L| E) = 800 / 1600 = 0.5000

The General Multiplication Rule The probability that events A and B both occur can be found using the general multiplication rule P(A ∩ B) = P(A) • P(B | A) where P(B | A) is the conditional probability that event B occurs given that event A has already occurred. In words, this rule says that for both of two events to occur, first one must occur, and then given that the first event has occurred, the second must occur.

Tree Diagrams The general multiplication rule is especially useful when a chance process involves a sequence of outcomes. In such cases, we can use a tree diagram to display the sample space. Consider flipping a coin twice. What is the probability of getting two heads? Sample Space: HH HT TH TT So, P(two heads) = P(HH) = 1/4

Example: Tree Diagrams The Pew Internet and American Life Project finds that 93% of teenagers (ages 12 to 17) use the Internet, and that 55% of online teens have posted a profile on a social-networking site. What percent of teens are online and have posted a profile? 51.15% of teens are online and have posted a profile.

Tree Diagrams in Reverse: Mammograms Many women choose to have annual mammograms to screen for breast cancer after age 40. A mammogram isn’t foolproof. Sometimes, the test suggests that a woman has breast cancer when she doesn’t (a false positive); other times, it suggests she doesn’t have breast cancer when she does (a false negative). One percent of the women aged 40 or over in this region have breast cancer. For women who have breast cancer, the probability of a false negative is 0.03 For women who don’t have breast cancer, the probability of a false positive is 0.06. A randomly selected woman aged 40 or over from this region tests positive for breast cancer in a mammogram. Find the probability that she actually has breast cancer. Show your calculations.

Mammograms: Solution (1/4)

Mammograms: Solution (2/4) We want to find P(breast cancer│positive mammogram) So we need to calculate a few things first… To find P(breast cancer and positive mammogram), we use the general multiplication rule along with the tree diagram.

Mammograms: Solution (3/4) To find P(positive mammogram) we have to use both the multiplication rule AND the addition rule.

Mammograms: Solution (4/4) NOW we have enough information to do our final calculation. Given that a randomly selected woman from the region has a positive mammogram, there is about a 14% chance she actually has breast cancer.

Homework 5.3A pg. 317, #57-60 pg. 333-335, #63, 65, 67, 71, 73, 77, 79