Week 3: Common mistakes in conditional logic#
STATS 60 Spring 2025
10 bonus points for attendance
10 bonus points for completing assignment
1 bonus point for each “game show” answer
Discussion assignment (extra credit, bonus points: 10 + up to 5 additional points):#
Look for a recent example of a mistake in conditional logic in the news, advertising, or media.
The more reputable the source, the better.
Take a screenshot of the mistake in its context.
Upload a link and screenshot of to the Google Poll by 11:59PM on Wednesday, April 16.
The Poll will also ask you to put the mistake in the language of conditional probability, and explain what is mistaken about it.
If your example is chosen for the top 2, you get 5 additional bonus points.
Discussion Agenda#
Show and tell (10 minutes)#
The discussion instructor selects up to 2 examples of ``mistakes in conditional logic’’ screenshots from their section.
For each selection, the student curator explains why they chose the example.
The class goes through the exercise of putting the example in the language of conditional probabilities, and identifies the mistake in logic.
Conditional probabilities “game show” (40 minutes)#
The primary discussion activity is a “Jeaopardy”-style game show.
Students break up into teams of 2.
The Discussion instructor plays a slide deck with examples of statements involving conditional logic.
For each slide:
Two teams face off.
The instructor shows the slide and reads the example.
The contestants go to the board, each tries to model the statement in the language of conditional probabilities and identify the fallacy.
When the first team is done, they raise their hand.
The first team to get the correct answer gets a point.
If the answer is incorrect, the opposing team gets the point.