A Statistician Investigating the Relationship Between the Amount of Precipitation

question 211

Essay

A statistician investigating the relationship between the amount of precipitation (in inches) and the number of car accidents gathered data for 10 randomly selected days. The results are presented below. $$\begin{array} { | c | c | c | } \hline \text { Day } & \text { Precipitation } & \text { Number of accidents } \\\hline 1 & 0.05 & 5 \\\hline 2 & 0.12 & 6 \\\hline 3 & 0.05 & 2 \\\hline 4 & 0.08 & 4 \\\hline 5 & 0.10 & 8 \\\hline 6 & 0.35 & 14 \\\hline 7 & 0.15 & 7 \\\hline 8 & 0.30 & 13 \\\hline 9 & 0.10 & 7 \\\hline 10 & 0.20 & 10 \\\hline\end{array}$$ Determine the coefficient of determination and discuss what its value tells you about the two variables.

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Definitions:

Secondary Reinforcer

A stimulus that becomes reinforcing through its association with a primary reinforcer, such as money earning its value through its exchange for food or other needs.

Primary Reinforcer

A stimulus that is naturally rewarding and satisfying, such as food or water, which does not require learning to become desirable.

Negative Reinforcement

A process in behavioral psychology where a response is strengthened because it is followed by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus.

Punishment

A method of behavior modification that involves the application of undesirable consequences in order to reduce the occurrence of a particular behavior.