A BAYES TEST OF P LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO 1/2 VERSUS P >1/2

Abstract

Consider the following sequential decision problem:--An urn contains white and black balls, the proportion p of black balls being unknown, 0 < p < 1. A single ball is to be drawn at random from the urn tomorrow and we must guess its color; it our guess is correct we are to receive a reward of $ A, and if incorrect we are to receive nothing. In order to obtain some information about p we are allowed to draw as many balls as we like from the urn today, one at a time and with replacement, observing the color of each ball drawn, but for each such ball drawn we must pay $ 1. Problem: how many balls should we observe today and what color should we then predict for the ball to be drawn tomorrow. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 05, 1961
Accession Number
AD0262400

Entities

People

  • Herbert Robbins
  • Sigeiti Moriguti

Organizations

  • Columbia University

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Education

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Statistical inference.