The readings, especially Tversky and Kahneman (1974), demonstrated that I am led by emotion and media hype, just as most other people are. Apparently, I am in good company because the authors note:
What is perhaps surprising is the failure of people to infer from lifelong experience such fundamental statistical rules as regression toward the mean, or the effect of sample size on sampling variability. Although everyone is exposed, in the normal course of life, to numerous examples form which these rules could have been induced, very few people discover the principles of sampling and regression on their own. Statistical principles are not learned from everyday experience because the relevant instances are not coded properly.
As a result of the readings in this session, I expect that I will be more aware of statistical principles as I venture opinions and make decisions, both clinically and personally.
