Simulating Coin Tossing

Below is an internet applet you are to use for this lab. Underneath the applet are instructions on how to use the applet. If you get really stuck, there is an interactive demo version here.

 

Notice the probability of heads has been set to .5, corresponding to the null hypothesis of no preference. Set the number of tosses to 16, corresponding to the number of infants in the actual study. Scroll down to see instructions.
  • Click the Draw Samples button.  How many heads did you obtain?
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  • Uncheck the Animate box and press the Draw Samples button four more times (for a total of five sets), observing the number of heads each time.  Do you get the same number of heads each time?
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  • Now change the Number of repetitions from 1 to 995 (without hitting Reset for a total of 1000 repetitions) and click Draw Samples and examine the resulting dotplot on the right. 
  • In the As extreme as  > box, enter 14 as observed by these researchers.  Then press the Count button. 

    • Saving the output:

    (d) Include a “screen capture” of your simulation results by pressing the “Print Screen” button on your keyboard (may read “PrtScn” or such). This (invisibly) puts a copy of what you see on the screen on the Clipboard. In Word, you can then choose CTRL-V or the Paste icon, and the image should appear. Click here for more information on screen captures (e.g., for Macs) if you need it, including how to "crop" the image to focus on the most relevant parts. Remember to save your Word file often.
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