$P(A|B,C)$ when $B$ and $C$ are independent

combinatoricsconditional probability

Let's say that I know the following:

  • $P(A|B)$ is the probability that a storm is coming given it's cloudy.
  • $P(A|C)$ is the probability that a storm is coming given that the dogs bark.
  • $P(B)$ and $P(C)$ are independent.

How do I compute the following?:

  • $P(A|B,C)$, the probability of a storm coming given that it's cloudy AND the dogs are barking.

In layman's terms, I know that there is some likelihood that a storm is coming if it's cloudy. And, I know that there is some likelihood that a storm is coming if the dogs are barking. Therefore, shouldn't I have more confidence that a storm is coming if it's cloudy AND the dogs are barking? How do compute this?

The reason that I ask this question is because I am trying to combine measurements from two different sensors that measure the same thing. If I combine the measurements, shouldn't I expect greater confidence in my measurement?

This post and this post are related to my question, but the answers fall short in that I do not know the general probabilities of $P(B)$ and $P(C)$ to compute $P(A|B,C)$.

Best Answer

Note: This answer is to the original version of the question, which asked whether $\mathbb{P}(B|A)$ and $\mathbb{P}(C|A)$ can be used with no other information to obtain $\mathbb{P}(A|B,C)$.

Consider two scenarios, both of which have $\mathbb{P}(B|A) = \mathbb{P}(C|A) = 0.5$:

Scenario 1:

\begin{align*} \mathbb{P}(A,B,\overline C) &= 0.2 \\ \mathbb{P}(A,\overline B, C) &= 0.2 \\ \mathbb{P}(\overline A, B, C) &= 0.2 \\ \mathbb{P}(\overline A, \overline B, \overline C) &= 0.4 \end{align*}

Scenario 2:

\begin{align*} \mathbb{P}(A,B,C) &= 0.1 \\ \mathbb{P}(A,B,\overline C) &= 0.1 \\ \mathbb{P}(A,\overline B, C) &= 0.1 \\ \mathbb{P}(A,\overline B,\overline C) &= 0.1 \\ \mathbb{P}(\overline A, \overline B, \overline C) &= 0.6 \end{align*}

In scenario 1, $\mathbb{P}(A|B,C) = 0$. In scenario 2, $\mathbb{P}(A|B,C) = 1$. Clearly, you'll need more than just $\mathbb{P}(B|A)$ and $\mathbb{P}(C|A)$ to compute $\mathbb{P}(A|B,C)$.

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