Mathematical Notation Help
 

Quick brush up since I haven't taken a math class since high school:

What exactly does the notation "f(p) = max{.2,p} for all other p" mean?

Context: Suppose now Jane interprets probabilities in the following way: For any p that is the probability of a bad event, she interprets that probability to be f(p), where:

f(p) = 0 for 0 (less than or equal to) p (less than or equal to) .01 I get this part
f(p) = max{.2,p} for all other p

Re: Mathematical Notation Help
 

f(p) is the function. The Function is equal to .2 or p, which ever is higher.

So if p is 7, the fucntion is 7. If p is 25.8 the fuction is 25.8 but if p is .11 the function is .2. Try graphing the function.

Re: Mathematical Notation Help
 

This is just saying the following:
Jane correctly interprets probabilities that are reasonably likely to happen (those that happen between 20% and 100% of the time). For anything that happens less than 1% of the time, she can't foresee happening and assumes a probability of 0%. For things between 1% and 20%, she always thinks they have a 20% chance of happening.