In a study of the effect of aluminum intake on the mental development of infants, a group of 92 infants who had been born prematurely were given a special aluminum-depleted intravenous-feeding solution.18 At age 18 months the neurologic development of the infants was measured using the Bayley Mental Development Index. (The Bayley Mental Development Index is similar to an IQ score, with 100 being the average in the general population.) A 95% confidence interval for the mean is (93.8,102.1).
(a) Interpret this interval. That is, what does the interval tell us about neurologic development in the population of prematurely born infants who receive intravenous-feeding solutions?
(b) Does this interval indicate that the mean IQ of the sampled population is below the general population average of 100?