In an article titled Unilateral Nostril Breathing Influences Lateralized Cognitive Performance that appeared in Brain and Cognition

In an article titled €œUnilateral Nostril Breathing Influences Lateralized Cognitive Performance€ that appeared in Brain and Cognition (1989), researchers Block et al. published results from an experiment involving assessments of spatial and verbal cognition when breathing through only the right versus left nostril. The subjects were 30 male and 30 female right-handed introductory psychology students who volunteered to participate in exchange for course credit. Initial testing on spatial and verbal tests revealed the following summary statistics. Note that the scores on the spatial task can range from 0 to 40, whereas those on the verbal task can go from 0 to 20. The distributions are not strongly skewed on either scale or for males or females.

a. Consider comparing males to females with regard to performance on the spatial assessment task. State the appropriate null and alternative hypotheses in the context of the study.
b. Explain why it is valid to use the theory-based method for producing a p-value to test the hypotheses stated in part (a).
c. Carry out the appropriate test to produce a p-value to test the hypotheses stated in part (a) and interpret the p-value.
d. Find a 95% confidence interval for the difference in mean scores of males and females with regard to performance on spatial assessments. Interpret the interval.
e. Based on your p-value, state a conclusion in the context of the study. Be sure to comment on statistical significance, estimation (confidence interval), causation, and generalization.
f. Repeat the investigation comparing males and females, this time on verbal performance. Be sure to address the questions asked in parts (a)€“(e).

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Verbal Spatial Sex Mean SD Mean SD Male 2.70 10.90 3.00 10.20 Female 2.50 15.10 3.40 7.80