Over the last few decades, beta blockers, a common treatment for high blood pressure, have been prescribed for performance anxiety as a tool to reduce sympathetic activity (e. g., sweating, increased heart rate) in the body. The findings regarding this method have been mixed. Many argue that manipulating the sympathetic nervous system will be useless if an individual does not have proper inhibition systems such as the parasympathetic and GABA systems. Although many have reported reductions in anxiety, others have reported no effect and, in some cases, negative effects. We want to study whether or not beta blockers have any effect on anxiety (positive or negative). We review the literature and determine that the aggregate (average) anxiety change from beta blockers is 0 points (no change) on an anxiety measure, with a standard deviation of 4.6. A sample of 36 adults take a beta blocker and report their anxiety level before and after taking the drug. They report an average reduction in anxiety of -1.25 points. Required:
a. State the null & research hypothesis.
b. State the characteristics (parameters) of the comparison distribution
c. Calculate the critical values (alpha level & z critical) and identify rejection region (in terms of z).