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电梯直达

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发表于 2007-8-3 03:14:03 |只看该作者 |倒序浏览

53.Thirteen years ago, researchers studied a group of 25 infants who showed signs of mild distress when exposed to unfamiliar stimuli such as an unusual odor or a tape recording of an unknown voice. They discovered that these infants were more likely than other infants to have been conceived in early autumn, a time when their mothers' production of melatonin-a hormone known to affect some brain functions-would naturally increase in response to decreased daylight. In a follow-up study conducted earlier this year, more than half of these children-now teenagers-who had shown signs of distress identified themselves as shy. Clearly, increased levels of melatonin before birth cause shyness during infancy and this shyness continues into later life.
13年前，研究者研究了一组在受到不熟悉的刺激比如不寻常的气味和未知声音的录音时表现出轻微紧张的25名婴儿。他们发现这些婴儿比其他婴儿更可能在早秋怀孕，而早秋是他们的母亲分泌的melatonin--一种已知会影响一些大脑功能的荷尔蒙--因日照的减少而增加的季节。在今年早些时候所作的跟踪调查中，这些表现出紧张迹象的儿童--现在已经是十几岁--有一半以上认为自己害羞。显然，出生前melatonin的增加导致婴儿期的羞涩并且这种羞涩将延续至生命更晚的阶段。

The author of this argument concludes that increased levels of melatonin before birth cause shyness during infancy and this shyness continues into later life. To support the assertion the author cites two facts like that:
1 researcher studied a group of 25 infants who showed signs of mild distress when exposed to unfamiliar stimuli such as an unusual odor or a tape recording of an unknown voice in the Thirteen years ago
2 In a follow-up study conducted earlier this year, more than half of these children-now teenagers-who had shown signs of distress identified themselves as shy.
However, the argument relies on a series unsubstantiated assumptions, which render it unconvincing as it stands.
The suspicious first goes to the unwarranted premise that an increased level of melatonin before birth will cause shyness of the infant while without giving any solid evidence to make his/her argument convincing. Limited information about melatonin is given which is too little for a sound conclusion. Whose brain, the mother’s or baby’s? If it is mother’s brain that is impacted by melatonin, the conclusion is of course not only groundless but also a false one. If the affected brain is the infant’s, then which part of brain will be affected? What if the part which control the body’s motions or the ability to speak? Unless the arguer rules out these suspicions he/she cannot draw a sound conclusion.

Even if the premise is reliable, it still is not safe to draw the conclusion since there is no evidence to be based upon to assert that the shyness will definitely continues into the infant’s later life. Acquired disposition influences as determinant On the one hand, common sense tells us that an individual’s character is decided by gene within and circumstance without. On the other hand, the number of infants engaged in the research is too small to be representative and reliable.

To be more convincing, the arguer should offer more details about melatonin and its affections upon brains. Further more, researcher should investigate more infants and their living conditions for further understandings.

ISSUE的精髓－－将辩论进行到底

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