Argument53谢谢指教

huhu19881222UID: 2766473

TOPIC: ARGUMENT53 - 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.


In the argument, the author makes the conclusion that increased levels of melatonin before birth cause shyness during infancy and this shyness continues into later life. To support the conclusion, the editor pointed out that the mothers' production of melatonin increase in response to decreased daylight. Additionally, the author cited a research showing that teenagers who had shown signs of distress at earlier time identify themselves as shy now. Careful examination of the supporting evidence, however, reveals that it is logically flawed in several respects.

The threshold problem with editorial is the research the author cites. Unless the researchers sampled a sufficient number of infants and did so randomly across the entire spectrum, the research results are not reliable to gauge a relationship between the production of melatonin and distress. For example, if the 25 infants were influenced by their environment largely and gradually developed the inclination of being shy, then the results would be doubtful.

Secondly, teenagers identified themselves as shy cannot indicate that they really have a personality of shyness. Perhaps these 25 infants could not describe themselves correctly, or perhaps they lied to the researchers. Without accounting for these explanation discussed above, the author cannot expect to convince me that these teenagers were really shy when they became
teenagers.

Based on the fact that infants were more likely than other infants to have been conceived in early autumn and mothers' production of melatonin increased in autumn, the author makes a cause and effect relationship between the character of shy and melatonin. However, the evidence is not sufficient to substantiate such a relationship. It is entirely possible that shyness is owing to the environment they live and the education they receive. Without ruling out such possibility, the author fails to recommend that melatonin has to do with shyness.

Finally, the arguer falsely assumed that people who had shown signs of distress would continue to be shy in their later life. This assumption is unwarranted because people rarely remain unchanged over extended period of time. For example, people became more positive through physical exercise. Since such possible factor can undermine the author's claim, the editorial is unconvincing as it stands.

In sum, the argument is not persuasive. To bolster it, the researchers would have sampled more infants to make the research more convincing. Moreover, the arguer needs to provide more information about the cause-and-effect relationship between melatonin and shyness. Additionally, we would like to know more details about the situation of these people in their later time. If the argument had included the given factors mentioned above, it would have be more thorough.