【argue53】【我们的小组】冲刺习作球拍

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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 this argument, the author hold that the rise in amount before birth cause shyness from infancy to later life. The author cited an experiment taken on 25 participants for 13 years. From the experiment, the author argue that the infants born in eraly autumn by which the molatonin increase in their mother's body tends to be nervous and feel shy when they are in their teenage. However the relationship is not well-build and the conclusion is not convincing in my eyes.
To start with, the experiment that the author based his argument is not
well designed
with only 25 infants without a comparing group. We know nothing about the condition of the other infants who don't feel nervous . What's more, the author told us nothing about the percentage of the infants conceived in early autumn. Unless the author can provide sufficient figures, I can not agree with his conclusion.
Even the experiment was taken with enough infants and comparing group and the infants conceived in early autumn tends to be more easily distressed when
run into unfamiliar environment, the relationship between the melatonin and distress is still casual as the author overlook many other factors that might be responsible
for the distress of the infants. For example, the health condition of the infants, the living environment of the infants and even some other small factors might accounting for the distress. Unless the author take all these factors into consideration and prove them to be unrelated with the problem can I believe that the distress of infants are due to the increase of the melatonin.
Even we assume that the distress of infants is caused by the level of the meltonin, we still cannot reach the conclusion that the shyness have any relation with the level of melatonin. As is motioned in the research that half of the teenagers consider the signs of distress as shy, however it cannot be defined as shyness just by the words of the participants. To equalize the distress and shyness, the researcher should study clearly about the behavior of the children. If not, it’s insufficient to draw the conclusion between the shyness and the melatonin.
Last but not the least, Even there is a relationship between the shyness and the melatonin, the research just demonstrate the condition of the children from infancy to teenage. Obviously, there’s no grantee that the children will keep shy in their whole life, thus it’s not suitable to claim that the shyness caused by the increase of will last in their later life.
To sum up, the conclusion is indefensible as it stands. To bolster the argument, the author need to redesign the experiment to get more infants and a comparing group. What’s more, I need to know the definition of the shyness and distress to check if they’re the same. The author need to provide that other factors that might effect the distress of the children doesn’t work at all. Also, to take experiment about the children in the time following is a must to reach the conclusion that the shyness last in their life.