Argument53::p 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.
1、实验本身存在很多疑问:
a、缺少对比实验,一般婴儿面对unfamiliar stimuli都会有一定反映,所以25个实验对象不够证明,其中或许有不少是自然反应,并且应该给出对比试验中不是这样的婴儿中有多少也有此反应;
b、按照题目意思daylight在冬天比秋天更少,应该冬天出生的孩子更容易有此反应,而不是in early autumn
2、即使都是如此,偷换概念:increased levels of melatonin occur to mothers but not infants; caused stress but not shyness;
3、in the follow-up study, 应该有对比试验,因为Generally speaking, shyness, especially self-identified one, may just be regular symptom of adolescence. Other teenagers may also have the same problem.
4、毫无根据推断:continues into later life,没有跟踪实验以及结果报道