【TRANSFORMER】_ARGU53_0811

yesrushUID: 2443769

53Thirteen 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.

blade134UID: 2328542

标题里是argu35，改一下

yesrushUID: 2443769

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.
WORDS: 481          TIME: 00:29:00          DATE: 2009-8-11 17:31:49

By citing the study, that a groups of 25 infants join and ones showing signs of mide distress when exposed to unfamiliar stimuli are those be conceived in early autumn, and the evidence that melatonin-a hormone, which decreased daylight, affect some brain functions, the author concludes that high levels of melatonin before birth lead to shyness when one grows up. The argument seems to sound on the surface, however, the author fails to consider several factors to evaluate the situation.

To begin with, the author equates distress and shyness. Distress, is a common feeling when one, especially a baby faces unfamiliar stimuli. The baby feels distress because the objects he face is unknown and unusual. In the other hand, shyness, is a usual reaction when a person, in most case an adult, who stands in front of a large amount of persons and do not access the courage to speak. The an adult feel shy in that although he face is one's familiar persons, he fears to say a wrong word and therefore is laughed at by others.

In addition, even if the behavior of baby exposing to unfamiliar stimuli reflects shyness, the author assumes that the shyness is attributable to the melatonin-a hormone, which is produced by their mothers. It is true that this kind of hormone have a influence on human brain, however, the author ignore the possibility that other hormones rather than melatonin induces to shyness. Even though it is melatonin plays a major role in human's shyness, the author also overlooks the possibility that the melatonin, created by mothers, can not inherit to their baby, let alone it can change baby's brain activity and behavior. In the face of such limited evidence, it is fallacious for the author to make conclusion that babies' shy feeling is the product of melatonin from their mother.

What's more, the author unfairly assumes that persons, who has much melatonin in the early age, is inclined to feel shy in later life. It is no doubt that there are a large oceans of factors, no matter in family or society, can make a influence on one's activity. Does one feel less shy, if one becomes a teacher in future and have to make a lecture in front of mass students? Does one seldom express shyness, when one becomes a leader of a company and owns many chances to make decisions in a meeting which many colleges join?

In sum, the argument suffers from several fallacious. To make the argument more convincing, the author should make a clear definition of shyness. To better access the argument, the author must present us more information of infants in the study and the social environment of persons with more melatonin. If the author had provided us the information given above, I can join the author's group to argue that melatonin leads to shyness a person in whole life.

shallwetalk1990UID: 2507431

题目：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.
字数：494          用时：0:30:00          日期：2009-8-11

It stands reason that points in this argument should be logical, cause of its clear statement. Grouding the survey that 25 infants who are mild distress to unfamiliar stimuli, the discovery that most of them were more likely to have been conceived in early autumn, and their present more shy than other teenagers which was reported by themselves, the author makes the conclusion that increased levels of melatonin before birth cause shyness during infancy and this shyness continues into later life. However, when we have a deep thought, we will find some logical confusion.

Firstly, considering the reliability of these information in this argument, the author who makes the conclusion should calculate uncertain factors of it. In these preconditions, the quantity of sample is only 25, which are worth to being doubt. 25 infants whom only a few proportion of all infants can mean nothing in this research. The present of them to the unfamiliar stimuli was only mild distress, however, what about the infants that present heavily distress? The information about these infants did not put out. In this argument, it was said that these infants were more likely than other infants to have been conceived in early autumn. In fact, the section that "more likely than" is only stand for the possibility of this situation.
Secondly, in spite of sample's problem in this research, the importance of melatonin was not mentioned. The information which this argument gives us is only that these mothers' production of melatonin in autumn and the function of melatonin. This hormone may be influence some functions in brain, however, the detail of this is not mentioned in this argument. It is very possible that the function of this hormone is no connection with the present of these infants. Other significant point that we should notice, the research was last for 13 years, it is a long time that other factors may effect the present of these children.

Finally, the conclusion that the author make is cursory. In this report, it is said that these children identified themselves as shy. This information should not be considered as evidence in this report. Without the scientific identify of these children, what they said by themselves should not be credible. They may be misled in this survey, and they were probably to be told that their performances are much stronger than other children when they were infants. The final conclusion said that increased levels of melatonin before birth cause of shyness during infancy was not proved, they only presented mild distress when they were in infancy instead of shyness, these two definitions are promiscuous.

Overall, the author did apply himself/herself into his/her work, while at the same time he/she was making lots of logical mistakes. He/she should make more work on the correlation of the shy present in these children who he surveyed and the real function of melatonin. At last, his conclusion shouldn't be accepted; however, his work should be accepted.