ARGUMENT53 求拍

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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.



The statement claim that increasing levels of melatonin before birth cause shyness during infancy and this shyness continues into later life. This conclusion is base on a study of 25 infants thirteen years ago and a follow-up study of the same children earlier this year. At first sight this conclusion seems acceptable. However, after a second sought, this conclusion is too arbitrary. In my view of point, it suffers from several logical faults.

First, the number of those infants who take part in the study is too small. Just 25 infants are not enough for making a conclusion. Maybe it is just a coincident that these infants who were conceived in early autumn have the same shyness characteristic. And the author still neglect to tell the detail information about the infants, such as the environment, gender and the characteristic of their parents. These factors are important to children’s growing up. Maybe most of the children of this area which the study was made are shy because of the social environment. So this study is not persuasive.

Second, the conclusion that the shyness is cause by the melatonin is too arbitrary. We cannot make this conclusion just because the infants were conceived in early autumn and melatonin would increase at the same time. There are so many kinds of hormones in a human's body, so maybe there are several other hormones that have an effect on the infants. Without a directly test of the melatonin's effect, the author's idea just a possible cause, not definitely cause.

Third, the follow-up study can not prove that the children's shyness is cause by the melatonin. There have been 13 years has passed, the children's living experience may have a big effect on themselves. And we cannot relay the mild distress to the later shyness, these are totally two different kind of behaviors.

In sum, the author fails to prove his conclusion with these studies. The author should have provided more information about the infants, the melatonin and the experiences of these children in the past 13 years. And then, the conclusion may be more convincing and logical acceptable.