When interviewed, Mr. and Mrs. Williams said that their two children, Jack and Wilbur, were different from the day each child was born. Jack was very affectionate, almost never cried or fussed, and always seemed curious about the faces that appeared above his crib, even those of strangers. Wilbur, on the other hand, was irritable from the outset, often cried for no apparent reason, and usually

became upset when strangers' faces came into view. Thus, the Williamses wondered about their children's early personalities and about children in general. (a) Which basic notion about children is favored here, nature or nurture? Why? (b) What basic methods might the investigators employ in collecting information on Jack and Wilbur?

What will be an ideal response?

(a) The parents' observations of their children focus on differences from the outset, which implies an innate tendency. This emphasis favors the "nature" side of the nature/nurture issue. Had the question focused on how the two children's environments differed--perhaps because the family was more financially established by the time the second child came long--then a nurture side would have been more evident. (b) A structured interview might be employed with the parents, with questions asked in specific order to allow direct comparison between the children. A clinical interview would allow the parents to determine the direction of the interview, yielding data that might otherwise be overlooked. Either of these might be incorporated into a case study if the investigator also used observation or psychological testing to collect information on specific children.