2006/02/01 by Robert J. Sternberg, Elena L. Grigorenko, Kenneth K. Kídd · 1 citation
Psychology · Mathematics · #Cognitive Abilities and Testing #Identity, Memory, and Therapy #Finish line #Psychology #Line (geometry) #Applied psychology #Sociology #Mathematics #Gender studies
paper · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.61.2.178
openalex publication_date 2006/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
the noetic dimension is a confounding variable, its variability subsumed into genetic and/or environmental components. From a clinician’s standpoint, the small arena of choice is likely the most powerful fulcrum available for change. The healer’s role is arguably to transform the client’s sense of agency from “insignificant” into a force capable of harnessing and transcending nature and nurture. With choice come responsibility and the realization of freedom, which cannot occur without meaningful and purposeful options. Indeed, it is through exercising our ability to choose that we become fully human. Galton’s (1869/1892) paradigm ultimately assumes that the person has no true freedom. To rephrase Frankl (1967), nature and nurture represent our fate, whereas the noetic represents our capacity to take a stand toward that fate. For decades, Galton’s (1869/1892) nature–nurture paradigm has anchored psychological research and theory. Though renowned, his idea and its derivations were never scientifically validated. Galton’s idea, and all studies based on it, bear reconsideration. Inclusion of the noetic dimension and its intercourse with genetics and environment allows the researcher to consider the person in studies of human development. It is time for a new paradigm: Nature, Nurture, and the Noetic.