Analysis Of Howard Gardner 's Theory Of Intelligence

Ever since Spearman proposed the intelligence theory with G factor, there were several other intelligence theories proposed in response or as an alternative to Spearman’s. Among those, Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory would be the most influential ones as they are widely accepted and used in real life. Both of the theories share a critical view towards the unitary perspective which is the traditional definition of intelligence. However, the two theories differ in which they don’t agree with what factors should be the measures of intelligence, as well as the emphasis of the two theories.

Howard Gardner introduced the theory of multiple intelligences stating that each person possesses a blend of at least eight different kinds of intelligence: verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and environmental/naturalistic (Bruno, 2009).

In “A Rounded Version: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences”, Howard Gardner illustrates how there are a variety of intelligences. Gardner starts off with an example how IQ tests may predict achievement in school but may not predict achievement in life. After finding out certain parts of the brain are responsible for certain functions, such as “Broca’s Area” which is responsible for sentence production, Gardner proposes the existence of multiple intelligences. Multiple studies later led him to propose seven distinct intelligences; Musical, bodily-kinesthetic, logical-mathematical, linguistic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Each intelligence has certain classifications. According to Gardner’s classifications, I realized my intelligences are bodily-kinesthetic, logical-mathematical, and intrapersonal.

Howard Gardner developed the Multiple intelligence theory. Gardner believed that the human mind did not have one general intelligence but many that had independent functions. He believed that the previous measure of intelligence did not accurately measure the capability of the human mind. "While formulating this theory, Gardner placed less emphasis on explaining the results of mental tests than on accounting for the range of human abilities that exist across a vast majority of cultures. (www.associatedcontent.com)

     A renowned professor of education and psychology at Harvard University, Howard Gardner has radically changed the way we look at intelligence. In 1983 Gardner published the first of two books that theorize that there are multiple intelligences. Gardner believes “that human cognitive competence is better described in terms of a set of abilities, talents, or mental skills, which we call “intelligence” (378). Gardner’s theory dismisses the idea that intelligence is a single attribute of the mind and suggests that there are different types of intelligences that account for different human

You’re a genius! As this compliment rings in your head imagine that someone is referring to your ability to understand yourself, or even your ability to interact with other people. Under Gardner’s Theory of multiple intelligences each and every one of us have different intelligence strengths, our individual strengths are important in how we develop. Possibly making more unconventional geniuses. Knowing and acknowledging our strengths can help us to excel in life at different levels. Most of us are a combination of many different intelligences. Normally with one or two that are stronger than the others. Like many others you might be thinking intelligence only in reference to a high IQ, and knowledge these other so called “intelligences” are too broad, but I believe you couldn’t be more incorrect. These are possible new ideas for you but consider the fact that we all learn differently if we all had the same type of intelligence than we would all learn the exact same way. As we know this clearly not true. After deep reflection and some research I believe my strongest intelligence is Interpersonal intelligence. Strong interpersonal intelligence are people who are good at understanding and interacting with others nonverbally and verbally. Usually more talented in assessing the emotions and desires of those around them. My second strongest intelligence is intrapersonal intelligences describe as one’s ability to know and understand them self. It is believed that these

Stages of cognitive and moral development, Interests and learning styles, and Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

‘‘Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory can be used for curriculum development, planning instruction, selection of course activities, and related assessment strategies. Instruction which is designed to help students develop their strengths can also trigger their confidence to develop areas in which they are not as strong. Students’ multiple learning preferences can be addressed when instruction includes a range of meaningful and appropriate methods, activities, and assessments. Gardner’s early work in psychology and later in human cognition and human potential’ led to the development of the initial six intelligences. Today there are nine intelligences and the possibility of others may eventually expand the list. These intelligences (or competencies) relate to a person’s unique aptitude set of capabilities and ways they might prefer to demonstrate intellectual abilities’’ ( (Armstrong, T., 2010). Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

Intelligence as defined by the Cambridge dictionary is the ability to learn, understand, and make judgments or have opinions that are based on reason.1 There is much debate and controversy on this subject and psychologists do not all agree upon a standard definition. Yet, one of the very first definitions of intelligence was developed by the psychologists responsible for the development of the first intelligence test, Binet and Simon (1905) who argued that the essence of intelligence is: ‘to judge well, to comprehend well, to reason well’.2 Another sample definition was provided later by Heim, in 1970, who argued that ‘intelligent activity consists in grasping the essentials in a situation and responding appropriately to them’.3 There are also arguments surrounding how many different types of intelligence there are, as well as the intelligence theories of psychology. However elusive, we can ascertain that all psychologists have universally agreed upon general intelligence (g), an expression devised by the English psychologist Charles Spearman and defined as ‘a mental attribute called on for virtually any task’.4 This essay will inform the reader of the different methods proposed and used by psychologists to assess ability and discuss their evaluations.

Howard Gardner introduced the theory Multiple Intelligence where he believes every person has the capacity to hold a unique set of “intelligences”. Growing up, I was taught that a person who was intelligent held a lot of knowledge. However, Gardner includes the importance of other capacities of intelligence. These intelligences include linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial-visual, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist talents. As teachers, it is crucial to let every child know they are special and hold a unique place in the world. Just because one student is not as good at solving mathematical problems than the other students, it does not mean he/she is less intelligent than the others. That

Gardner wants to prove that everyone learns differently and our intellectual strengths in different fields vary too. He

For Gardner, it is not a unitary whole that groups different specific capacities, but a net work of autonomous, relatively interrelated groups. For Howard Gardner, intelligence is a biopsychological information potential that can be activated in one or more cultural frameworks to solve problems or create product that have value for such frames

Howard Gardner is my top theorists because I like his idea on multiple intelligence, and how each of us possesses seven distinct and measurable forms of intelligence. I like John Dewey idea of us learning by doing, and how learning occurs through experience. And his idea on teaching children with hands on activity which I think is the best way to teach kids. And I also like Lev Vygotsky I like his idea that an individual can perform independently, while others performed if they have assistance. Skills can be performed with assistance are said to be within an individual’s ZPD.

The theory of multiple intelligences was developed by Dr. Howard Gardner in 1983. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences is a critique of the standard psychological view of intellect: there is a single intelligence, adequately measured by IQ or other short answer tests. Instead, on the basis of evidence from disparate sources, the theory claims that human beings have a number of relatively discrete intellectual capacities. IQ tests assess linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence, and sometimes spatial intelligence; they are a reasonably good predictor of who will do well in school. This is because humans have several other significant intellectual capacities (Harvard University).

Howard Gardner recognizes that intelligence is more than the single logical-mathematical processing of stored facts that intelligence tests assess. He views intelligence as problem-solving, problem-creating, and problem-finding across a range of situations. There are a total of eight Multiple Intelligences: Logical-Mathematical, Linguistic, Musical, Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and lastly, Naturalist Intelligence. These Intelligences allow educators to carefully integrate several content areas within a specific curricula.