Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner

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.

Gottfredson, (1997) stated that intelligence is ‘a very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience.

The definition of intelligence has strongly been debated over for many centuries, and many individuals have their arguments for what it is. So what is really the true meaning of intelligence? Some, such as college professor of psychology, Carol S. Dweck, strongly believes that intelligence is something achieved through large amounts effort and having optimistic mindsets as inferred in her article, “The Secret to Raising Smart Kids”. However, on the other hand, successful author of best selling novel “Steve Jobs”, Walter Isaacson, claims that intelligence is an abstract idea that is derived from ingenuity and applying creativity to life and other material concepts. With almost completely opposite sets of beliefs, it is likely that Dweck will not agree with Isaacson’s nation of intelligence being derived from natural intuition rather than raw intelligence.

Chapter 4, reading 14, titled Just How Are You Intelligent?, focused on the researchers theory of multiple intelligences (MI Theory). The researcher believed that parts of the brain specialized in different functions and that different parts have different intelligences. In order to help prove this theory, the researcher came up with eight indicators that helped him see if an intelligence was actually real. The researcher proposed seven different intelligences that passed most or all of the eight criteria. These included linguistic (words), musical (sounds), logical-mathematical (example: numbers), spatial (visualization, transformation, rotation), bodily kinesthetic (physical control), intrapersonal (understanding yourself), and interpersonal

Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence states intelligence is not unitary and there is no “general intelligence”. Multiple Intelligence involves linguistic, mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily kinesthetic, naturalistic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal abilities. Gardner’s theory is based on neuropsychological evidence and psychometric evidence.

In the book, Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice (1993) by Howard Gardner, he proposed seven distinct intelligences that his studies led him to, first being linguistic, meaning that it applies to having great success in learning a language and using it appropriately. This intelligence usually appears more in people who exceed in the english language, such as poets and writers.

Emory College Science Research Division quotes Howard Gardner, education theorist: “The claim is that there are at least eight different human intelligences. Most intelligence tests look at language or logic or both - those are just two of the intelligences. The other six are musical, spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist” (qtd. in Ainslie). IQ tests contain the ability to distinguish high knowledge in two out of eight intelligences (Ainslie). Therefore, those high IQ scorers show above proficiency in only 25% of all intelligences applicable. Some may argue IQ tests prove value in the two most important of intelligences; however, knowing how to recognize patterns does not correlate to accurately making important life decisions. IQ tests become inefficient in proving overall intelligence due to the fact it can show above proficient ability in only a quarter of all eight

What determines intelligence? According to Howard Gardner, intelligence cannot be universally subjected to one exclusive element. In his book Frames of Mind, he expands the dimension of intelligence through pluralizing the term to recognize different kinds of aptitudes. Originally, Gardner acknowledged that there were seven different branches of intelligence. Today, one’s intelligence can be understood in terms of nine different types. These multiple intelligences can be classified into the following categories: linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, and existential. However, these multiple branches are not entirely independent from one another,

As stated in our reading there a total of 8 multiple intelligences developed by Howard Gardner. Each type of intelligence is not the same for every person. Everyone has their own unique personality and therefore has their own style of learning or retaining information provided to them. There are certain surveys you can take in order to determine where your particular intelligences fall. I have taken one of these surveys and have chosen three of my top intelligences to explore further and to determine what skills in each type of intelligence are most effective for me to retain new information, not only in my education but

In conclusion, I must say that intelligence can certainly be considered a broad word. It is a word that has varying definitions depending on the source from which the definition comes. The reason for this seems to be because people

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).

Since intelligence is a concept, there are no words that are able to completely explain the concept, but there are words that can give a general idea of the concept. Intelligence has three main facets that must be acknowledged before one can understand intelligence. Each facet is intertwined with another of the facets that each connect to create intelligence. The three facets are logic, growth, and emotion. The logic of intelligence allows one to solve problems in order to

The word ‘Intelligence’ is derived from the Latin verb intelligere, which means to perceive, understand, or to distinguish. The study of the nature of intelligence can be interpreted as the study of the observation and understanding the external circumstances and mode of behavior according to the particular situation.

Multiple intelligences are intellectual capacities that every human being has. Everyone has different multiple intelligences, an identical twin, even though they share same genetic but they still have different multiple intelligences. This is because everyone grows with dissimilar experiences and lives in different environment. Multiple intelligences consist of eight elements which are musical intelligence, bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, naturalistic intelligence spatial intelligence, logical-mathematics intelligence, and linguistics intelligence (refer to Appendix 1, Figure 1)