Multiple Intelligences: How Do You Know if You Have an Intelligence?

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.

Charles Spearman's model of intelligence and Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence theory are two of the most widely used theories of intelligence. In order to understand how similar the two theories are we must first understand their differences. These two men differed in opinion on how IQ and intelligence should be measured, and they differed in opinion on what made a person "smart". In order to examine these things they first had to understand the human brain and how it works. They had to examine the human study habits and rituals, along with the human test taking habits.

What is intelligence exactly? Intelligence is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills or “the ability to learn and understand things to

     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

There are many different ways that people can be intelligent. Over the past few weeks I have been reading fiction and non-fictions on how people can have different types of intelligence. In fact here are the seven different ways people can be intelligent; musical, existential, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, naturalist, and/or spatial. Intelligence isn’t defined by a single ability, but it’s about the many types of related abilities. People can have more than one type of intelligence, but some are stronger than others. People can be intelligent by having logical-mathematical, interpersonal, and linguistic skills.

On the contrary, those people who scored low on one kinds of ability test, were more likely to score badly on others as well. Meanwhile, Spearman also concluded that intelligence is a cognitive ability which could be measured and expressed numerically.

Intelligence is an interesting concept and whilst we understand and can agree that it is what differentiates us from other all the other animals it is almost impossible to agree exactly how to measure it.

Intelligence by definition is “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills” (Oxford Dictionary, 2014). However, many psychologists argue that there is no standard definition of ‘intelligence’, and there have been many different theories over time as psychologists try to find better ways to define this concept (Boundless 2013). While some believe in a single, general intelligence, others believe that intelligence involves multiple abilities and skills. Another largely debated concept is whether intelligence is genetically determined and fixed, or whether is it open to change, through learning and environmental influence. This is commonly known as the nature vs. nurture debate.

People can be intelligent in many different ways. Howard Gardener came up with a list of eight different types of intelligences. They include visual-spatial , interpersonal , intrapersonal , linguistic , bodily-kinesthetic , logical-mathematical , musical , naturalistic , and existential. Two main ways that you could demonstrate intelligence are through intrapersonal and interpersonal. They sound similar but are actually completely opposite. Intrapersonal has to do with what goes on within a person. Someone who is intrapersonal has the ability to understand their emotions , know their limits , and is connected to who they are and how they feel. Interpersonal has to do with people’s relationships with other people. Someone who is interpersonal

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).

Firstly, we already know what intelligence is, however, in psychology, intelligence is difficult to define, as it is seen differently by everyone. There are different kinds of intelligence, such as academic, creative and emotional. There are also several theories and research studies which have explored whether intelligence is inherited or how it should and can be measured. The five main intelligence theories that are used are Spearman’s Two Factor Theory (1904,1927), Thurstone’s Theory of Primary Mental Abilities (1938), Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences (1983), Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory (1985) and Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence Theory (1998).

The theory of multiple intelligences was discovered by Howard Gardner as a model of intelligence that sets apart intelligence into varied modalities, rather than seeing it as subjugated by a single general ability. Intelligence is defined

Although intelligence is a concept, there are many definitions that try to describe and interpret intelligence for people. One of the many definitions is the “capacity to understand” (World English Dictionary: Intelligence). This definition is describing intelligence and giving one facet of the diamond that is the various definitions of intelligence. This simple definition is often used by many common people, but a more in depth definition is “the ability to derive information, learn from experience, adapt to the environment, understand, and correctly utilize thought and reaction” (APA Dictionary of Psychology: Intelligence). This definition delves deeper into intelligence and paints a general picture of intelligence but is unable to define intelligence for a simple reason. Intelligence is a concept and thus is impossible to completely define by one comprehensive definition.

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.