The Theory Of Intelligence, And Multiple Intelligences Theory

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.

Spearman thought that if all mental tests are mutually related then there is some common factor that causes this. Spearman developed a statistical method called

There are a slew of tests that attempt to measure how intelligent human beings are. They all measure different aspects and those factors will be covered here. One of the misconceptions is that the tests measure inborn intelligence. Few of the activities are designed for that purpose. They actually measure a person’s interaction with the environment and what they have learned from that interaction. The most common tested aspect is critical thinking. Instead of straightforward questions, intelligence tests offer questions with a twist. It is assumed that the most intelligent people will see obvious flaws in the obvious answers (Steinberg & Williams, 2015). Some intelligence tests also measure reflexes, both mental and physical. The assumption is quick reaction times reflect an active brain and in the line of thinking, a more intelligent person.

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.

Traditionally, people have defined someone who is intelligent as an individual who can solve problems, use logic to answer questions, and think critically. But psychologist Howard Gardner has a much broader definition of intelligence. Compare the traditional idea about intelligence with Gardner's. How have his ideas changed the way we assess the strengths and weaknesses of people?

Charles Spearman’s theory (1904) also takes the psychometric approach that there is a general intelligence. Spearman maintains that intelligence is hereditary and an individual is born with their maximum mental ability. This suggests that intelligence cannot be changed or strengthened. The concept of ‘general intelligence’ suggests that an individual has an underlying intelligence, in which their performance in one type of cognitive task is often similar to their performance in another (Boundless 2013). Spearman demonstrated this through the correlations between tests, where individuals who performed well in one test, often performed well in others. This led Spearman to the conclusion that intelligence is defined as a single factor. However, critics refute Spearman’s conclusions, as they argue that one cannot reduce all factors of intelligence to an indefinable “g” (Neisser et al. 1996).

The debate concerning the nature of the relationship between race and intelligence has been highly contested by psychologists for many years. With the emergence of genetic research in recent times, some clarity has been provided, however, many unanswered questions still remain. This essay discusses the implications of IQ test scores and the potentially misleading information they generate when administered to non-Western individuals. Although it is argued that race is a dynamic social construct and therefore not scientifically sound, this essay will explain why considering context-specific information about an individual is vital when assessing their intelligence due to the substantial roles environmental factors play in the learning

‘‘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

A study intending to emulate the results expressed in the original study was performed on preschool aged children exposing them to similar variables as those in the original study (Hui, 2007). The study showed no empirical evidence that listening to Mozart is more beneficial for children than ulterior conditions (Hui, 2007). This disproves the belief that listening to Mozart makes a child smarter also making the generalization from the Rauscher et al (1993) inconclusive. There are also a number of other factors that have been overlooked when comparing the finding of the original study to the Mozart effect in children. Another discerning factor expressed in the original study was the test used to assess intelligence between the participants. The portion of the Stanford-Binet test used in the original study focuses on one aspect of intelligence, namely, spatial reasoning (Rauscher et al, 1993). Therefore, it would be invalid to assume that high scores on this specific test delineate an increase in overall general intelligence. The test itself is also bias as specific cultures outperform others, as cultural environment has an influence on intelligence, which may lead to deficits in the results found (Weinberg, 1989). Sternberg (2004) found that IQ tests are effective at predicting academic success in western individuals but are not conclusive measures of overall intelligence or ability to succeed. Gardner (1999) also proposed that IQ test also

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.

Intelligence tests even in these days remain somewhat controversial, from its interpretations, to their classifications in scoring on bell curves. So is the magnitude of debate, that many professionals in assessments question the value of these tests. One aspect of much controversy is the use of a single or multiple scores to determine intelligence. Some general intelligence assessments only use a score, g. This apparently reflects the variance underlying shared in different series of tests performance. Nevertheless, recent theories have suggested that human intelligence can be better measured in terms of multiple types of intelligence rather than a single score. One of those theories is the gf-gc; this theory indicates that there are two types of intelligence: f = fluid and c = crystalized.

While this assumption is accepted by a majority of geneticists and behavioral scientists, there is great disagreement on the degree of influence each contributes. Arguments for environmental influences are compelling; at the same time there is growing evidence that genetic influence on intelligence is significant and substantial (Eyesenck, 1998; Mackintosh, 1998; Plomin, 1994; Steen, 1996). The purpose of this paper is to explore the question: "How is intelligence influenced by heredity and environment?"

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).

Goleman’s theory (1998) looks at a different kind of intelligence and determines the intelligence with EQ (emotional quotient), rather than IQ. Two theories stand out from the rest due to the large number of factors involved, the first, Thurstone’s theory, has seven individual factors but combines each of the factors to determine one intelligence score. The second,

Intelligence is used by everyone to help them in everyday life. Where people get their intelligence, however, is debatable. A person is born with an amount of inherited intelligence; this intelligence is considered nature, genetic, or heredity. Then there is intelligence that comes from the ability to learn from experience; this intelligence is impacted by nurture or the environment. It is known that both genetic and environmental factors determine intelligence, but the subject is controversial among professionals. Does nature or nurture have a bigger impact on intelligence? Is it true that some people are born with high intelligence, but are limited by their environment? Given the proper tools, can a person increase their intelligence? How accurate are IQ tests?