Why is it that certain people within our society are intellectually gifted while others are not? It would seem that since we as humans are of the same species, we would have a very comparable intelligence level, and yet IQ test scores for 99 percent of the population range clear from “barely functioning” fifty-five to “Einstein” 145 (based on the Wechsler IQ test). Perhaps our perception is a little skewed. Maybe everyone is more similar intellectually than limited IQ tests can discern. Think about someone who you consider to be “under par” or even average on a scale of one to smart. They might not be a great rocket scientist, but they are a great people person, or absolutely amazing as a musician. Then think about the smartest person you know. How well can they communicate? How are they as artists? It would seem that these people may score well on IQ tests, but in other areas they are the ones that aren’t up to par. If everyone has different interests and capabilities, how can we judge their intelligence by something as narrow as an IQ test? If there is more than one way to be intelligent, is it possible to be unintelligent?
This suggestion was professionally made by a Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard Howard Gardner, recorded in his numerous books outlining his theory of multiple intelligences, which was originally outlined in his book Frames of Mind: the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. In this work Gardner outlined seven intelligences, or areas in which someone could be intelligent: Spatial, Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal.
“Many children, otherwise normal or close to normal, demonstrate selective difficulties in the learning of language” (Gardner...
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...s are much more interesting in color, not just the grayscale of an IQ test. See the people who are smart because they can perceive the world in a different way, not just the analytical way of those who are more logical. Go ahead, give yourself a broader definition of intelligence. Spice up your world.
Works Cited
Gardner, Howard E. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic Books Corp., 1993.
Traub, James. "Multiple Intelligences Disorder" The New Republic. 26 Oct. 1998, , 20.Print.
Kincheloe, Joe L. Multiple Intelligences Reconsidered. Peter Lang. New York, New York, United States: Peter Lang, 2004. Google Books. Web. 7 Nov. 2011. http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=xVu3bhfSicIC&oi=fnd&pg=PA3&dq=a+critique+of+gardner%27s+theory&ots=gXl3S7Jh4O&sig=CFZOr-_XHC20-p9TlwuB0YBXPmw#v=onepage&q=a%20critique%20of%20gardner's%20the
In reality, people are a combination of most every single one of the intelligences and certain intelligences blend into one another. For instance, there is a reason people connect with actors, they not only are they strong with their own bodily-kinetics, they also can connect with an audience showing that they have a great intrapersonal intelligence. Even though Gardner says you can have a combination of the intelligences, the problem comes at drawing the line of which intelligences are greater in a person or which intelligence is more dominant in
Howard Gardner used to define intelligence as “the ability to solve problems or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings” (Gardner 33). The modern day human being would most likely include the words “smart” and “dumb” in their definition of intelligence. Gardner questioned the belief of only one intelligence so he created his own theory that involved seven different discoveries. He didn’t want to call these discoveries “skills” or “talents” or gifts” because those all suggested a drawback so he decided on the word “intelligence,” creating his theory of multiple intelligences (Gardner 33). Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences including, linguistic, logical/mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, intrapersonal and interpersonal, has many implications for modern education and culture.
Criticism #2: Some people believe that the eight intelligence does not necessary distinct, it would be a subset of a general intelligence a.k.a “g” that was originally proposed by Charles Spearman in 1927 although the existence of ‘g’ itself is the subject of
Howard Gardner’s theory contains eight main multiple intelligence. As the years have progressed there have taken one out and is left with the main seven. These seven are: Linguistic, Mathematical, Spatial, bodily, Musical, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal. These are found in everyone; however, each person will excel in one or two. Once teachers can determine what intelligence the students will exceed on and teach to their strengths the student will learn much more.
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.
Surprisingly, intelligence is not defined as a single ability, but by a combination of related abilities. For instance, a savant that discerns numbers different than the average human, and uses those numbers to connect with others is an unconventional show of intelligence. And there are even infographics that people design, and dedicate time and effort into, showing their thoughts on intelligence. Lastly, there have been articles written about intelligence that layout the author’s thoughts on how intelligence should be viewed. While some people label intelligence as academic skills, an individual can actually develop many different forms of intelligences, outside of academics.
His multiple intelligences theory suggest that intelligence is divided into eight different categories: logical-mathematical, linguistic, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist each with their own individual characteristics (Woolfolk 116). After finishing Gardner’s assessment of my multiple intelligences, it was determined that my three highest intelligences (in order from most apparent to least apparent) are logical-mathematical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Logical-mathematical intelligence involves charting, sequencing, analyzing, proving, and interpreting data. Interpersonal intelligence involves cooperative grouping, tutoring, and giving feedback. Intrapersonal intelligence involves independent work, self-talk, using prior knowledge and connecting this prior knowledge to new knowledge
Gardner, H. (2011). FRAMES OF MIND: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Basic Books.
Most researchers believe that we are born with a certain intelligence or potential intelligence. They also believe that the intelligence we are born with is difficult to change. Psychologists use short-answer tests to assess one’s intelligence (Gardner papers). It was believed that intelligence was a single inherited thing. Human beings start out initially as a blank slate and could be trained to learn anything, provided that it was presented in an appropriate way (Multiple Intelligences and Education). Currently an “increasing number of researchers believe the opposite. Gardner defined intelligence as: “the ability to create an effective product or offer a service that is valued in culture; a set ...
One of the most definitive things ever said regarding the nature of intelligence was that intelligence is whatever IQ tests measure. The IQ test has been in use throughout the 20th century and serves as an accepted measure of a person’s intelligence. It is used by institutions such as schools and the army to screen people’s level of intelligence and decisions are made based on that. The IQ test consists of a series of questions regarding certain skills such as vocabulary, mathematics, spatial relations. The scores that a person gets on these tests depend on the amount of questions that a person answers correctly. The actual score that a person gets is dependant on how others in that age group do on those particular questions.
The definition of intelligence becomes even more complicated when one considers the work of Howard Gardner. Gardner claims that intelligence can not be defined with one definition because intelligence is not one thing. Gardner purports that there are eight different categories of intelligence: musical, bodily-kinesthetic, logical-mathematical, linguistic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist. He is currently considering adding a ninth category of intelligence: existential (Carvin).
Visser, B. A., Ashton, M. C., & Vernon, P. A. (2006). g and the measurement of multiple intelligences: A response to Gardner. Intelligence, 34(5), 507-510.
Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligence focuses more on how numerical expressions of human intelligence are not a full and accurate depiction of people’s abilities (McFarlane, 2011). He includes and describes eight intelligences that are based on skills and abilities that are valued within different cultures. The eight intelligences include visual-spatial (e.g. sailor navigating with no navigational systems), verbal-linguistic (e.g. poets, writers, orators, and communicators), bodily-kinesthetic (e.g. dancers, athletes, surgeons, craftspeople), logical-mathematical (e.g. mathematicians and logicians), interpersonal(e.g. salespeople, teachers, clinicians, politicians, and religious leaders), musical (e.g. musicians and
In 1983, Howard Gardner a Harvard professor proposed the theory that individual can have multiple ways of learning and processing information. The multiple intelligences consist of 9 different ways and these include: verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, existential, musical, naturalistic, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Every individual has a different amount of each intelligence but each intelligence is at a varying level. With the help of a multiple intelligences assessment, I found that my top three multiple intelligences are Intrapersonal, logical, and interpersonal. Within his research Gardner says that “Intrapersonal intelligence refers to people’s ability to recognize and assess those same characteristics
Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard, introduced his theory of multiple intelligences in 1983. Multiple intelligence’s is a theory about the brain that says human beings are born with single intelligence that cannot be changed, and is measurable by a psychologist. Gardner believes that there are eight different intelligences in humans. The eight are verbal linguistic, visual spatial, bodily kinesthetic, mathematical logic, musical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and naturalist. Understanding these intelligence’s will help us to design our classroom and curriculum in a way that will appeal to all of our students. We might also be able to curve discipline problems by reaching a student in a different way. One that will make more sense to them and more enjoyable. We can include all of the intelligences in lessons to accommodate all of the students’ different learning styles at once. By reaching each students intelligence we can assume that a student will perform better which, could mean students retaining more important information. A students learning style can also help lead them into a more appropriate career direction. As a teacher you can also learn your own personal learning style or intelligence to help improve the way you learn and teach.