Introduction

          The standard intelligence (IQ) test with which most are familiar had its roots in development by French psychologist Alfred Binet in the early 1900s.  “Contemporaneous work” by Charles Spearman resulted in the theory of general intelligence, or ‘g’(Davis, Christodoulou, Seider, & Gardner, n.d., p. 2).  A modernized version of Binet’s IQ test is still in use today and is taken by many high school students for acceptance into college.  This form of the IQ test is known as the SAT.  Before 2005, the SAT consisted of a math portion and language portion that were each scored separately but added together to get a composite score.  In 2005, a writing portion was added to the SAT, but even with that addition, the test measures intelligence in only the mathematical and linguistic areas (Gardner, 2006).  General intelligence, or ‘g’, is intelligence that we are born with and can do little to change (Davis, Christodoulou, Seider, & Gardner, n.d.).  In 1983, the term “multiple intelligences” was coined by Howard Gardner, and it was a combination of “heritable potentials and skills” that are not dictated only by genetics but can be modified by individual experiences (Davis et al., n.d., p. 3).

 

Background of Howard Gardner

          Howard Gardner, child of Jewish immigrants Ralph and Hilde Gardner (Winner, n.d.), was born in 1943 in Scranton, Pennsylvania (Smith, 2008).  Although Howard scored well on the standardized mathematics and science tests, he preferred language, art, history, and humanities where, ironically, his scores were not as high.  Upon high school graduation, Gardner attended Harvard where he ultimately earned his PhD in developmental psychology and subsequently joined the faculty (Gardner, 2011).

          During Gardner’s doctoral research, he worked with children to understand why some were especially gifted in the arts.  After hearing a speaker named Norman Geschwind who spoke on how brain damage affects writers, musicians, and other artists, Gardner got the idea to investigate the impact of the nervous system on artistic ability.  This led Gardner to expand his work to a hospital with stroke victims and others whose brains had been damaged.  Between working with children with musical ability and stroke victims who had lost their language skills, he observed that strengths or weaknesses in one area did not predict strengths or weaknesses in another as was the common thought with the traditional IQ.  It was this postdoctoral fellowship research that led Gardner to his theory of multiple intelligences (Gardner, 2011). 

 

Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences (MI) Theory

          Gardner did not study test scores to develop his theory but looked at it from an anthropological perspective.  The example he used to set the stage for multiple intelligences was to clear the mind of traditional intelligence and to imagine someone from Mars coming to Earth and observing a grandmaster chess player, a virtuoso violinist, and an Olympic athlete (Gardner, 2006).  Why would the traditional IQ test not identify their “intelligence”?  Are not these three people “intelligent” in their fields?  Gardner’s definition of intelligence is “a biopsychological potential to process information in certain kinds of ways, in order to solve problems or create products that are valued in one or more cultural settings” (Gardner, 2011, p. 3).  Using this definition, he identified seven intelligences that were the subject of his book Frames of Mind: the Theory of Multiple Intelligences first published in 1983.  The eighth intelligence, naturalist, was added in 1993 to his tenth anniversary edition.

 

Gardner's Eight Intelligences

-Linguistic

An ability to analyze information and create products involving oral and written language such as speeches, books, and memos.

-Logical-Mathematical

An ability to develop equations and proofs, make calculations, and solve abstract problems.

-Spatial

An ability to recognize and manipulate large-scale and fine-grained spatial images.

-Musical

An ability to produce, remember, and make meaning of different patterns of sound.

-Naturalist

An ability to identify and distinguish among different types of plants, animals, and weather formations that are found in the natural world.

Bodily-Kinesthetic

An ability to use one’s own body to create products or solve problems.

-Interpersonal

An ability to recognize and understand other people’s moods, desires, motivations, and intentions

-Intrapersonal

An ability to recognize and understand his or her own moods, desires, motivations, and intentions

(Davis et al., n.d., table 2)

 

Impact of MI on Education

          While the psychologists were opposed to the theory of multiple intelligences, some educators embraced the theory with extreme interest.  The implications of this theory in education were both individuation (personalization) and pluralization (teaching in different ways).  In the past, only the very wealthy could afford personalized instruction for their children by using tutors.  With the proliferation of computers in education, it is now possible for all children to receive some form of personalized instruction to best meet their individual needs intellectual profiles.  Pluralization results in the teacher teaching the material in many different ways to align with the different intelligences to engage the minds of the students again according to their individual intellectual profiles (Gardner, 2011).  Teaching in many ways not only increases the number of students who will be reached, but the teacher’s own understanding will be enriched by having to think about the problem in more than one way ("A beginner’s guide," n.d.).

          Another implication of multiple intelligences in education is that students who do not score well on traditional IQ tests do not need to feel that they are “dumb” or that they cannot succeed.  Every person has their own unique profile of intelligences that can be strengthened and nurtured by their culture, motivation, and resources.  No longer should they feel to be victims of biological forces over which they have no control (Gardner, 2011).  Gardner’s theory claims that while everyone has all eight intelligences in varying degrees and some people may be superior in one or more intelligence, not everyone is superior in at least one (Davis et al., n.d.).

 

Conclusion

          The multiple intelligences theory has not been as widely embraced as general intelligence, nor or the psychometric tests for the intelligences as prevalent. Gardner and his colleagues posit that intelligences are pluralistic and they are more than the result of biology and genetics.  Intelligences can be nurtured and enhanced by experiences, education, and culture, and they “can never be observed in isolation; they can only be manifest in performance and tasks of skills that are available, and optimally, valued in a cultural context” (Davis et al., n.d., p. 26). 

          Perhaps universities have come to realize that general intelligence in the form of college entrance exams does not predict success in college.  Comparing Texas A&M University entrance requirements of today to those of 35 years ago, SAT and ACT scores are but a small part.  Prospective college students now must submit resume-like information into ApplyTexas that should include extracurricular activities, demonstration of leadership, and volunteer activities.  A minimum of two essays and up to three is required to be submitted.  Overall, there is a much more comprehensive approach to college admissions than in years past ("Freshmen:  How to Apply," 2015).

 

References

A beginner’s guide to the theory of multiple intelligences (MI). (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2015, from http://multipleintelligencesoasis.org/about/

 

Davis, K., Christodoulou, J., Seider, S., & Gardner, H. (n.d.). The theory of multiple intelligences. Retrieved from http://multipleintelligencesoasis.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/443-davis-christodoulou-seider-mi-article.pdf

 

Freshmen:  How to apply. (2015). Retrieved March 1, 2015, from http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/apply

 

Gardner, H. (2006). In a nutshell. Retrieved from http://multipleintelligencesoasis.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/in-a-nutshell-minh.pdf

 

Gardner, H. (2011). The theory of multiple intelligences:  As psychology, as education, as social science. Retrieved from http://multipleintelligencesoasis.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/473-madrid-oct-22-2011.pdf

 

Smith, M. K. (2008). Howard Gardner, and multiple intelligences. Retrieved from http://infed.org/mobi/howard-gardner-multiple-intelligences-and-education/

 

Winner, E. (n.d.). The History of Howard Gardner. Retrieved February 28, 2015, from https://howardgardner01.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/ellenwinnerbio.pdf