Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Information on the Theory of Multiple Intelligences is adapted and excerpted from The Project Zero Classroom: New Approaches to Understanding, a publication based on Project Zero's 1996 Summer Institute presentations.

Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences challenges the traditional view of intelligence as a unitary capacity that can be adequately measured by IQ tests. Instead, this theory defines intelligence as an ability to solve problems or create products that are valued in at least one culture.

Drawing upon findings from evolutionary biology, anthropology, developmental and cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, and psychometrics, Gardner uses eight different criteria to judge whether a candidate ability can be counted as an intelligence

1. potential isolation by brain damage
2. existence of savants, prodigies, and other exceptional individuals
3. an identifiable core set of operations--basic kind of information-processing operations or mechanisms that deal with one specific kind of input
4. a distinctive developmental history, along with a definite set of "end-state" performances
5. an evolutionary history and evolutionary plausibility
6. support from experimental and psychological tasks
7. support from psychometric findings
8. susceptibility to encoding from a symbol system

When he introduced the theory in Frames of Mind, Gardner suggested that each individual possesses at least seven such relatively independent mental abilities or intelligences. Core operations are among the eight criteria he uses to evaluate one or another candidate intelligence. According to his definition, a core operation is a basic information processing mechanism--basically, something (like a neural network) in the brain that takes a particular kind of input or information and processes it. In Frames of Mind and his more recent writings on the naturalist intelligence, Gardner asserted that each intelligence should have one or more of the following core operations:

 

Intelligence	Core Operations
Linguistic	syntax, phonology, semantics, pragmatics
Musical	pitch, rhythm, timbre
Logical-mathematical	number, categorization, relations
Spatial	accurate mental visualization, mental transformation of images
Bodily-kinesthetic	control of one's own body, control in handling objects
Interpersonal	awareness of others' feelings, emotions, goals, motivations
Intrapersonal	awareness of one's own feelings, emotions, goals, motivations
Naturalist	recognition and classification of objects in the environment

In Gardner's theory, the word intelligence is used in two senses. Intelligence can denote a species-specific characteristic; homo sapiens is that species which can exercise these eight intelligences. Intelligence can also denote an individual difference. While all humans possess the eight intelligences, each person has his/her own particular blend or amalgam of the intelligences.

The following definitions of the intelligences, adapted by White and Blythe (1992), from the originals presented in Frames of Mind, list occupation, professions, disciplines, areas and directions an intelligence can take. But these are by no means the only examples; nor do any of these examples or end states represent the use of any one intelligence to the exclusion of all others. Individuals are never endowed solely with one intelligence. Rather, all brain-unimpaired people possess all the intelligences, which they blend in various ways in the course of creating something that is meaningful or performing a meaningful role or task.

Linguistic intelligence allows individuals to communicate and make sense of the world through language. Poets exemplify this intelligence in its mature form. Students who enjoy playing with rhymes, who pun, who always have a story to tell, who quickly acquire other languages--including sign language--all exhibit linguistic intelligence.

Musical intelligence allows people to create, communicate, and understand meanings made out of sound. While composers and instrumentalists clearly exhibit this intelligence, so do the students who seem particularly attracted by the birds singing outside the classroom window or who constantly tap out intricate rhythms on the desk with their pencils.

Logical-mathematical intelligence enables individuals to use and appreciate abstract relations. Scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers all rely on this intelligence. So do the students who "live" baseball statistics or who carefully analyze the components of problems--either personal or school-related--before systematically testing solutions.

Spatial intelligence makes it possible for people to perceive visual or spatial information, to transform this information, and to recreate visual images from memory. Well-developed spatial capacities are needed for the work of architects, sculptors, and engineers. The students who turn first to the graphs, charts, and pictures in their textbooks, who like to "web" their ideas before writing a paper, and who fill the blank space around their notes with intricate patterns are also using their spatial intelligence. While usually tied to the visual modality, spatial intelligence can also be exercised to a high level by individuals who are visually impaired.

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence allows individuals to use all or part of the body to create products or solve problems. Athletes, surgeons, dancers, choreographers, and crafts people all use bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. The capacity is also evident in students who relish gym class and school dances, who prefer to carry out class projects by making models rather than writing reports, and who toss crumbled paper with frequency and accuracy into wastebaskets across the room.

Interpersonal intelligence enables individuals to recognize and make distinctions about others' feelings and intentions. Teachers, parents, politicians, psychologists and salespeople rely on interpersonal intelligence. Students exhibit this intelligence when they thrive on small-group work, when they notice and react to the moods of their friends and classmates, and when they tactfully convince the teacher of their need for extra time to complete the homework assignment.

Intrapersonal intelligence helps individuals to distinguish among their own feelings, to build accurate mental models of themselves, and to draw on these models to make decisions about their lives. Although it is difficult to assess who has this capacity and to what degree, evidence can be sought in students' uses of their other intelligences--how well they seem to be capitalizing on their strengths, how cognizant they are of their weaknesses, and how thoughtful they are about the decisions and choices they make.

Naturalist intelligence allows people to distinguish among, classify, and use features of the environment. Farmers, gardeners, botanists, geologists, florists, and archaeologists all exhibit this intelligence, as do students who can name and describe the features of every make of car around them.

In a recent article, "Are there additional intelligences?" Gardner examined two more candidate intelligences, naturalist, and spiritual, but ended up rejecting spiritual--at least for now--because it does not meet the eight criteria named earlier. He is still amassing evidence for other suggested intelligences. For example, existential intelligence--manifest in somebody who is concerned with fundamental questions of existence--does not, as yet, seem to meet all criteria. If decisions about intelligences are to be taken seriously, Gardner believes, they must depend upon examination of the available data. So at this point, one might say that the existential intelligence is the "half" in the 8-1/2 intelligences.