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This page was revised by Clifford J. F. Morris on Friday, 11 January, 2008
The Multiple Intelligences of Howard Earl Gardner
Copyright © 2008 by Clifford Morris
Introduction
In 1983, a Harvard university psychologist, Howard Gardner, wrote Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. At that time, Gardner believed that he was writing predominantly to enlighten mainstream psychologists, not members of the educational community. Gardner (1998a, 1998b, 1998c; 1999a, 1999b; see especially Gardner, 1999d) deliberately used the word 'intelligence' due to its cachet.
In Frames, Gardner (1983/1993) proposed a novel notion: that the psychological construct 'intelligence' should be viewed in more ways than simply through the dry and statistical analytical lenses of (the widely accepted logical and linguistic) IQ-type formalized tests, tests so formalized, normalized and standardized for most schooling systems. Gardner questioned the classical belief that we could have only one 'mode of representation' about life; instead, he suggested that a more pluralistic viewpoint for measuring mental functioning ought to be addressed – a variety of intelligent ways of thinking. In other words, he saw no reason to call logical thinking an intelligence and musical ability a talent. Instead, he believed that those abilities were equal.
Vertical Modularities
Restated in another way, Gardner suggests that our intelligences are organized 'vertically', that is, as a number of almost different domain specific cerebral faculties, rather than 'horizontally', as a set of general, or 'g' abilities (for a detailed commentary on this most important hypothesis, read carefully Torff & Gardner, 1999). This viewpoint was (and continues to be) in direct contrast to many of the language and logic theorists who believed that there is only one kind of intelligence, that we either have a lot of it or not that much, and that there is virtually very little that we can ever do about that.
Initially, he defined an intelligence as "the ability or set of abilities that allows a person to solve problems or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings" (Gardner, 1983/1993, pp. 60-61). More recently, he has refined, somewhat, his definition; he now defines an intelligence as "a biopsychological potential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products that are of value in a culture" (Gardner, 1999b, pp. 33-34). The word change “is important because it suggests that intelligences are not things that can be seen or counted” (Gardner, 1999b, p. 34). Instead, Gardner views his intelligences as "potentials – presumably, neural ones – that will or will not be activated, depending upon the values of a particular culture, the opportunities available in that culture, and the personal decisions made by individuals and/or their families, schoolteachers, and others (Gardner, 1999c, p. 34).
In Frames, Gardner initially suggested seven distinct types of intelligences to represent these other modes, including the two (2) widely accepted IQ-types, linguistic-verbal and logical-mathematical, and visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic and musical, and the two (2) most criticized of all of his intelligences, the two personal intelligences, social-interpersonal and introspective/intuitive-intrapersonal. In 1996, he added an eighth intelligence, the naturalist, to his initial group of seven.
Summary
Frames was very well received by those within the educational arena, in particular, by practicing classroom teachers. The book was reprinted numerous times and translated into many languages, including Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. It was selected by five book clubs. To this day, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences "is still [Gardner's] best-known and most influential book" (Eberstadt, 1999, p. 7). In short, Frames has become Gardner's claim-to-fame.
Selected References
Ebserstadt, Mary (1999, October & November). The schools they deserve: Howard Gardner and the remaking of elite education. Policy Review, 97, 3-17. To read Gardner's response to her article, click here.
Gardner, H. (1993). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences: Tenth anniversary edition. New York: Basic Books. (Original work published 1983).
Gardner, Howard (1998a, Winter). A multiplicity of intelligences. [Special Issue]. Scientific American, 9(4), 18-23.
That tests cannot capture all of a person's skills in a neat number is an important crux of the article by Howard Gardner. In A Multiplicity of Intelligences, he espouses his view, developed in part after working with artists and musicians who had suffered strokes, that human intelligence is best thought of as consisting of several components, perhaps as many as nine. Components such as visual-spatial and bodily-kinesthetic, embodied by, say, architect Frank Lloyd Wright and hockey player Wayne Gretzky, elude test measures. Gardner's classifications are not arbitrary; he draws from evolution, brain function, developmental biology and other disciplines.Gardner, Howard (1998b, March 19). An intelligent way to progress. Independent, pp. E4-E5.Gardner has been quite influential in education circles, where his theory is often required study for teachers-to-be. He feels, however, that some of his ideas are being misinterpreted. He mentions Daniel Goleman's best-seller, Emotional Intelligence, the central concept of which is based on multiple intelligences theory. Gardner maintains that the theory should not be used to create a value system, as suggested in Goleman's book. People with high emotional quotients aren't necessarily well adjusted and kind to others--think Hannibal Lecter (Yam, 1998, p.7).
Gardner, Howard (1998c, Nov. 5). Do parents count? [Review of The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do by Judith Rich Harris with a foreword by Steven Pinker. Simon and Schuster, 462 pages]. The New York Review of Books, 45(17), pp. 19-22.
Gardner, Howard (1999a, January 25). A prescription for peace. Time, 153(3), pp. 44-45.
Gardner, H. (1999b). The disciplined mind: What all students should understand. New York: Simon & Schuster. To read the first chapter of this book, click here, and to read two reviews of the same book, click here and here.
Gardner, H. (1999c). Intelligence reframed: Multiple intelligences for the 21st century. New York: Basic Books.
To read Chapter 1: go to http://www.businessweek.com/chapter/gardner.htm?scriptFramedGardner, H. (1999d, February). Who owns intelligence? Atlantic Monthly, 283(2), 67-76.And to read a series of reviews, including a (Amazon.com) customer comments about this book, click here and here and here.
Another detailed review of this same book has recently been published in the Volume 9, Number 3 issue of Gifted Education News, published by Gifted Education Press, 10201 Yuma Court, P.O. Box 1586, Manassas, VA, 20108; (703) 369-5017. The URL for Gifted Education Press is http://www.giftedpress.com
Torff, Bruce & Gardner, Howard. (1999). The vertical mind -- the case for multiple intelligences. In Mike Anderson (Ed.) et al. The development of intelligence. Studies in developmental psychology (pp. 139-159). Hove, England, UK: Psychology Press/Taylor & Francis.
In this chapter, the above two authors examine how the mind is set up to handle diverse tasks and whether it does so through a single, centralized system (i.e., the horizontal theory) or a set of separate cognitive mechanisms geared to particular kinds of information or tasks (i.e., the vertical theory). They describe and argue for a vertical approach, more specifically, they foster Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. In the concluding pages of the chapter, the authors summarize The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) and then compare MI theory to other verticality faculty theories.Yam, Philip (Ed.). (1998, Winter). Intelligence considered [Special Issue]. Scientific American, 9(4), 6-11.
author index a b c d e f g h ij k l m no p qr s t uv w xyz | home | name index a b c d e f g h ij k l m no p qr s t uv w xyz
Authors | Education | Expertise | Home | Human Intelligences | Journal of Human Intelligences | Journals & Newspapers | Learning Styles | Ottawa | Reviews | Sayings | Sports & Education
This page was revised by Clifford J. F. Morris on Friday, 11 January, 2008