The concept of “multiple intelligence” was first proposed by an American developmental psychologist Howard Earl Gardner. Over the years he has written several research articles on developmental psychology and, has also written about thirty books which have been translated into more than thirty languages.
Gardner’s personal and professional journey:
This talented developmental psychologist was born as Howard Earl Gardner on June 11th 1943 in Scranton Pennsylvania in the United States of America. He was born to Ralph Gardner and Hilde Gardner who were German-Jewish immigrants who had fled Germany prior to World War II.
He completed his basic education through a school called Wyoming Seminary located in Pennsylvania. Apparently he possessed a great hunger to learn and is supposed to have excelled in school. It was in the year 1965 that he graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in social relations. During this degree he is supposed to have studied under famous developmental psychologist Erik Erikson. He then also obtained a Ph.D degree in developmental psychology from Harvard University. It was during this period that he worked with well known psychologists such as Roger Brown, Jerome Bruner. It was eventually in 1986 that Gardner finally began his career as a teacher at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Gardner’s “Theory of Multiple Intelligences”, what is it:
It was in a book titled “Frames of Mind: The theory of Multiple Intelligences” that he first proposed the theory of multiple intelligence. According to his observation human beings possess several ways of processing and understanding information each independent of one another. So in view of this observation Gardner categorized intelligence into eight categories known as “Intelligence modalities”. These Intelligence modalities are as follows
- Musical rhythmic and Harmonic:
This modality relates to individuals having high musical intelligence. So individuals who are able to sing, play musical instruments, and compose music belong to this category.
- Visual Spatial:
This modality relates to individuals possessing a unique ability to visualize with the help of the mind’s eye i.e. perception. So individuals who specialize in human psychology belong to this category.
- Verbal Linguistic:
In this modality people with high “verbal and linguistic intelligence” are included. So individuals who are good at telling stories, reading, writing, memorizing words etc belong to this category.
- Logical-Mathematical:
This modality is related to logic, abstractions, reasoning, numbers, and critical thinking. So any individual that possess a unique ability to be able to reason belongs to this category.
- Body-Kinesthetic:
According to Gardner in this modality individuals with high “bodily kinaesthetic intelligence” is included. These individuals usually are good in physical activities such as sports, dance, acting etc. And hence usually individuals belonging to this modality are from fields such as sports, acting, army, police force etc.
- Interpersonal:
“Sensitivity to others moods, feelings, temperaments, and motivations” are what individuals belonging to this modality are all about. Individuals belonging to this group often also enjoy discussions and debate. So people who are sales persons, politicians, teachers, managers, lecturers etc belong to this category.
- Intrapersonal:
“Introspective and self reflective capacities” is how Gardner describes individuals belonging to this modality. Individuals under this category have a unique ability of understanding one’s own strength and weakness.
Criticism of this Theory:
Although this theory set forth by Gardner in the field of developmental psychology is path breaking. It has also received a fair share of brickbats. The strongest criticism being that this theory lacks empirical evidence to support its validity. Another major criticism of this theory is that all seven modalities of intelligence have not been given equal value. It has also been argued that this theory is incompatible with genetic or environmental features of the nature of intelligence.
On January 13th 2016 Gardner mentioned in an interview that he intends to add “teaching-pedagogical intelligence” to the list of modalities in his theory. One can only hope that he remains unsatisfied and continues his quest for obtaining more knowledge and thereby help unravel the mystery that surrounds “human intelligence”.
