Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

Criteria for Intelligences Potential isolation by brain damage The existence of idiots savants, prodigies and other exceptional individuals. An evolutionary history and evolutionary plausibility Support from experimental psychological tasks

Criteria for Intelligences Support from psychometric findings An identifiable core operation or set of operations A distinctive developmental history along with a definable set of expert “end-state” performances Susceptibility to encoding in a symbol system

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Bodily/kinesthetic: ability to use the body skillfully and to handle objects skillfully. Existentialist: ability to understand and pursue the ultimate philosophical questions, meanings, and mysteries of life. Interpersonal: ability to understand people and relationships. Intrapersonal: ability to assess one’s emotional life as a means to understand oneself and others.

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Logical/mathematical: ability to handle chains of reasoning and to recognize patterns and orders. Musical/rhythmic: sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm, and tone. Naturalist: ability to draw on materials and features of the natural environment to solve problems or fashion products.

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Verbal/linguistic: sensitivity to the meaning and order of words. Visual/spatial: ability to perceive the world accurately and to manipulate the nature of space, such as through architecture, mime, or sculpture.

Limitations MI’s serve as an analytic tool for thinking about the potentials of a learner, but they do not dictate an instructional process. The intelligences do not exist in isolation. Rather, they are encountered in a cultural setting that exerts control over their development and their use. These intellectual processes or abilities create possibilities; combining them in culturally valued ways creates a multiplicity of possibilities.

Application No one is better than others in every aspect of life. Teachers should use a variety of activities and strategies. Since intelligence can be learned, students benefit from developing multiple intelligences.