Theories of Intelligence
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
Below is a list of Gardiner’s eight intelligences. For each, name one famous person who you believe is gifted in that area. Be prepared to defend your answer.
Linguistic (the ability to use language, sensitivity to the order of things; these people can argue, persuade, entertain, or instruct through the spoken word) ______
Logical-mathematical (the ability to see the intelligence of numbers and logic, ability to handle chains of reasoning and to recognize patterns and order; these people think in terms of cause and effect and can create and test hypotheses.) ______
Musical (sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm, and tone; these people can sing in tune, keep time to music and listen to musical selections with discernment) ______
Bodily-kinesthetic (the ability to use the body skillfully and handle objects adroitly. These are hands-on people with good tactile sensitivity.) ______
Spatial (The ability to perceive the world accurately and to recreate or transform aspects of that world. These people often have acute sensitivity to visual details, can draw their ideas graphically, and can orient themselves easily in 3-D space.) ______
Interpersonal (The ability to understand people and relationships. These people can perceive and respond to moods, temperaments, intentions, and the desires of others.)
______
Intrapersonal (Access to one’s emotional life as a means of understanding oneself and others. These people can easily access their own feelings, discriminate among different emotional states, and use this to enrich and guide their own lives) ______
Naturalist (The ability to understand, categorize, and explain patterns encountered in the natural world. These people observe, interpret, and construct meaning from the natural world). ______
Existential (The ability to use collective values & intuition to understand others and the world around them; interested in questions about life, death, and beyond) ______
Which one(s) do you excel in? Explain.
Sternberg’s Three Intelligences
Analytical intelligence (assessed by intelligence tests, which present well-defined problems having a single right answer).
Creative intelligence (demonstrated in reacting adaptively to novel situations and generating novel ideas)
Practical intelligence (often required for everyday tasks, which are frequently ill-defined, with multiple solutions.
Most careers probably make use of all three types of intelligences. Choose any career and indicate a task that one might have to perform at that job that would require each type of intelligence.
Career ______
Analytical ______
Creative ______
Practical ______
The Debate:
Is there a single general intelligence factor (g) or is intelligence several different, unrelated abilities?
For each study below, indicate if it supports A) the idea of g – a general intelligence factor or B) multiple intelligences.
1. Subjects were given 56 different tasks and eight clusters of primary mental abilities were determined using factor analysis. Researchers found that those who excelled in one cluster were more likely to score well on the other clusters as well. ______
2. People have lost linguistic abilities due to damage to the left hemisphere of their brains, but retain their capacity to be musicians, visual artists, and engineers. ____
3. A lobotomy may cause little impairment of logical or linguistic intelligence, but it is usually disastrous for self-understanding and interpersonal thought. ____
4. Single intelligence test scores (measuring g) correlate well with success in various mentally demanding careers. ____
5. There are people who score low on intelligence tests, but have a specific area in which they excel. This is called the savant syndrome. ____
How do you fall on the debate concerning the single intelligence factor (g) versus multiple intelligences? The line below indicates a continuum of the theorists we have examined with Spearman’s g factor at one end and Gardiner’s multiple intelligences on the other end. Make a mark on the line indicating where you fall and explain your reasoning.
Spearman Sternberg Gardner
A Haiku
A spear man has just
One point but a young gardner
Has many sharp tools.