Multiple Intelligences

Multiple Intelligences 8th FACS – Careers Adapted from “Multiple Lenses on the Mind” by Howard Gardner

Howard Gardner’s Theory • During the course of his studies, Howard Gardner developed a new theory of how individuals think and learn. Instead of general intelligence – either your smart or your not, Gardner presented the theory of Multiple Intelligences. Gardner divided intelligence into the following categories.

Linguistic-Verbal Intelligence • The intelligence of a writer, orator, journalist

Linguistic-Verbal Intelligence • Appreciate the subtleties of grammar and meaning • Spell easily • Enjoy word games • Understand jokes, puns, and riddles • Use descriptive language • Are good storytellers • Internalize new information through lecture and discussion • Demonstrate understanding easily through discussion and essay

Logical-Mathematical Intelligence • The intelligence of a logician, scientist or mathematician

Logical-Mathematical Intelligence • Seek order • Reason scientifically • Identify relationships • Enjoy testing theories • Like completing puzzles • Excel at calculating numbers • Solving problems instinctively • Analyze abstract ideas • Manipulate functions • Perform these operations at a rapid rate

Hmmmmm • Most tests of intelligence focus on logical and linguistic intelligence. They do a pretty good job at predicting success in school. The point of Multiple intelligences is not to downgrade traditional scholastic intelligences, but rather to give equal attention to other intellectual faculties.

Musical Intelligence • The ability to create, perform, and appreciate music. Some people call this a talent. That is fine, so long as you recognize that being good with words or with numbers is also a talent.

Musical Intelligence • Seek patterns in new information • Find patterns in their environment • Are particularly drawn to sound • Respond to cadence in language • Enjoy moving to rhythms • Pick up terms and phrases in foreign languages easily • Use patterning to both internalize and recall skills, ideas and concepts

Spatial-Visual Intelligence • The ability to form mental imagery of the world—the large world of the aviator or navigator, or the more local world of the chess player or the surgeon—and to manipulate those mental images

Spatial-Visual Intelligence • Seek ocular stimulation • Respond to color, line and shape • Can "see" ideas • Use mental images for mnemonic devices • Imagine possibilities • Enjoy expressing themselves through the arts • Appreciate symmetry and congruence • Enjoy rearranging their environment • Can manipulate three-dimensional models in their minds • Understand by seeing a concept in action

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence • The capability to solve problems or fashion products using your whole body, or parts of your body, like your hands or mouth. This intelligence is exhibited by athletes, dancers, actors, crafts persons, and, again, surgeons.

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence • Seek to interact with their environment • Enjoy hands-on activities • Can remain focused on a hands-on task for an extended period of time • May demonstrate strong fine and/or gross motor ability • Prefer learning centers to seat work • Seek out other students who are physically gregarious • Master a principle once they can manipulate materials that demonstrate the concept • Enjoy group games and active learning tasks

Interpersonal Intelligence • Involves the understanding of other persons—how to interact with them, how to motivate them, how to understand their personalities, etc. This skill is obviously important for people in business, teachers, clinicians, and those involved in politics or religion.

Interpersonal Intelligence • Seek the support of a group • Value relationships • Enjoy collaborative work • Solicit input from others • Enjoy sharing about themselves • Display a "winning" personality • Tend to be natural leaders

Intrapersonal Intelligence • The ability to understand oneself—one’s strengths, weaknesses, desires, fears. Access to one’s emotional life is important for intrapersonal intelligence.

Intrapersonal Intelligence • Are comfortable with themselves • Express strong like or dislike of particular activities • Communicate their feelings • Sense their own strengths and weaknesses • Show confidence in their abilities • Set realistic goals • Make appropriate choices • Follow their instincts • Express a sense of justice and fairness • Relate to others based on their sense of self

Naturalist Intelligence • The ability to make important distinctions in nature—between one plant and another, among animals, clouds, mountains, and the like. Scientist Charles Darwin had naturalist intelligence in abundance. Most of us no longer use our naturalist intelligence to survive in the jungle or the forest. But it is likely that our entire consumer culture is based on our naturalist ability to differentiate one car make from another, one brand of shoe from another, and the like.

Naturalist Intelligence • Are intrinsically organized • Demonstrate an empathy with nature • Pick up on subtle differences in meaning • Like to make collections of materials • Enjoy sorting and organizing materials • Impose their own sense of order on new information • Respond to semantic mapping activities • Prefer charts, tables, diagrams and timelines

Remember, • Everyone has ALL the intelligencesThe intelligences are not mutually exclusive - they act in harmony with each other • MI Theory was not developed to exclude individuals, but to allow all people to contribute to society through their own strengths! • -Walter McKenzie

Existential Intelligence • Individuals who exhibit the tendency to pose (and ponder) questions about life, death, and ultimate realities.

Existential Intelligence • Seek meaningful learning • Look for connections across the curriculum • Like to synthesize ideas based on their learning • Enjoy literature and customs from other cultures • Have a strong connection with family and friends • Develop a strong identity with their neighborhood and town • Express a sense of belonging to a global community • Like to get involved with social and political causes • Can have a strong commitment to their health and well-being • Tend to look at information relative to the context in which it is presented

Multiple Intelligences