Words hold such power and meaning that tend to evolve throughout the years. As I set out to read on the “Theory of Multiple Intelligences” by Howard Gardner I seem to question the meaning of Intelligence. Although I have never pondered a single word more feverishly as I have in the last couple weeks it has been quite an endeavor. According to Merriam-Webster (2014), “Intelligence: the ability to learn or understand things or to deal with new or difficult situations.” Howard Gardner first publishes his own view of intelligence in his book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (1983).
In society an individual with a high intelligence quotient (I.Q.) is considered intelligent or possibly considered a genius. In certain settings or social groups this same individual may be looked upon as a scholar. Status and treatment may be considerably different based off a set of numbers. But what if that same individual was unable to apply themselves productively within society? How could that be logical?
Howard Gardner was born on July 11 1943, in Pennsylvania and is currently a professor of cognition and education at Harvard University. Although he didn’t start out in the field of psychology, Gardner has definitely made an impact in the domain of cognition and human nature. I would imagine that had Howard Gardner pursued a career in law that he possibly would not have been renowned or distinguished as he is today.
The ambition of higher learning and thirst for understanding has perpetually grown over the centuries. Intelligence has been a long studied topic in the hopes to better understand and quantify it. A psychologist by the name of Alfred Binet was credited with creating the first reasonable intelligence test in the 1900...
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...roq, R., & Hussain, I. (2011). Regional differentials in students’ preferences regarding theory of multiple intelligences at elementary level. Academic Research International,1(2),1-6. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/docview/1034724738/5FC45A6D4D5A4DC4PQ/1?accountid=8289
Gardner, H. (2011). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/apus/docDetail.action?docID=10449816
Gardner, H. (2008). Multiple intelligences: New horizons. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/apus/Doc?id=10364618
Intelligence [Def.1].(n.d.).Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved April 19,2014, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intelligence
Smith, M.K. (2002, 2008). Howard Gardner, multiple intelligences and education. Retrieved from http://infed.org/mobi/howard-gardner-multiple-intelligences-and-education/
Howard Gardner used to define intelligence as “the ability to solve problems or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings” (Gardner 33). The modern day human being would most likely include the words “smart” and “dumb” in their definition of intelligence. Gardner questioned the belief of only one intelligence so he created his own theory that involved seven different discoveries. He didn’t want to call these discoveries “skills” or “talents” or gifts” because those all suggested a drawback so he decided on the word “intelligence,” creating his theory of multiple intelligences (Gardner 33). Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences including, linguistic, logical/mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, intrapersonal and interpersonal, has many implications for modern education and culture.
General intelligence tends to relate to various degrees with each other (Cohen 2012). An example of this is that if an individual is good in math, they may also be good in spelling. In this weeks reading we reviewed several different models of measurement of intelligence. In regard to these theories and general intelligence (g), the theories are various but have commonality and overlap. The Spearman's two-factor theory is if a test has high correlation with other test than the measurement of g is highly saturated (Cohen, 2012). The greater the importance of g on a test, the better the test is believed to predict intelligence
The field of psychology has continuously endeavored to find an appropriate method in evaluating intelligence. The Stanford-Binet intelligence test is one of pioneering tests created to measure facets of intelligence, and it is still being utilized today (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997). Weschler created several intelligence tests focusing on age range in relation to intelligence (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997). While these tests are staples in the psychological testing community, there are many criticisms of intelligence testing. One such criticism is the absence of race and culture as influential factors of intelligence (Carroll, 2010).
Howard Gardner’s theory contains eight main multiple intelligence. As the years have progressed there have taken one out and is left with the main seven. These seven are: Linguistic, Mathematical, Spatial, bodily, Musical, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal. These are found in everyone; however, each person will excel in one or two. Once teachers can determine what intelligence the students will exceed on and teach to their strengths the student will learn much more.
Intelligence tests have been developed by scientists as a tool to categorize army recruits or analyze school children. But still discussing what intelligence is, academics have a difficult time defining what intelligence tests should measure. According to the American researcher Thorndike, intelligence is only that what intelligence tests claim it is (Comer, Gould, & Furnham, 2013). Thus, depending on what is being researched in the test and depending on the scientist’s definition of intelligence the meaning of the word intelligence may vary a lot. This essay will discuss what intelligence is in order to be able to understand the intelligence theories and aims of intelligence tests.
Intelligence can be defined in many different ways since there are a variety of individual differences. Intelligence to me is the ability to reason and respond quickly yet accurately in all aspects of life, such as physically, emotionally, and mentally. Anyone can define intelligence because it is an open-ended word that has much room for interpretation. Thus my paper is an attempt to find the meaning of human intelligence. There are a couple of scientists who have tried to come up with theories of what makes a human being intelligent.
According to Ben Michaelis, a person 's intelligence is not measured by how well they perform academically, but by how well they adapt to their situations and environment (Michaelis). The idea that students who attain outstanding grades in school are more intellectual than students who receive poor grades is unfair to all students. In 1983, Dr. Howard Gardner identified different types of intelligence, including interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, and musical intelligence (Fiero), so to assume that a person is unintelligent based on poor academic performance is unreasonable. In the article, “What Does it Mean To Be Smart?”, the author gives an example of a woman named Angie to demonstrate that academic intelligence is not the main indication of someone’s overall intelligence (Michaelis). Although she did not excel in an academic setting, she had the ability to adapt to her circumstances and capitalize on her talents and interests to create a successful career for herself (Michaelis). In order to start embracing the different forms of intelligence, society, as a whole, needs to eliminate its fixed mindset about what intelligence
In this world, there are many different individuals who are not only different in demographics but also different neurologically. Due to an immense amount of people it is important to first understand each individual, in order, to better understand them and to help them when it comes to certain areas such as education, the work force, and etc…. For this reason psychologists have aimed to further understand individuals through the use of psychological assessments. This paper aims to examine a particular assessment tool, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (Fifth Edition), which measures both intelligence and cognitive abilities (Roid, 2003). This assessment is usually administered by psychologists and the scores are most often used to determine placement in academics and services allotted to children and adolescents (despite their compatibility for adults) (Wilson & Gilmore, 2012). Furthermore before the investigation dives into the particulars of the test, such as its strengths and weakness’, it is best to first learn more about the intelligence scales general characteristics.
The true nature of intelligence has been debated more intensely then ever over the last century. As the science of psychology has developed one of the biggest questions it had to answer concerned the nature of Intelligence. Some of the definitions that have been given for intelligence have been the ability to adjust to one’s environment. Of course by such a definition even a person who is generally considered to be dull can be regarded as being intelligent if he can take care of himself. Other definition is such as having the tendency to analyze things around yourself. However it can be argued that such behavior can lead to over-analyzing things and not reacting to one’s environment and dealing with it in an intelligent manner.
In a 1921 symposium entitled “Intelligence and Its Measurement”, psychiatrists were asked to define intelligence and their answers varied greatly. One described intelligence as “equivalent to the capacity to learn.” Other definitions included “the ability to adapt adequately to relatively new situations”, “the capacity to learn or profit from experience”, and “the knowledge that an individual possesses.” And one stated that there was no simple definition to the word because “intelligence involves two factors- the capacity for knowledge and knowledge possessed” (Sternberg & Detterman, 1986, p.39-40).
On the ‘nature’ side of the debate is the psychometric approach, considered to be the most dominant in the study of intelligence, which “inspired the most research and attracted the most attention” (Neisser et al. 1996, p. 77). It argues that there is one general (‘g’) factor which accounts for intelligence. In the 1880s, Francis Galton conducted many tests (measuring reaction times to cognitive tasks), (Boundless 2013), in order to scientifically measure intelligence. These tests were linked to the eugenic breeding programme, which aimed to eliminate biologically inferior people from society. Galton believed that as intelligence was inherited, social class or position were significant indicators of intelligence. If an individual was of high social standing, they would be more intelligent than those of a lower position. However he failed to show any consistency across the tests for this hypothesis, weakening his theory that social class correlated with intelligence. Nevertheless, his creation of the intelligence test led many to continue to develop...
Gardner’s theory of MI offers an alternative view of intelligence which has measured intelligence based on the results that would predict success in the current educational system. Furham (2009) sums up Gardner’s definition as “the ability to solve problems or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings”. This definition suggests that human intelligence is comprised of more than the predictable success in a western school system. Gardner argues that traditional definitions of intelligence and intelligence testing are too narrow and marginalize people who do not fit traditional education system that focuses on visual–spatial, verbal–linguistic, and logical–mathematical intelligences. He supports this with unique cases of idiots savant, who are people with low IQs but excel in skills in areas not measured through tradition IQ tests (Arnett, 2013). MI theory proposes that individual’s intelligence can be differentiated on eight different modalities:
Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligence focuses more on how numerical expressions of human intelligence are not a full and accurate depiction of people’s abilities (McFarlane, 2011). He includes and describes eight intelligences that are based on skills and abilities that are valued within different cultures. The eight intelligences include visual-spatial (e.g. sailor navigating with no navigational systems), verbal-linguistic (e.g. poets, writers, orators, and communicators), bodily-kinesthetic (e.g. dancers, athletes, surgeons, craftspeople), logical-mathematical (e.g. mathematicians and logicians), interpersonal(e.g. salespeople, teachers, clinicians, politicians, and religious leaders), musical (e.g. musicians and
The study of IQ and how it operates in the education field has been argued through various theories. Theorist such as Howard Garner, R...
It is often difficult to remember that intelligence is purely a social construct, and as such is limited to operational definitions. Binet & Simon (1905, as cited in Mackintosh) defined it purely in terms of mental ability: "the ability to judge well, to comprehend well, to reason well." Wechsler (1944, as cited in Mackintosh) added behavioral factors: "the aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with the environment." Sternberg (1985) synthesizes the previous definitions, defining intelligence as "the mental capacity of emitting contextually appropriate behavior at those regions in the experiential continuum that involve response to novelty or automatization of information processing as a function of metacomponents, performance components, and knowledge acquisition components." Gardner (1993) took the definition to a societal level, as "the ability or skill to solve problems or to fashion products which...