Howard Gardner’s Theory of Intelligence Analysis

Howard Gardners Theory of parole AnalysisSophia AshrafIndividual Differences Essay draw and quarter and evaluate the usefulness of Howard Gardners surmise of parole?Intelligence is a luxuriouslyly signifi derrieret and con trialed ara in spite of appearance psychology. It is an elusive, multi-faceted tycoon that has confining connections with Cognitive Psychology. It is characterised by inter- individual(a) variation and is measured using scholarship tests. somewhat definitions of comprehension complicate the cogency to exonerate lines, retain information and the ownership of numerous skills and talents. Howard Gardner, the founder of multiple word possibility defines science as a biopsychological potential to process information that can be trigger in a cultural setting to solve problems or get to products that argon of value in a culture (Gross, 2010 645). This definition implies give-and-take is a br separately construction as its definition lies upon the valu es of a society (Mahoney, 2011).Howard Gardner was innate(p) in Pennsylvania in 1943. He has holy studies in neuropsychology and developmental psychology at Harvard University, where he is shortly a professor in Cognition and Education. He is overly a senior director of the human cognition research group named Harvard examine Zero, and has published several books including Frames of Minds (1953) and The Art and Science of Changing our own and former(a) Peoples Minds (2004). Gardner was influenced by psychologist Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, Jerome Bruner and Jean Piaget. His possibleness draws on his fellowship and findings from evolutionary biology, anthropology, developmental/cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and psychometrics (Garnett, 2005 Maltby et al, 2010). This essay go forth describe and evaluate the usefulness of Howard Gardners guess of multiple words in the contemporary world.Howard Gardner asserts word of honor is non fixed at birth. It develops through p roduce and eruditeness. Each person is innate(p) with a wide variety of capabilities that roost in separate sections of the brain. In theory, this means that brain handicap in one area will leave some other cognitive functions intact. Consequently, light is a computer that works more or less nearly. Gardner worked as an investigator at the Boston University Aphasia Research Centre. He was interested in human faculties under conditions of brain damage and studied children and brain disgraced adults. He examined for behaviours which developed at similar ages, were similarly affected by damage to a particular part of the brain and behaviours that interfered with one other when performing two tasks simultaneously (Cooper, 2002 Gardner, 1999).In regards to tidings, Gardner acknowledges nature providing us with savants and prodigies. whizz such extraordinary case study is that of a savant called Leslie Lemke, who was born blind and suffered from both mental retardation and cerebr al palsy. Despite his nausea, he showed incredible skills in playing the piano. At the age of 18, he could bear in mind to a piece of classical piano music and play it concealment flawlessly. This evidences Howard Gardners views that our intelligences are independent as community with signs of brain damage can defecate extraordinary profiles of intelligence despite their mental illness (Gregory, 2011)Howard Gardner takes a multidimensional approach to intelligence. He identifies nine distinct faculties. The outset two are distinguishable from standard IQ tests. These are lingual and logical- mathematical intelligence. Gardners theory incorporates an additional five which are spatial, melodious, bodily-kinaesthetic, social and intrapersonal intelligence. After 1996, he added a further two intelligences to his theory. These comprise of naturalist and existential philosopher intelligence. Firstly, lingual intelligence is displaying readiness in speaking, writing, listening and reading. This intelligence is crucial for us to make sense of the world and learn current languages. Lawyers, writers, poets and teachers all dumbfound naughty linguistic intelligence. Students with high linguistic intelligence learn best by reading, listening to lectures and taking nones. Secondly, logical-mathematical intelligence is associated with high reasoning capabilities and the skill to carry out confused calculations. Mathematicians, economists and doctors all get high logical-mathematical intelligence. It is claimed that the western education system is heavily biased in Gardners first two intelligences. This means that only students who excel in these subjects will benefit. more(prenominal)over, it should be noted that schools now incorporate design engineering subjects into their curriculum to cater for students needs (Gardner, 1999 Garnett, 2005 Maltby, 2012).Gardners next three intelligences are compatible with the arts. The first is musical intelligence whi ch as well entails aspects of linguistic intelligence. Musicians, singers and composers have high musical intelligence as they display great aesthesia to sounds and rhythms. The second strength linked with the arts is bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence, which involves the use of bodily-movements and physiology to solve problems. These people learn best by adopting a hands-on approach. Strong bodily-kinaesthetic individuals great power use muscle memory as an aid to development. Careers suited to this intelligence include dancers, athletics, mechanics and builders. The third intelligence correlated with the arts is spatial intelligence which is the awareness, recognition and manipulation of space. Navigators, artists, surgeons and chess players all have high spatial intelligence. These people have a good sense of accusation and hand eye coordination (ibid).Gardners sixth faculty is interpersonal intelligence which involves interaction with others, understanding their intentions a nd motivations and being able to communicate and work in effect as part of a group. Careers linked with this intelligence involve teachers, politicians and social workers. Mahatma Gandhi famously stressed the importance of understanding others. Alternatively, Gardners seventh intelligence which is intrapersonal intelligence is to do with self-reflective capacities. This faculty closely mirrors Daniel Golemans Emotional Intelligence theory as it places emphasis on understanding our emotions, goals and motivations in pitch to solve problems. Careers suited to this intelligence include philosophers and psychologists. Gardners eighth ability is naturalist intelligence which incorporates displaying sensitivity to the natural world. Careers linked with this ability include farmers, environmentalists and scientists. Charles Darwin, a prominent person declared himself as a born naturalist (Gardner, 199948). Lastly, Gardners ninth intelligence which is known as existentialist intelligence i nvolves displaying concern with ultimate issues in life such as the meaning of life and death plus the fate of both corporal and psychological worlds (Gardner, 1999 Garnett, 2005 Maltby, 2012).Gardners multiple intelligence theory is based on two fundamental principles. Firstly, intelligences exist as independent entities that whitethorn also require collaboration in order to achieve a task. For example, singing and dancing together entails the amalgamation of both musical and bodily-kinaesthetic faculties. Secondly, Gardner states every individual is unique in their levels of ability. There may be two individuals with musical talent but only one can sing whilst, the other is skilful in playing a musical instrument. This proves intelligence is not the resembling in any two individuals, not even monozygotic twins who share 100% genetic similarity. This proves, we are all good but in different ways as Gardner claims We are not all the same we do not all have the same kinds of mi nds and education works most effectively if these differences are taken into narration rather than denied or ignored (Gardner, 1999 91). Gardner asserts intelligence cannot be measured via IQ test. He proposes the need for empirical observations such as observing a music class and argues this would provide a more valid and tiny picture of musical intelligence (Conti, 2008 Gross, 2010).Gardners theory has practicalities within educational institutions. This includes primary, secondary, college and university level. His theory makes an invaluable contribution to the education system. It is egalitarian as it takes into deem the entire human cognition. Arm impregnable (2009) cited in Ghamrawi, 2014) argues the theory is productive since it provides multiple approaches to learning which allows teachers to be imaginative as they can draw on a repertoire of activities within the classroom. Therefore, it is beneficial as it will account for students discriminative learning styles such a s auditory, visual and kinaesthetic. For instance, teachers can integrate linguistic intelligence by making pupils write a story or read poetry. Similarly, teachers can embrace logical-mathematical intelligence by making students solve puzzles and crosswords. Overall, numerous schools have structured their curriculum towards Gardners faculties which signals the value of his theory (Gardner, 1999 Garnett, 2005 Malim and Birch, 1998).The Harvard Project Zero has researched 41 schools in America applying multiple intelligence theory for at least 3 years. Results show 78% of the schools insurance coverage positive test outcomes, with 63% attributing the improvement to practices inspired by Gardners theory. Additionally, 78% reported improved performances by students with learning difficulties and 75% credit the increase to multiple intelligence theory. (Gardner, 1999) These figures support the view that multiple intelligence theory is extremely successful within the education system. Meanwhile, the extent to which the findings can be generalised to other schools worldwide is called into question. This is because the research focussed on a small sample of schools in America and used self-report methodology. This may means the findings suffer from social desirability bias as teachers and students may answer in a way that favours the schools personality (Garnett, 2005).The theorys multi-faceted nature is beneficial to students as it helps them master their pet disciplines for instance, linguistic intelligence for the poet and bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence for the dancer. Gardners multiple intelligence theory has also been embraced by institutions such as museums that have practically integrated Gardners criteria with visual, spatial and bodily-kinaesthetic activities for students. Gardners theory is equally valid within the workplace as all businesses make use of a categorisation of multiple intelligences. For instance, businesses that deal with finance and accounting draw on logical-mathematical intelligence. Likewise, diversion businesses draw on musical intelligences, linguistic and bodily kinaesthetic intelligences. More importantly, Gardners theory is applicable with other species and organisms as rodents have strong spatial intelligence whereas, birds possess outstanding musical intelligence. It may well be argued that computers in addition have multiple faculties as they are extremely effective in multitasking (ibid).Nevertheless, Gardners multiple intelligence theory is highly controversial. It is criticised for being extremely flexible. This makes it difficult for researchers to construct a single test that will measure and evaluate all nine faculties. For this reason, the theory has exact scientific credibility. It may well be argued that Gardners musical and bodily-kinaesthetic intelligences are better viewed as talents as they are not needed in adapting to life demands .Additionally, the theory is proven irrelevant in re gards to uniform breeding which believes all pupils should be taught the same subjects in the same manner. In regards to the carrying out of Gardners theory within the education system, it is disapproved for increasing educators workload. Ultimately, Gardners theory is criticised since it derives from his own intuitions and findings rather than from comprehensive empirical research (Conti, 2008 Gardner, 1999 Ghamrawi, 2014).In likeness to Gardners theory, psychologist Charles Spearmans theory advocates the notion of a general faculty (g). Spearman administered tests to Hampshire schoolchildren on six areas of ability including mathematical ability, ability to follow complex instructions, visualisation, knowledge of vocabulary, matching colours and musical pitch. He invented factor abbreviation to analyse the scores and concluded one factor called general ability (g) that determined childrens intellectual performance. His results implied that if a child performed above comely on one of the tests, it was more likely that they would perform above average on all other tests. The problem with his study is that intelligent students would have been selected. Gardner was sceptic about Spearmans single faculty. He proposed the existence of numerous intelligences. Nevertheless, Spearmans view is regarded as both reductionist and deterministic as it reduces intelligence to a single lump (Mahoney, 2011 Maltby et al, 2010).Alternatively, Robert Sternberg a professor at Yale University came up with the triarchic theory of intelligence. He claims certain mental mechanisms are required for intelligent behaviour. His theory deals with three types of intelligence componential, experiential and contextual intelligence. Componential intelligence consists of mental mechanisms liable for intelligence behaviour. The first mechanism is meta-components which are responsible for determining the nature of an intellectual problem, selecting a strategy to resolve the problem and ma king sure the task is completed. Secondly, performance components are the processes actually multiform in solving the problem. Thirdly, knowledge- acquisition components are involved in learning new information. Sternbergs second ability is named experiential intelligence involves the ability to deal effectively with novel tasks from previous experience (Gregory, 2011 Mahoney, 2011 Maltby, 2010).Lastly, Sternbergs contextual intelligence involves the adaptation, shaping of a current environment and the selection of a new environment. Kline (1991 cited in Mahoney, 2011) criticises Sternbergs theory for defining intelligence too broadly. His theory raises the question as to whether intelligence is an ability, personality trait or behavioural style. Nevertheless, the theory has real life applications like Gardners theory. For example, an employee who convinces their imprint to do things differently has used shaping to alter the work environment. Sternbergs theory is more credible tha n Gardners as he has devised The Sternberg Triarchic Abilities seek to validate his theory. Both Sternberg and Gardner agree that intelligence is a complicated phenomenon that cannot be measured by any single intelligence test (Gregory, 2011 Mahoney, 2011 Maltby, 2010).In conclusion, Gardners theory of multiple intelligences is both highly valued and also contentious within the contemporary world. In relation to his criteria of intelligences, many may argue there are several others intelligences that Gardner has failed to consider for instance readiness intelligence, humour intelligence, spiritual intelligence and many more. Whether researchers consider Gardners theory as useful or not depends on their definition and translation of intelligence. This will also depend on whether the individual considers intelligence as singular or plural (Gardner, 1999).