Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

GARDNER’S MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES: 
THE MANY WAYS OF SHOWING INTELLIGENCE 
Psychologist Howard Gardner has taken an approach very different from traditional 
thinking about intelligence. Gardner argues that rather than asking “How smart are 
you?” we should be asking a different question: “How are you smart?” In answering 
the latter question, Gardner has developed a
 theory of multiple intelligences 
that 
has become quite infl uential (Gardner, 2000).
Gardner argues that we have a minimum eight different forms of intelligence, 
each relatively independent of the others: musical, bodily kinesthetic, logical- 
mathematical, linguistic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist. (Figure 1 
describes the eight types of intelligence, with some of Gardner’s examples of people 
who excel in each type.) In Gardner’s view, each of the multiple intelligences is linked 
to an independent system in the brain. Furthermore, he suggests that there may be 
even more types of intelligence, such as existential intelligence, which involves identify-
ing and thinking about the fundamental questions of human existence. For example, 
the Dalai Lama might exemplify this type of intelligence (Gardner, 1999, 2000). 
Although Gardner illustrates his conception of the specifi c types of intelligence 
with descriptions of well-known people, each person has the same eight kinds of 
intelligence—in different degrees. Moreover, although the eight basic types of intel-
ligence are presented individually, Gardner suggests that these separate intelligences 
do not operate in isolation. Normally, any activity encompasses several kinds of 
intelligence working together. 
The concept of multiple intelligences has led to the development of intelligence 
tests that include questions in which more than one answer can be correct; these 
provide an opportunity for test takers to demonstrate creative thinking. In addition, 
many educators, embracing the concept of multiple intelligences, have designed 
classroom curricula that are meant to draw on different aspects of intelligence (Kelly 
& Tangney, 2006; Douglas, Burton, & Reese-Durham, 2008; Tirri & Nokelainen, 2008).