Multiple intelligences theory

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The theory of multiple intelligences is an intelligence theory that Howard Gardner developed in the 1980s because, in his opinion, the classical intelligence tests are insufficient to recognize (and accordingly promote) skills that determine success in life in various cultural settings (or professions) decide. From this theory, Gardner, in his book The Unschooled Mind, developed suggestions for how schools should teach and develop students' skills. This theory could not prevail in academic-psychological intelligence research .

The intelligences

Howard Gardner understands intelligence as a number of abilities and skills that are necessary to solve real problems or to overcome difficulties in a certain cultural environment. This also includes the ability to recognize (new) problems and thus lay the foundation for acquiring new knowledge. Gardner developed his concept of multiple intelligences from working through the theory of evolution, studying so-called savants (people with island talents) and examining historically outstanding talents such as Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky or Gandhi, which he then expanded to include additional skills. The first eight published intelligences can be described as follows:

Linguistic intelligence
Linguistic intelligence includes sensitivity to spoken and written language, the ability to learn languages, and the ability to use language for specific purposes. Successful lawyers, speakers, writers and poets belong to the group of people with high linguistic intelligence.
Logical-mathematical intelligence
Logical-mathematical intelligence includes the ability to logically analyze problems, perform mathematical operations, and investigate scientific questions. Mathematicians, logicians, programmers and natural scientists make use of logical-mathematical intelligence.
Musical-rhythmic intelligence
Musical intelligence means the ability to make music, to compose and a sense of musical principles.
Pictorial and spatial intelligence
Spatial intelligence includes the theoretical and practical sense on the one hand for the structures of large spaces, which are to be grasped by seafarers and pilots, for example, but on the other hand also for grasping the more narrowly limited spatial fields that are used by sculptors, surgeons, chess players, engineers, graphic artists or Architects are important.
Physical-kinesthetic intelligence
The physical-kinesthetic intelligence contains the potential to use the body and individual body parts (such as the hand or mouth) to solve problems or to design products. Representatives of this intelligence are dancers, actors and athletes. But this form of intelligence is also important for craftsmen, surgeons, mechanics and members of many other technical professions.
Naturalistic intelligence
In the meantime, Gardner speaks of a further intelligence: "My critical review clearly shows that the expansion of the original list of sevens to include the concept of naturalistic intelligence is justified." Naturalistic intelligence encompasses the ability to observe, distinguish and recognize natural phenomena , as well as developing a sensitivity for them. This skill is important for naturalists, environmental specialists, veterinarians, and cooks.
Interpersonal intelligence (also social intelligence according to David Wechsler )
Interpersonal intelligence was the ability to empathize with unspoken motives, feelings and intentions of other people (comparable to empathy ) and to influence their moods and emotions. This ability is an essential prerequisite for successfully dealing with other people. Gardner sees these abilities as particularly strong in political or religious leaders, skilled parents and teachers, and other counseling or healing professions.
Intrapersonal intelligence
Intrapersonal intelligence is the ability to understand and influence one's feelings, moods, weaknesses, drives and motives. According to Gardner, these people have an appropriate mental model of their personality that helps them to anticipate their own behavior in different situations. This internal, self-knowledge based, as Gardner calls it, "central intelligence agency" helps people to make the right decisions. Interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence are the basic building blocks of the theory of emotional intelligence as developed by John D. Mayer and Peter Salovey and later popularized by Daniel Goleman . Intra-personal intelligence is particularly pronounced in writers, actors, and artists.

In addition to these eight forms of intelligence that he has identified, Gardner considers a further ninth, existential intelligence or spiritual intelligence , which deals with fundamental questions of existence. Representatives of this potential intelligence would be v. a. religious and spiritual leaders or philosophers.

criticism

A 2006 study gave inconsistent results. Multiple intelligences are therefore no longer seriously discussed within academic-psychological intelligence research .

It is initially criticized that Gardner's theory introduced little new. Most of his “intelligences” were already discussed as primary factors in Thurstone (1938) or are part of the widespread and empirically better substantiated hierarchical intelligence models.

As a result, Gardner has been accused of simply ignoring much of the intelligence research of the past hundred years. This is particularly evident in the fact that he understands his intelligences to be independent of one another, which contradicts the widely accepted general factor of intelligence . In addition, there is still no valid intelligence test based on the theory of multiple intelligences whose predictions even come close to the quality of “classic” intelligence tests. This makes it all the more difficult to check the theory empirically. Gardner himself admitted at the beginning of his publications in 1982 that many assumptions were speculative and still require empirical testing (Gardner 1982, p. 56).

A validation study with 187 participants found that Gardner's intelligences fell less into the category of performance measurement and more into the realm of personality traits. One problem is that only half of the eight scales (intelligences) achieve the level of internal reliability of = .70, which is generally regarded as appropriate . The retest reliability “... was not particularly reliable over time”.

It should be noted, however, that the concept of multiple intelligences is still very well received in other scientific disciplines, especially in education , despite reservations from a psychological point of view.

See also

literature

  • Howard Gardner : Frames of Mind. The theory of multiple intelligences. Basic Books, New York NY 1983, ISBN 0-465-02508-0 (In German: Farewell to the IQ. The framework theory of multiple intelligences. Translated from the American by Malte Heim . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-608 -93158-9 ).
  • Howard Gardner: Creating minds. An anatomy of creativity seen through the lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi. Basic Books, New York NY 1993, ISBN 0-465-01455-0 .
  • Howard Gardner: A Reply to Perry D. Klein's "Multiplying the Problems of Intelligence by Eight." In: Canadian Journal of Education. Volume 23, No. 1, 1998, ISSN  0380-2361 , pp. 96-102, JSTOR 1585968 .
  • Howard Gardner: Intelligence Reframed. Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century. Basic Books, New York NY 1999, ISBN 0-465-02610-9 .
  • Howard Gardner: Changing minds. The art and science of changing our own and other people's minds. Harvard Business School Press, Boston MA 2004, ISBN 1-57851-709-5 , p. 196.
  • Howard Gardner, Mindy L. Kornhaber, Warren K. Wake: Intelligence. Multiple perspectives. Harcourt Brace College Publishers, Fort Worth TX et al. 1996, ISBN 0-03-072629-8 .
  • Howard Gardner, Seana Moran: The science of Multiple Intelligences theory: A response to Lynn Waterhouse. In: Educational Psychologist. Volume 41, No. 4, August 2006, pp. 227-232, doi : 10.1207 / s15326985ep4104_2 .
  • Jie-Qi Chen, Seana Moran, Howard Gardner (Eds.): Multiple Intelligences Around the World. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco CA 2009, ISBN 978-0-7879-9760-1 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Detlef H. Rost : Intelligence. Facts and Myths. Beltz - PVU, Weinheim et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-621-27646-7 , p. 112 ff.
  2. ^ A b H. Weber, H. Westmeyer: The inflation of intelligences [The inflation of intelligences]. In: E. Stern, J. Guthke (Ed.): Perspektiven der Intellektivenforschung. Pabst, Lengerich 2001, pp. 251-266.
  3. ↑ a b c H.-M. Süss, A. Beauducel: Intelligence tests and their relation to intelligence theories . [Intelligence tests and their relationships to theories of intelligence]. In: LF Hornke, M. Amelang, M. Kersting (eds.): Performance, intelligence and behavior diagnostics. Volume 3, Hogrefe, Göttingen 2011, pp. 97-234.
  4. ^ Howard Gardner: Frames of Mind, the theory of multiple intelligences . New York 1983, pp. 60 f.
  5. ^ Howard Gardner: Frames of Mind. The theory of multiple intelligences. New York 1983; Howard Gardner et al .: Intelligence. Multiple perspectives. New York et al. 1996; Howard Gardner: Creating minds. New York 1993.
  6. ↑ Beth A. Visser, Michael C. Ashton, Philip A. Vernon: Beyond g: Putting multiple intelligences theory to the test. In: Intelligence. Volume 34, No. 5, 2006, pp. 487-502, doi: 10.1016 / j.intell.2006.02.004 .
  7. ↑ Louis L. Thurstone : Primary mental abilities (= Psychometric Monograph. No. 1). University of Chicago Press, Chicago IL 1938.
  8. ^ John B. Carroll , The three-stratum theory of cognitive abilities: Past, present, and future. In: Dawn P. Flanagan, Patti L. Harrison (Eds.): Contemporary intellectual assessment. Theories, tests, and issues. 2nd Edition. Guilford Press, New York NY 2005, ISBN 1-59385-125-1 , pp. 69-76.
  9. ↑ Nathan R. Kuncel, Sarah A. Hezlett, Deniz S. Ones: Academic Performance, Career Potential, Creativity, and Job Performance: Can One Construct Predict Them All? In: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology . Volume 86, No. 1, 2004, pp. 148-161, doi: 10.1037 / 0022-3514.86.1.148 .
  10. ↑ Manfred Amelang, Lothar Schmidt-Atzert: Psychological diagnostics and intervention. 4th, completely revised and exp. Edition. Springer, Heidelberg 2006, ISBN 3-540-28462-1 .
  11. ↑ Howard Gardner: Giftedness: Speculations from a biological perspective. In: David Henry Feldman (Ed.): Developmental approaches to giftedness and creativity (= New Directions for Child Development. No. 17). Jossey-Bass, San Francisco CA 1982, ISBN 0-87589-877-7 , pp. 47-60, doi: 10.1002 / cd.23219821706 .
  12. ↑ Adrian Furnham: The Validity of a New, Self-report measure of Multiple Intelligence. In: Current Psychology. Volume 28, No. 4, 2009, pp. 225-239, here pp. 235 and 237, doi: 10.1007 / s12144-009-9064-z .