Investigating Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence theory

In the 1980s, the American psychologist Howard Gardner suggested that there are multiple intelligences.

Examples of these multiple intelligences are:

• musical intelligence
• spatial intelligence
• verbal intelligence
• logical-mathematical intelligence
• bodily-kinesthetic intelligence
• intrapersonal intelligence
• interpersonal intelligence
• naturalistic intelligence

We may have in mind several famous names of the past that fit these types of intelligence. Mozart was a musical genius; Michelangelo proved to know the space in a way no other did, while Shakespeare mastered the realm of words. Turing was a logical-mathematical genius and Maradona could dance on the football pitch like no other. Freud was able to reveal the depth of the human soul, Gandhi could lead millions of people, and Darwin had an unparalleled eye for nature. All these famous people have influenced the way we live, and all of them were exceptional in particularly one thing.

_{Howard, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons}

Throughout the years, Gardner has modified this list (by extending it). However, the above list is enough to understand Gardner’s point: there are multiple independent intelligences. This theory is very popular among educators. If a child (let’s say) has poor mathematical abilities, the argument goes, they might still be good at another kind of intelligence. In the end, we all have strengths and weaknesses and Gardner’s idea fits quite well with us and the way we feel.

Problems with the theory

There is just one problem in this theory of multiple intelligences: there is no evidence for it. Many of Gardner’s intelligences can be conceptualized as skills or even personality traits but to describe them as “intelligences” is perhaps inappropriate.

But the major fact against Gardner’s theory has an empirical basis and it is the existence of the so-called “g-factor”.

In other words, those who do well in one test tend to do well in all tests, and those who don’t do well in one test tend to show poor performances in all remaining tests.

Uncovering the g-factor

In sum, we may be fascinated by Gardner’s theory and its quite consolatory approach. However, for the moment, no data can back it up.

Reference: Waterhouse, L. (2006). Multiple intelligences, the Mozart effect, and emotional intelligence: A critical review. Educational Psychologist, 41(4), 207-225.