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Multiple Inteligences

The Psychological Evidence for the Concept of Multiple Intelligence

Intelligence is an undefined area in psychology that has yet to be clearly understood. Many psychologists have differing views to explaining it and therefore, there is no ideal way of measuring it universally. However, the theory of multiple intelligences (MI) devised by Howard Gardner in the early 1980’s has provided a definition of intelligence that is supported by many scientific observations. Alternative theories supported by intelligence tests, vary nearly as much as the definitions of intelligence. The strong scientific evidence provided by neuro-imaging and case studies has given the MI theory an advantage over others. The author will examine the difficulty in defining intelligence, evaluate the evidence for MI theory, and whether it is a useful and meaningful concept using the scientific research supporting the theory. The author will also discuss how MI theory is able to explain the many phenomena of intelligence.

The greatest difficulties in determining the nature of intelligence is that it is not a directly measurable entity. However, psychologists have been determined to define intelligence through experimentation for a number of years. The MI theory refuted the ongoing belief of a general intelligence factor ‘g’, and promoted the view of distinct intelligences (Gardner, 1998) and this has been supported by concrete evidence from case studies. Moreover, recent advances in brain research have provided scientific support that human intelligence is composed of several intelligences.

The basis of MI theory comes from the way Gardner defines intelligence as a psychobiological potential to solve problems and broadened the term to include factors outside of the normal academic fields. Whilst many opposing theories include verbal skills, perceptual skills, memory and processing speeds, Gardner has suggested that many forms of intelligence fall outside these parameters and are...