Intelligence Theories

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xx February 2007

Intelligence Theories

There are many theories regarding the human character called intelligence . The term intelligence came from the Latin intelligentia which means understand . It means the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills ' Initial theories on the matter believed in a single measure of intelligence . However , such theories may be inadequate in describing the true nature and extent of man 's knowledge and ability

Howard Gardner 's theory on multiple intelligences attempts to provide a comprehensive view of intelligence . In the

psychological era where the single entity theory prevailed , Gardner broke away and stopped from settling with just a single factor to be held responsible for intelligence . He thus rejected the idea of measuring intelligence through IQ tests . Gardner developed the well-known theory of eight multiple intelligences , consisting of verbal /linguistic , musical logical /mathematical , visual /spatial , bodily-kinesthetic , intrapersonal interpersonal , and naturalist intelligences . For Gardner , a person must satisfy a range of these criteria in to quality as a person possessing intelligence . This is a much better theory , because it does not limit itself to a single entity . Compared to a single entity theory of intelligence where the theorist must restrict himself into choosing one criterion that would provide the answer to measuring a person 's knowledge and abilities , Gardner 's theory opens itself to the possibility that there could be many areas where a person could demonstrate his skills and knowledge

The advantage of Gardner 's theory of multiple intelligences lies in its being an account of human cognition in its fullness ' It takes into account that man is equipped with a basic set of intelligences and that each man is unique with respect to which different components of the set of intelligences he may possess . This leads to the notion that man has the opportunity of taking advantage of his uniqueness by tailoring his education in accordance with his strengths and weaknesses . This provides man with a sense of control over his intelligence . Thus , in this theory man is an active player in shaping his intelligence , not a mere victim of fate . In addition , Gardner believed that the criteria exist independently from one another , which is a recognition that some individuals can be good in some areas where others may be inferior , and vice versa . Another advantage of Gardner 's theory is that its diversity lessens the chances that some relevant criterion of intelligence is missed out in measuring the level of intelligence of each particular person . Thus , all possible areas of intelligence are looked into when taking an individual 's intelligence score

The superiority of Gardner 's theory can be shown by comparing it with that of Charles Spearman 's . For Spearman , there is a single biologically-based source of human intelligence ' He proposed the concept of g ' or general intelligence , which is the unitary quality in the human mind that is sufficient to test a person 's overall level of intelligence . This theory is limited because it restricts itself to biological factors , while his concept of g ' is so broad that it does not provide much information at all

On the other hand , looking at the weaknesses of Gardner 's theory , it can be said that it suffers from too much specificity , in that the correlation among all his criteria is already difficult to establish . It is also arguable that some of Gardner 's criteria fall under the category of talents , rather than intelligences . These criticisms are , however overshadowed by the theory 's comprehensiveness as compared to other theories , and the argument that the problem only lies in difficulty of testing , which can easily be resolved by developing more diverse testing methods

References

Alfred Binet . Retrieved February 13 , 2007 , from http /www .indiana .edu intell /binet .shtml

Charles Spearman . Retrieved February 13 , 2007 , from http /www .indiana .edu intell /spearman .shtml

Howard Gardner , Multiple Intelligences and Education . Retrieved February 13 , 2007 , from http /www .infed .org /thinkers /gardner .htm

Oxford American Dictionaries . Intelligence

Oxford American Dictionaries

Howard Gardner , Multiple Intelligences and Education

Charles Spearman ...