Discuss Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. Identify and describe at least five of Gardner's intelligences. Suggest both positive and negative aspects of this theory
What will be an ideal response?
Howard Gardner is another theorist who criticizes the psychometricians for trying to describe a person's intelligence with a single score. In his book Frames of Mind, Gardner outlined his theory of multiple intelligences, proposing that humans display at least seven distinctive kinds of intelligence. Since that time, Gardner has added an eighth intelligence to the list and has speculated about a ninth form of intelligence.
Gardner does not claim that these nine abilities represent the universe of intelligences, but he makes the case that each ability is distinct, is linked to a specific area of the brain, and follows a different developmental course. As support for these ideas, Gardner points out that injury to a particular area of the brain usually influences only one ability (linguistic or spatial, for example), leaving others unaffected.
As further evidence for the independence of these abilities, Gardner notes that some individuals are truly exceptional in one ability but poor in others. This is dramatically clear in cases of the savant syndrome—mentally retarded people with an extraordinary talent. Leslie Lemke is one such individual: he is blind, has cerebral palsy, is mentally retarded, and could not talk until he was an adult. Yet he can hear a musical piece once and play it flawlessly on the piano or imitate songs in German or Italian perfectly, even though his own conversational speech is still primitive. And despite their abysmal performance on intelligence tests, other mentally retarded individuals with savant skills can draw well enough to gain admittance to art school or calculate almost instantaneously what day of the week January 16, 1909 was. Finally, Gardner notes that different intelligences develop at different times. Many of the great composers and athletes, for example, begin to display their immense talents in childhood, whereas logical-mathematical intelligence often shows up much later in life.
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Twenty-eight year-old Stephanie scores high on a test of hypnotic susceptibility. Research suggests that Stephanie also ____
a. ?has below average intelligence b. ?processes information slowly c. ?has a rich fantasy life d. ?struggles to stay focused and ignore distractions
Egan is unable to swim, and the other kids in his camp troop regularly tease him for this deficit. He finds that when he tries to swim, the kids respect his courage and stop mocking him. In a short amount of time, he is swimming like a champ, and the teasing completely stops. In this case, the cessation of the teasing is an example of
A. positive reinforcement. B. penalty. C. negative reinforcement. D. positive punishment.
Baby Quinn's attention to a song on an iPod decreased after her mother played it several times. When her mother played a different song, Quinn's attention increased. This is an example of
A) recovery. B) classical conditioning. C) habituation. D) operant conditioning.
Oral and written reports contribute to a small body of knowledge in the behavioral sciences.
Answer the following statement true (T) or false (F)