Educational psychologyLesson 2 of 2 in the course Differentiation and inclusion

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences: Framework, Teaching, and Critiques

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

Save course
Lesson progress
0 / 5

Your progress is kept in this browser only.Sign up to save it

Summary

This lesson introduces Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences (MI), its purpose, and the criteria he proposed for identifying an intelligence. Understanding these foundations helps explain both the theory’s educational appeal and the scientific debate surrounding it.

Howard Gardner presented the theory in Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (1983). MI proposes that human cognitive abilities are not fully captured by one general capacity. Instead, people may show different patterns of strength across distinct modalities, including linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, and spatial abilities.

All flashcards

Multiple-intelligences theory
Gardner’s framework proposes several distinguishable human capacities rather than treating intelligence as fully represented by one general ability.
Gardner’s definition of intelligence
A biopsychological potential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products valued in that culture.
Individualize instruction
Attend to effective ways for particular learners to engage with material, without assigning them fixed intelligence labels.
Pluralize instruction
Teach important content in multiple ways so learners encounter ideas through varied forms of representation and activity.
General intelligence factor (g)
A general cognitive factor supported by positive correlations among different cognitive abilities.

Quiz questions

  1. A brain injury impairs one capacity while leaving other abilities relatively intact. Which of Gardner’s criteria does this most directly illustrate?Answer: Potential isolation by brain damage
  2. What does pluralizing instruction mean in Gardner’s educational recommendations?Answer: Present important content through multiple meaningful approaches
  3. What does psychometric research often find among different cognitive abilities?Answer: Positive correlations that support a general intelligence factor
  4. Which intelligence did Gardner propose after his original 1983 list?Answer: Naturalistic intelligence
  5. What distinction is important when evaluating educational uses of multiple-intelligences theory?Answer: An approach may inspire teaching without its theoretical claims being scientifically established

Based on the Wikipedia article Theory of multiple intelligences, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

More in Educational psychology

All Educational psychology lessons
Educational psychologyEducational Assessment: Purposes, Types, and Quality5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →Educational psychologyZone of Proximal Development, Scaffolding, and Instruction5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →Educational psychologyLearning-Style Models, Assessment, and Evidence for Instructional Matching5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →