Theory of multiple intelligences

The theory of multiple intelligences is an intelligence theory, Howard Gardner has developed in the 1980s, because not enough in his opinion the classical intelligence tests to identify skills (and to promote appropriate) that the success in life in different cultural settings (or professions ) decide. From this theory, Gardner has drawn up proposals in his book The unschooled mind, how should teach schools and promote the skills of students. These ideas have stimulated a discussion around the world.

The intelligences

Howard Gardner intelligence understands a number of skills and abilities that are necessary to solve genuine ( genuine ) problems or to overcome difficulties in a particular cultural environment. This includes the ability to ( new ) to identify problems and thus to lay the foundation for the acquisition of new knowledge. For the working-up the theory of evolution, the study of so-called savants (people with island talent ) and from the study historically outstanding talents, such as Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, or Gandhi, Gardner developed his concept of the seven intelligences, which he then extended by further skills has. The first eight published intelligences can be described as follows:

Gardner draws in addition to these eight identified by him forms of intelligence yet another ninth into account the existential intelligence or spiritual intelligence, when it comes to fundamental questions of existence. Representatives of these potential intelligence would esp. religious and spiritual leaders, philosophers: for example, the Dalai Lama and Jean -Paul Sartre.

Criticism

Gardner's theory has strong conceptual weaknesses and could also not be confirmed empirically. Within the academic research intelligence multiple intelligences are therefore no longer seriously discussed.

It is first criticism is that Gardner's theory have introduced little new. Most of his " intelligences " have already been discussed as the primary factors in Thurstone (1938 ) or are part of the widespread and empirically better occupied hierarchical models of intelligence.

Contrary to Gardner's claims could also be repeatedly demonstrated that both different primary factors of intelligence are highly correlated and the calculated in this way general factor "g" of intelligence very good predictions in many areas of life allowed as educational or vocational success and income, and the inclusion of the primary factors has not significantly improved predictive validity of the result.

As a result, Gardner is accused of simply ignoring much of the intelligence research of the last hundred years. In addition, there is still no valid, building on the theory of multiple intelligences IQ test, come close to the quality of "classic" intelligence tests whose predictions.

Gardner himself was already at the beginning of his publications in 1982 that many assumptions are speculative and empirical examination nor require ( Gardner 1982, p.56).

A validation study with 187 participants came to the conclusion that the intelligences of Gardner fall less into the category of performance measurement, but rather in the area of ​​personality traits. One problem is that only half of the eight scales ( intelligences ) reached the generally viewed as reasonable measure of internal reliability of alpha = .70. The test-retest reliability " ... what Not particularly reliable over time".