An eclectic upbeat approach to human intelligence - from the author
of Art, Mind and Brain, Artful Scribbles, The Quest for Mind. For
Gardner, human intelligence is not embodied in a Spearman "g"
factor, representing general intelligence, nor in I.Q. tests.
Neither is intelligence to be seen only in terms of a Piagetian
progression, though such stages may be appropriate to
mathematico-logical intelligence. Instead, he perceives human
mental endowment as an assemblage of fairly autonomous "frames of
mind," or multiple intelligences: linguistic, musical,
logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinetic, and a category
Gardner calls "personal intelligences" - meaning both intrapersonal
and interpersonal. The human species is unique in the depth and
breadth of these multiple intelligences. Individuals vary by nature
and nurture; and cultures, with their socializing and educational
processes, exert strong molding influences. In exploring these
global themes, and in analyzing his realms of intelligence, Gardner
does a fine job of keeping his theory straight and his data in
balance. The chapter on musical intelligence, for example, talks
about the Suzuki method of violin-training in Japan (later
discussed in depth in a chapter on educational methods); mentions
how Anang infants in Nigeria are exposed to drums and dance
virtually from birth on; makes extensive reference to past and
present composers and virtuosos (Arthur Rubinstein came from an
unmusical family but could "call the notes of any chord," with his
back to the piano, by age three); goes on to discuss brain
hemisphere differences, and clinical cases of aphasia and amusia.
Since Gardner is not didactic, this laying out of factual data has
a pleasing effect. There is material here that has teased thinkers
for ages - on relations between music and mathematics, on child
prodigies, the makings of a chess master. Moreover, there is a mood
of optimism: we are a pretty fascinating species, and if some of us
fail to understand topology, we have multiple talents in other
areas. Though M.I. theory obviously has a long way to go before
I.Q. is uprooted, Gardner and his colleagues seem on the right
track - still tentative and impressionistic, but cogent overall.
(Kirkus Reviews)
When 'Frames of Mind' was first published in 1984 it was acclaimed as 'a most important contribution to cognitive psychology'. In it Howard Gardner demonstrates that there exist many human 'intelligences', common to all cultures – each with its own patterns of development and brain activity, and each different in kind from the others. These potentials include linguistic, musical, and logical/mathematical capacities, as well as spatial and bodily intelligences, and the ability to arrive at an emotional and mental sense of self and other people. Rather than reducing an individual's potential to a single score on an IQ test, it is the fostering and education of all these intellingences that should be our concern. Gardner's controversial argument has resounding implications for the ways in which we think about intelligence and education.
"For those of us who suspect that intelligence is too complex a phenomenon to be measured by the single number derived from an 'intelligence test', Gardner's book is a refreshing experience and an open door into a whole new way of looking at human beings."
ISAAC ASIMOV
"Gardner makes his theory stick more firmly than any other before him, and I cannot help wondering what the effects of this book will be on the education of this country. What, for instance, might happen to IQ testing? Or to streaming?"
DAILY TELEGRAPH
"Offers a cogent, multi-dimensional answer to the IQ testing fanatics… a real alternative to the blind empiricism of the IQ testers. How refreshing to see it justified in scholarly terms."
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