Gardner argues that, as traditionally defined in psychometrics, intelligence does not sufficiently encompass the wide variety of abilities humans display. In his conception, a child who masters multiplication easily is not necessarily more intelligent overall than a child who is stronger in another kind of intelligence and therefore 1) may best learn the given material through a different approach, 2) may excel in a field outside of mathematics, or 3) may even be looking at the multiplication process at a fundamentally deeper level, which can result in a seeming slowness that hides a mathematical intelligence that is potentially higher than that of a child who easily memorizes the multiplication table.
The theory has met with a mixed response, with many psychologists resisting a differentiation of the concept of intelligence as empirically unsupported and many educationalists supporting the practical value of the approach
Gardner has articulated eight basic types of intelligence to date, without claiming that this is a complete list. Gardner's original list included seven of these; in 1999 he added a naturalist intelligence. He has also considered existential intelligence and moral intelligence, but does not find sufficient evidence for these based upon his articulated criteria, which include:
the potential for brain isolation by brain damage,
its place in evolutionary history,
the presence of core operations,
susceptibility to encoding (symbolic expression),
a distinct developmental progression,
the existence of idiot-savants, prodigies and other exceptional people,
support from experimental psychology and psychometric findings.
The theory's eight currently accepted intelligences are:[4]
Spatial
Linguistic
Logical-mathematical
Kinesthetic
Musical
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Naturalist
retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences
