This theory, proposed in 1893 by Howard Gardner, is a model of understanding human psychology, and that sets and explains the difference in intelligence, whereby it breaks it into various specific modalities, and these are the fine, specific units that make up intelligence. The reason behind this theory was the fact that Howard Gardner, through his book The Frames of Mind, attempted to explain to scholars as well as psychologists the fact that intelligence is not dominated and dictated by a single ability, as many people have viewed it. Rather, people are differently gifted with various strengths, and that differ from each other, these, he called them the cognitive abilities (Gardner 67). At the same time, Howard Gardner, through his elaboration on the theory of multiple intelligences, explains the fact that there is very little correlation among the cognitive abilities. In order to explain this through his book, Gardner has used examples. From a practical approach and perspective, given two children, whereby one learns multiplication faster than the other, this does not necessarily mean that the child who learns faster is more intelligent than the slower learner. However, it only implies that the child who learns to multiply faster is likely to do well later in life, in careers and instances that require the application of the science (Gilman 211).
However, according to studies carried out by psychometrics, there have been cases of high correlation between different intelligent aspects. However, there has been a lot of discussion and debate concerning the theory of multiple intelligence, because according to Howard Gardner, who is referred to as the father of the theory, modern psychology explains that he had a general intelligence approach to the theory, as opposed to the MI (multiple intelligence) theory (Gardner 116).
There are many ways through which the theory of multiple intelligences relates to learning, especially, based on the fact that it is one of the most utilized theories and models in learning. For example, it is necessary to note the fact that it is through learning that people get to learn and discover their unique talents, capabilities and strengths, that would otherwise, have remained undiscovered. In a person’s advancement through learning, learners get to discover the lengths that they can go with their skills, and this leads to development of new skills, and new areas whereby they can apply the skills that they learn. For example, through interaction with others, a learner is able to identify his various areas of strengths, as he discovers his weaknesses, as well (Gilman 88).
Lastly, it is necessary to note the fact that there is multiple intelligence is closely related to linguistics, especisally, considering the fact that linguistics is one of the building blocks of art, as well as communication. Communication using different languages, for example, is one of these factors, whereby different people use diferent means of communication, wih linguistics being the main building block to the same. Some people might take time to understand and learn different languages, while others take a relatively shorter time to understand the same. However, this is consistent progression in development, since everybody with an average Intelligence Quotient can learn any linguistic skill. However, there might be variation in the amount of time taken to understand the same. This does not, however, mean that the fast lerner has Multiple Intelligence while the slow learner doesn’t (Gardner 203).
Works Cited
Gardner, Howard. Frames of mind: the theory of multiple intelligences. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. Print.
Gardner, Howard. Multiple intelligences: New horizons in theory and practice. New York: Harvard University Press, 2006. Print.
Gilman, Lynn. “The theory of multiple intelligences.” Human Intelligence, 2001. Retrieved from on March 27th, 2013. Web
