Multiple Intelligences, Theory of

Criteria for Intelligence

Gardner established eight criteria that must be met in order for a behavior or action to be considered an intelligence. The criteria sought to establish an empirical basis not only for this theory but also for the study of intelligence in general. Gardner based his modalities of intelligence on the following criteria: psychometric validation; experimental psychology research; the possibility and the presence of individuals who would be considered geniuses, prodigies, or savants; a developmental time frame that could be analyzed; ability for the behavior to be encoded through the use of symbols or symbolic expression; an evolutionary importance; an identifiable core operation; and the ability for the behavior to be isolated in the brain due to brain damage.

Eight Types of Intelligence

Gardner used the criteria discussed in the previous section to establish eight domains of intelligence, pushing back against the convention of a single type of intelligence that forms the basis of the most widely accepted ideas about intelligence in the academic literature. Gardner’s goal was to move away from the restricted view of intelligence in order to account for more behaviors and types of people. However, Gardner’s theory also accepted the idea of a g factor, which refers to a person’s general mental ability as reflected by his or her IQ score.

Many of Gardner’s modes of intelligence correlate with standard intelligence as measured by an IQ test. This was backed by empirical research suggesting there is a single dominant or stronger type of intelligence and that what Gardner identifies as intelligences are made up of many factors, namely g factor, other cognitive abilities, and noncognitive factors such as personality. This was very similar to the research suggesting that typically thought of intelligence and IQ scores can be a combination of environmental factors and cognitive ability. The eight modalities are described in greater detail in the remainder of this section.