Multiple Intelligences: What Does the

Research Say?
Proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983, the theory of multiple intelligences has revolutionized how
we understand intelligence. Learn more about the research behind his theory.
March 8, 2013 Updated July 20, 2016

Many educators have had the experience of not being able to reach some students until presenting
the information in a completely different way or providing new options for student expression.
Perhaps it was a student who struggled with writing until the teacher provided the option to create a
graphic story, which blossomed into a beautiful and complex narrative. Or maybe it was a student
who just couldn't seem to grasp fractions, until he created them by separating oranges into slices.
Because of these kinds of experiences, the theory of multiple intelligences resonates with many
educators. It supports what we all know to be true: A one-size-fits-all approach to education will
invariably leave some students behind. However, the theory is also often misunderstood, which can
lead to it being used interchangeably with learning styles or applying it in ways that can limit
student potential. While the theory of multiple intelligences is a powerful way to think about
learning, it’s also important to understand the research that supports it.
Howard Gardner's Eight Intelligences
The theory of multiple intelligences challenges the idea of a single IQ, where human beings have
one central "computer" where intelligence is housed. Howard Gardner, the Harvard professor who
originally proposed the theory, says that there are multiple types of human intelligence, each
representing different ways of processing information:
 Verbal-linguistic intelligence refers to an individual's ability to analyze information and
produce work that involves oral and written language, such as speeches, books, and emails.
 Logical-mathematical intelligence describes the ability to develop equations and proofs,
make calculations, and solve abstract problems.
 Visual-spatial intelligence allows people to comprehend maps and other types of graphical
information.
 Musical intelligence enables individuals to produce and make meaning of different types of
sound.
 Naturalistic intelligence refers to the ability to identify and distinguish among different types
of plants, animals, and weather formations found in the natural world.
 Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence entails using one's own body to create products or solve
problems.
 Interpersonal intelligence reflects an ability to recognize and understand other people's
moods, desires, motivations, and intentions.
 Intrapersonal intelligence refers to people's ability to recognize and assess those same
characteristics within themselves.
The Difference Between Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles
One common misconception about multiple intelligences is that it means the same thing as learning
styles. Instead, multiple intelligences represents different intellectual abilities. Learning styles,
according to Howard Gardner, are the ways in which an individual approaches a range of tasks.
They have been categorized in a number of different ways – visual, auditory, and kinesthetic,
impulsive and reflective, right brain and left brain, etc. Gardner argues that the idea of learning
styles does not contain clear criteria for how one would define a learning style, where the style
comes, and how it can be recognized and assessed. He phrases the idea of learning styles as "a
hypothesis of how an individual approaches a range of materials."
Everyone has all eight types of the intelligences listed above at varying levels of aptitude -- perhaps
even more that are still undiscovered – and all learning experiences do not have to relate to a
person's strongest area of intelligence. For example, if someone is skilled at learning new
languages, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they prefer to learn through lectures. Someone with high
visual-spatial intelligence, such as a skilled painter, may still benefit from using rhymes to
remember information. Learning is fluid and complex, and it’s important to avoid labeling students
as one type of learner. As Gardner states, "When one has a thorough understanding of a topic, one
can typically think of it in several ways."
What Multiple Intelligences Theory Can Teach Us
While additional research is still needed to determine the best measures for assessing and
supporting a range of intelligences in schools, the theory has provided opportunities to broaden
definitions of intelligence. As an educator, it is useful to think about the different ways that
information can be presented. However, it is critical to not classify students as being specific types
of learners nor as having an innate or fixed type of intelligence.
Practices Supported by Research
Having an understanding of different teaching approaches from which we all can learn, as well as a
toolbox with a variety of ways to present content to students, is valuable for increasing the
accessibility of learning experiences for all students. To develop this toolbox, it is especially
important to gather ongoing information about student strengths and challenges as well as their
developing interests and activities they dislike. Providing different contexts for students and
engaging a variety of their senses -- for example, learning about fractions through musical notes,
flower petals, and poetic meter – is supported by research. Specifically:
 Providing students with multiple ways to access content improves learning (Hattie, 2011).
 Providing students with multiple ways to demonstrate knowledge and skills increases
engagement and learning, and provides teachers with more accurate understanding of
students' knowledge and skills (Darling-Hammond, 2010).
 Instruction should be informed as much as possible by detailed knowledge about students'
specific strengths, needs, and areas for growth (Tomlinson, 2014).
As our insatiable curiosity about the learning process persists and studies continue to evolve,
scientific research may emerge that further elaborates on multiple intelligences, learning styles, or
perhaps another theory. To learn more about the scientific research on student learning, visit our
Brain-Based Learning topic page.

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WHAT ARE MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES AND
HOW DO THEY AFFECT LEARNING?
LIFELONG LEARNING MATTERS FEB. 6, 2018
Over the past few decades, research in the field of learning has led to the discovery of the Theory of
Multiple Intelligences. In short, this theory states that each person has different ways of learning
and different intelligences they use in their daily lives.
While some can learn very well in a linguistically-based environment (reading and writing), others
are better taught through mathematical-logic based learning. Still others benefit most from body-
kinesthetic intelligence (learning by doing with the hands).
Each person possesses each intelligence to an extent, but there is always a primary, or more
dominant, intelligence.
The work on multiple intelligences began in the early 1980s with Howard Gardner, and the research
continues.
HOWARD GARDNER’S THEORY OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE
Howard Gardner of Harvard University originally identified seven distinct intelligences. According
to Gardner, this theory, which emerged from cognitive research, “documents the extent to which
students possess different kinds of minds and therefore learn, remember, perform, and understand in
different ways.”
In greater detail, the theory proposes that “we are all able to know the world through language,
logical-mathematical analysis, spatial representation, musical thinking, the use of the body to solve
problems or to make things, an understanding of other individuals and an understanding of
ourselves. Where individuals differ is in the strength of these intelligences and the ways in which
such intelligences are invoked and combined to carry out different tasks, solve diverse problems
and progress in various domains.”
This diversity, according to Gardner, should impact the way people are educated. He stated that
these differences “challenge an educational system that assumes that everyone can learn the same
materials in the same way and that a uniform, universal measure suffices to test student learning.”
Joan Hanifin, an Irish researcher, determined in a 2014 publication that the outdated system of
education in Ireland was adversely affecting students in the long-term. By not embracing multiple
methods of teaching based on different intelligences, students often left school feeling “under-
valued.”
Gardner argues that “a contrasting set of assumptions is more likely to be educationally effective.
Students learn in ways that are identifiably distinctive. The broad spectrum of students—and
perhaps the society as a whole—would be better served if disciplines could be presented in a
number of ways and learning could be assessed through a variety of means.”

THE 9 MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

Gardner claims that all human beings have multiple intelligences. These multiple intelligences can
be nurtured and strengthened or ignored and weakened. His research from 1991 identified seven
intelligences; in the intervening time, he has come to believe there are a total of nine intelligences:
 Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence: Well-developed verbal skills and sensitivity to the sounds,
meanings and rhythms of words.
 Mathematical-Logical Intelligence: The ability to think conceptually and abstractly, and the
capacity to discern logical or numerical patterns.
 Musical Intelligence: The ability to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch and timbre.
 Visual-Spatial Intelligence: The capacity to think in images and pictures, to visualize accurately
and abstractly.
 Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence: The ability to control one’s body movements and to handle
objects skillfully.
 Interpersonal Intelligence: The capacity to detect and respond appropriately to the moods,
motivations and desires of others.
 Intrapersonal Intelligence: The capacity to be self-aware and in tune with inner feelings, values,
beliefs and thinking processes.
 Naturalist Intelligence: The ability to recognize and categorize plants, animals and other objects in
nature.
 Existential Intelligence: The sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human
existence, such as the meaning of life, why we die and how we got here.
While all people possess some level of each intelligence, most will experience more dominant
intelligences that impact the way they learn and interact with the world around them.

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES AND LEARNING STYLES

Some may find it an impossible task to teach to all learning styles. However, teachers are using
multimedia, so it is becoming easier. As teachers begin to understand learning styles more
effectively, it is clear why multimedia is good for all learners and why a variety of media is more
effective. Multimedia inherently speaks to the different types of learning preferences that one
person has and has the potential to impart knowledge to a diverse class or group.
There are specific modes of multimedia and instruction techniques, which include the following:
 Visuals: Visual media help students acquire concrete concepts, such as object identification, spatial
relationship or motor skills.
 Printed words: While the printed word is the most common method of dispensing information,
some argue that audio is superior.
 Sound: Sound media offer a stimulus for sound recognition or recall. Audio narration is a useful
tool for students who struggle with reading.
 Motion: Motion depicts human performance so that learners can copy the movement. This
kinesthetic method can be essential for understanding some subject matter.
 Color: Choices on color display are required if it is essential to what is being learned (such as, the
sky is blue).
 Realia: Realia teaches cognitive and motor skills with objects. Realia can be used with individuals
or groups, depending on the situation. Realia may be used to present information realistically, or
 with the way learners internalize information.
 Instructional Setting: Design must include what materials are being used, as well as the
environment in which it is to be taught. Printed materials should be individualized to allow the
learner to set the pace.
 Learner Characteristics: Teaching models must consider learner characteristics, as media may be
interpreted in various ways by different learners. Research has not provided definitive methods in
matching the media most suitable for types of learners.
 Reading Ability: Pictures aid learning for poor readers who understand spoken words rather than
printed words; good readers can control the pace, and print allows for easier review.
 Categories of Learning Outcomes: Categories ranged from three to eleven and most include some
or all of Gagne’s (1977) learning categories: intellectual skills, motor skills, verbal information,
overall attitudes and use of cognitive strategies.
 Events of Instruction: Teachers have to choose the external events which support internal learning
with events of instruction. This occurs in the planning stage and before selection of appropriate
media.
 Performance: It is important for students to perform tasks that demonstrate learning and retention.
The elicited performances can be categorized by type: covert, overt, motor, verbal, constructed and
select. Media should be selected to correspond with the desired outcome.

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES IN THE CLASSROOM

All intelligences are needed to live life well. Teachers, therefore, need to attend to all intelligences,
not just the first two of verbal-linguistic or mathematical-logical intelligences, which have
historically taken precedence.
Understanding and adapting your teaching style to your students can help everyone succeed.

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES

One of the most significant results of the theory of multiple intelligences is how it has provided
eight different potential pathways to learning. If a teacher is having difficulty reaching a student in
the more traditional linguistic or logical ways of instruction, the theory of multiple intelligences
suggests several other ways in which the material might be presented to facilitate effective learning:
 Words (linguistic intelligence).
 Numbers or logic (logical-mathematical intelligence).
 Pictures (spatial intelligence).
 Music (musical intelligence).
 Self-reflection (intrapersonal intelligence).
 A physical experience (bodily-kinesthetic intelligence).
 A social experience (interpersonal intelligence).
 An experience in the natural world (naturalist intelligence).
You don’t have to teach or learn something in all eight ways. However, simply knowing the
possibilities available can enable you to decide which particular pathways interest you the most or
seem to be the most effective teaching or learning tools.
The theory of multiple intelligences is so intriguing because it expands our horizon of available
teaching and learning tools beyond the conventional linguistic and logical methods used in most
schools (e.g. lecture, textbooks, writing assignments, formulas, etc.).

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES: NEW HORIZONS

Having an understanding of different teaching approaches from which we all can learn, as well as a
toolbox with a variety of ways to present content to students, is valuable for increasing the
accessibility of learning experiences for all students.
We want to continue to develop this toolbox, so it is especially important to gather ongoing
information about student strengths and challenges, as well as their developing interests and
dislikes. Providing different learning contexts for students and engaging a variety of their senses is
supported by current research. Studies done by Hamari et al. (2016) suggest that engaging in
learning games has a positive effect on learning: “. . . educational video games may be an effective
means of posing learning challenges that are perceived as interesting and enjoyable, resulting in
engagement and immersion in the game-based learning task.”
As our insatiable curiosity about the learning process persists and studies continue to evolve,
additional scientific research may emerge that further elaborates on multiple intelligences and
learning styles.

HOW DO WE BENEFIT FROM UNDERSTANDING MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES?

When educators are given the freedom to move away from the traditional, visually-based methods
of teaching, they will have the opportunity to reach more students, more effectively. By teaching to
the dominant learning intelligences, teachers will find students to be more productive, more
receptive and more willing to engage in the learning process.

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