<p>Who is the author of Frames of Mind?</p>

<p>Howard Gardner is the author of Frames of Mind.</p>

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Frames of Mind Book Summary - Frames of Mind Book explained in key points

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Frames of Mind summary

Name: Frames of Mind
Rating: 4.5 (416 reviews)
Author: Howard Gardner

Howard Gardner

The Theory of Multiple Intelligences

4.5 (416 ratings)

28 mins

Brief summary

'Frames of Mind' by Howard Gardner explores the theory of multiple intelligences, arguing against the traditional view of intelligence as a uniform, static quality, and instead proposing that there are several distinct types of intelligence that can be developed and nurtured.

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Table of Contents

Frames of Mind
Summary of 9 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 9

What’s in it for me? Get acquainted with the psychological theory that reshaped Western education.

Intelligence: it’s a single, general trait that all people possess in greater or lesser quantities. Or so people in Western societies tend to believe, anyway. And the idea is reinforced by tests that purport to measure a person’s intelligence.

But while it’s true that these tests can predict academic success, they ignore all the other forms of success available to a person. Also, IQ tests primarily address logical and linguistic abilities. Aren’t there many other competencies a person can have?

Enter the theory of multiple intelligences, which argues that within the human brain there’s not one, but several different intelligences that operate somewhat independently from one another. The blinks that follow will explore both these and some potential implications of the theory.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why the ability to recognize faces isn’t a type of intelligence;
how Dalton capitalized on spatial thinking in the field of chemistry; and
how music could help teach computer programming.

The modern conception of intellect is severely limited.

Picture three individuals. The first is a 12-year-old Puluwat boy from the Caroline Islands. His elders have selected him to become a master sailor, which he’ll do by combining extensive knowledge of sailing, stars, and geography. The second individual is a 15-year-old Iranian boy who’s memorized the entire Koran, mastered Arabic, and is now going to a holy city to learn to become a religious leader. The third and final individual is a 14-year-old Parisian girl who’s just learned how to use a computer program to compose musical pieces.

Three competent individuals, each taking on a challenging task and attaining a high degree of achievement – you could reasonably say that they all exhibit intelligent behavior. Yet current methods of assessing intelligence have no way of measuring their potential or achievements.

The key message here is: The modern conception of intellect is severely limited.

The word intelligence has been used so often that it naturally conjures up images of itself as a tangible, measurable quality. But it’s better used as a convenient shorthand that describes a person’s potential to attain a high degree of competence in a particular area. Which areas, exactly?

Well, the author’s list consists of seven intelligences: linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, and interpersonal.

To come up with that list, he used several criteria. One is that, for a competence to be considered a distinct type of intelligence, it must be possible for brain damage to isolate it. That is, if a particular area of a person's brain is damaged, their skill in that specific area must be markedly diminished with little or no impact on their other abilities.

However, the competence being considered must also enable individuals to find and solve problems. For instance, the ability to recognize faces can be isolated by brain damage, so it meets the first criterion. But the ability to recognize faces doesn’t lend itself to problem-solving or the acquisition of new knowledge, so it’s not an intelligence.

Importantly, the author acknowledges that his list of criteria is by no means definitive. That’s because he’s considering intelligence broadly, taking into account multiple levels of analysis. It’d only be possible to come up with a complete list if you stuck to one level, like neurophysiology. But that would mean ignoring other possible levels of analysis, like the correlations between competences and outcomes and how well they predict a person’s academic success.

Of course, this limitation raises a question: Why try to define intelligences at all?

Multiple intelligence theory could be used to capitalize on people’s inherent potential.

Scientists have come up with wildly different estimates about whether or not intelligence has a genetic component. Some claim that up to 80 percent of the variability in intelligence scores in the general population can be chalked up to genetics. Meanwhile, other scientists estimate a heritability of just 20 percent,⁠ and some even believe that intelligence can’t be inherited at all.

Given this variability, should all language referring to intelligence as an inherited trait be set aside? It might be better to instead consider certain individuals as genetically “at promise” for a particular talent. Having this “diagnosis” doesn’t mean they’ll develop the talent, of course. A person can be born with the ability to become a great chess player, but if she’s never given a chessboard, she’s not going to get very far.

Linguistic intelligence implies a high awareness of language and its properties.

When working on a poem, the writer Robert Graves was struggling over a particular line. It originally read, “and fix my mind in a close pattern of doubt.” But he was bothered by the word pattern; he felt that there must be some better substitute. “Frame of doubt” sounded too formal. “Net of doubt” was too negative.

Finally, Graves hit upon the word “caul.” The word had many different senses: it simultaneously referred to a type of woman’s cap, a spider web, and a membrane that sometimes covers the head of a child when it’s born. All of those fit within the poem –⁠ and even better, “close caul” alliterated nicely. In the end, the line read, “and fix my mind in a close caul of doubt.”

Musical intelligence involves sensitivity to the properties of sound.

Three preschool-aged children have just performed at a musical audition. The first child accurately and emotively played a Bach suite for solo violin. The second sang a complete aria from a Mozart opera after hearing it sung just once before. The third played a simple minuet for piano that she composed herself.

Each of these children is a hypothetical example of a musical prodigy, and they’ve all arrived at their talents via different routes. The first child participated in the Suzuki Talent Education Program, which teaches very young Japanese children to play string instruments. The second has severe autism, which in his case manifests as an inability to verbally communicate with others coupled with a talent for flawlessly singing back any piece of music he hears. And the third child was raised in a musical family; that experience enabled her to pick out and create tunes on her own, like a young Mozart. What the children all have in common is musical intelligence.

Logical-mathematical intelligence centers around abstract reasoning.

A child is sitting on the floor in front of a set of objects. She decides to count them and determines that there are ten. Then she points to the objects in a different order. Ten objects again! She tries over and over. Eventually, she begins to understand that the number ten represents all the elements in the set, no matter which order she counts them in.

This child has naturally arrived at an insight about the concept of number. In doing so, she’s exercised her logical-mathematical intelligence. This type of intelligence begins through interaction with the world of objects. As it develops, it becomes more and more abstract until it enters the realms of logic and science.

Spatial intelligence is used for visualization and orientation in space.

If you can, visualize a tall animal –⁠ say, a horse –⁠ in your head. From just that image, can you determine which point is higher –⁠ the top of its tail or the base of its head? Now try this one. Visualize folding a piece of paper in half three times. How many rectangles are created by the folds after you’re finished?

It’s probably clear right away whether or not these tasks are difficult for you. Though different, both are related to spatial intelligence. They ask you to visualize images in your head and utilize your understanding of space. Ultimately, this intelligence is all about the capacity to accurately perceive the visual world, transform and modify that perception, and recreate it even when the visual stimulus is no longer in front of you. Oh, and in case you’re still thinking about those rectangles in that piece of paper: the answer is 8.

Skilled use of the body reflects bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

Of all the ways people can use their bodies, the one most widely developed is probably dance. Because there are so many forms, uses, and meanings associated with dance, even defining the term can be difficult. But, in general, a dance is a culturally patterned sequence of purposeful, intentionally rhythmic body movements.

Dance goes back many thousands of years. In Paleolithic times, masked and dancing sorcerers and hunters were depicted in cave paintings. Over the years, dance has been used to reflect and enforce social organization, express both secular and religious ideas, and serve as recreation, to name just a few. On a bodily level, dance is all about combining the qualities of speed, direction, distance, intensity, and so on –⁠ qualities that require a highly developed sense of bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

The personal intelligences deal with knowledge of yourself and others.

In 1909, the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud was giving lectures throughout the US, outlining his theories about the human psyche.

After one of Freud’s lectures, the dean of American psychologists and philosophers, William James, came up to him and said, “the future of psychology belongs to your work.”

Educational systems should be modified to reflect the theory of multiple intelligences.

If you were going to teach someone to program a computer, which intelligences could you utilize? The first and most obvious choice is logical-mathematical, and linguistic intelligence would be a close second.

But you could also take advantage of musical intelligence by first introducing a student to a composing program. For a student with strong spatial abilities, you might display a flow chart or other spatial diagram. Students with interpersonal skills might be aided by working with a team.

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What is Frames of Mind about?

Frames of Mind (1983) is a landmark text that first proposed the psychological theory of multiple intelligences. Upending the long-held conception that intelligence is just one general, monolithic trait, it argues instead that there are several intelligences that everyone possesses in different quantities. By studying them, educators and policymakers can reshape the educational system to benefit a much greater number of students than the current programs do.

Frames of Mind Review

Frames of Mind (1983) explores the theory of multiple intelligences and challenges conventional views of intelligence. Here's why this book is worth reading:

Offers a compelling argument for the existence of different types of intelligence, expanding our understanding of human capabilities.
Provides real-life examples and case studies that illustrate how different intelligences manifest in various individuals and cultures.
Challenges the traditional educational system, offering insights for educators and parents on how to foster diversity and promote individual strengths.

Who should read Frames of Mind?

Psychology fans interested in one of the field’s significant texts
Educators, teachers, and tutors who want to better understand their students
Anyone fascinated by the human mind

About the Author

Howard Gardner is a developmental psychologist famous for his theory of multiple intelligences. He has written 30 books and received a litany of awards for his work, including the 1981 MacArthur Fellowship and the 2020 Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award. Currently, he is a research professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, an adjunct professor of psychology at Harvard University, and director of The Good Project, which strives to teach people how to resolve ethical dilemmas.

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Education Psychology

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