10/24/97

What is intelligence?

Q:  What is intelligence?

A:  Intelligence is NOT a number on an IQ test. 

Psychologist Howard Gardner identified the following distinct types of intelligence:

          
1. Linguistic:  Children with this kind of intelligence enjoy writing, reading, telling stories or doing crossword puzzles.            
2. Logical-Mathematical:  Children with lots of logical intelligence are interested in patterns, categories and relationships. They are drawn to arithmetic problems, strategy games and experiments.           
3. Bodily-kinesthetic:  These kids process knowledge through bodily sensations. They are often athletic, dancers or good at crafts such as sewing or woodworking.            
4. Spatial:  These children think in images and pictures. They may be fascinated with mazes or jigsaw puzzles, or spend free time drawing, building with Legos or daydreaming.            
5. Musical:  Musical children are always singing or drumming to themselves. They are usually quite aware of sounds others may miss. These kids are often discriminating listeners.            
6. Interpersonal:  Children who are leaders among their peers, who are good at communicating and who seem to understand others' feelings and motives possess interpersonal intelligence.           
7. Intrapersonal:  These children may be shy. They are very aware of their own feelings and are self-motivated.

Please send questions or comments to bbruno@snet.net.