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1. Gardener’s Theory of Multiple
Intelligences

2. Howard Gardner developed his theory of multiple intelligences as a radical alternative to
what is called the “classical” view that intelligence is the personal ability to think
logically. Gardner was impressed by the great variety of roles that adults play in
different cultures. He noted that the roles were based on a wide variety of abilities and
skills, each one of which was equally necessary for survival in their cultures. After
analysing his observations, Gardner reached the conclusion that there were many
different intellectual abilities found in various combinations in people rather than a single
basic intellectual ability, or “factor g” (“Multiple intelligences: Gardner’s theory,” n.d.)
Gardener’s theory is widely recognized as one of the most innovative learning theories
of human intelligence. The theory of multiple intelligences confirms the fact teachers
have to deal with every day, and it states that people think and learn in many different
ways. The theory has some sub theories which are described below. The theory of triple
intelligence was developed by an American researcher, Robert Sternberg (Brualdi,
1996), who suggested that the whole theory of intelligence should be described through
three aspects – internal components related to information processing (component
intelligence), efficiency of mastering a new situation (experiential intelligence), and a
manifestation of intelligence in social situations (situational intelligence). Sternberg
distinguished three types of processes or components in component intelligence.
Performing components are the processes of perception, which are stored in the short-

3. term memory and retrieval of long-term memory, and they are also associated with
account and comparing objects. Components related to the acquisition of knowledge
determine the processes of new information and save it. Metacomponents perform
control over the acquisition of knowledge, and they also identify strategies to address
problematic situations. As outlined by Sternberg, successful resolution of intellectual
tasks depends, above all, upon the adequacy of the components rather than on the
speed of information processing. Empirical intelligence
GARDENER’S THEORY OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES 2
involves two features: the ability to cope with new situations and the ability to automate
some processes. If a person faces a new problem, the success of a solution depends
on the speed and efficiency of the development of appropriate strategies to address the
problem. In those cases when problems are not new to the person, the success of the
solution is determined by the degree of automation skills. Situational intelligence is the
type of intelligence that manifests itself in everyday life through finding solutions to
everyday problems (practical intelligence) and communicating with others (social
intelligence). For the diagnosis of component and empirical intelligence, Sternberg used
standard intelligence tests. This means that the theory of triple intelligence the did not
introduce entirely new indicators to measure two types of intelligence, but it did provide

4. a new explanation for the indicators used in psychometric theories (Brualdi, 1996).
Since situational intelligence is not measured by psychometric theory, special tests
were developed in which individuals were asked to solve various practical situations.
These tests proved to be quite successful; for example, a successful performance on
the test is significantly correlated with the level of wages – that is, with indicators that
show ability to solve real-life problems. Success of their performance, for example, is
significantly correlated with the level of wages – that is, with indicators that show ability
to solve real-life problems. British psychologist Hans Eysenck (Brualdi, 1996) identified
a hierarchy of types of intelligence: psychometric-biological-social. Based on evidence
related to the speed performance of IQ, Eysenck believed that …