Frames of mind

Description

Howard Gardner challenges the assumption that intelligence is a single, general capacity adequately captured by an IQ score. Drawing on psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, biography, and cases of exceptional or impaired ability, he argues for several relatively distinct forms of human competence. His original framework considers linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligences, asking how each develops and appears across cultures. The book traces the theory’s formation over a decade while examining what counts as evidence for separating one capacity from another. Its argument reframes intelligence as a plural set of potentials, with implications for how readers understand talent, education, creativity, and the many ways people solve problems or make meaningful contributions.

Themes