Howard Gardner's Contributions to Psychology

Biography and Theories

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Updated on November 07, 2023

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Portrait of Howard Gardner, April 20, 2011 — Proctor Academy/ Flickr CC

At a Glance

Howard Gardner's contributions to psychology have helped expand our understanding of learning and knowledge. Instead of focusing on traditional ways of learning and testing, he suggests that there are many types of knowledge and that things can be taught in various ways. His theory of multiple intelligence proposes that this can include interpersonal, intrapersonal, kinesthetic, verbal, mathematical, musical, natural, and visual intelligence.

Brief Biography of Howard Gardner

Howard Gardner was born on July 11, 1943 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He described himself as "a studious child who gained much pleasure from playing the piano." He completed his post-secondary education at Harvard, earning his undergraduate degree in 1965 and his Ph.D. in 1971.

While he had originally planned to study law, he was inspired to study developmental psychology by the works of Jean Piaget. He also cited the mentoring he received from the famous psychoanalyst Erik Erikson as part of why he set his sights on psychology.

His influences at Harvard, including Erikson, sociologist David Riesman, and cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner, had a major impact on Gardner's ideas and work.

Gardner's Contributions to Psychology

After spending time working with kids and adults who had experienced brain damage, Gardner began developing a theory designed to synthesize his research and observations. In 1983, he published Frames of Mind, which outlined his theory of multiple intelligences.

According to this theory, people have many different ways of learning. Unlike traditional theories of intelligence that focus on one single, general intelligence, Gardner believed that people instead have multiple different ways of thinking and learning.

The Eight Intelligences

He has since identified and described eight different kinds of intelligence:

Interpersonal intelligence
Intrapersonal intelligence
Kinesthetic intelligence
Linguistic-verbal intelligence
Mathematical intelligence
Musical intelligence
Naturalistic intelligence
Visual-spatial intelligence

He has also proposed the possible addition of a ninth type which he refers to as "existential intelligence."

Impact on Education

Gardner's theory has perhaps had the greatest impact within the field of education, where it has received considerable attention and use. His conceptualization of intelligence as more than a single, solitary quality has opened the doors for further research and different ways of thinking about human intelligence.

The theory has become enormously popular among educators, in part because it validates their everyday experiences in the classroom. Many teachers can say how much kids vary in terms of how they learn, as well as how they display that knowledge.

The theory has helped provide a framework that helps guide how teachers organize their curriculum, assess learning, and create their teaching practices. It has also help teachers develop new approaches that can help a broader range of learners succeed in the classroom.

Gardner previously served as the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Research Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He was also an adjunct professor of psychology at Harvard University and senior director of Harvard Project Zero.

While he retired from teaching in 2019, Gardner continues to research and write. He published a memoir of his life, "A Synthesizing Mind," in 2020.

Howard Gardener's Publications and Awards

Gardner's publications include "Frames of Mind" (1983), "Intelligence Reframed" (1999), "The App Genderation" (2013), and "A Synthesizing Mind" (2020).

Due to his significant contributions to psychology, Howard Gardner has also received a number of awards.

1981, MacArthur Prize Fellowship
1987, William James Book Award, American Psychological Association
1990, University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Education
2000, John S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
2011, Prince of Asturias Award in Social Sciences
2015, Brock International Prize in Education
2020, American Education Research Association's Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award

Multiple Intelligences vs. Learning Styles

In his 2013 book The App Generation, Gardner and co-author Katie Davis suggested that the theory of multiple intelligences has too often been conflated with the idea of learning styles. Gardner says that the two are not the same and uses a computer analogy to demonstrate the differences between the ideas.

Gardner distinguishes between his multiple intelligences and the idea of learning styles by defining intelligences as a mental computational power in a certain area such as verbal ability or spatial intelligence. He defines learning styles as to how an individual learner approaches different educational materials.

Traditional conceptions of a single intelligence suggest that the mind possesses a single, central and all-purpose "computer," suggests Gardner in his book. This computer then determines how people perform in every aspect of their lives.

Gardner's conception of multiple intelligences, on the other hand, proposes that the mind possesses a number of "computers" that act mostly independently of one another and contribute to different mental abilities. Gardner initially outlined eight multiple intelligences but is researching the inclusion of existential intelligence.

Learning styles, on the other hand, relate to an individual's personality and learning preferences. The problem with the concept of learning styles, Gardner explains, is that not only are they only vaguely defined, but research has also found little evidence that teaching to a student's preferred style affects learning outcomes.

What This Means For You

Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences has had a meaningful impact on how we think about human intelligence. Rather than simply focusing on a single measure of human cognitive ability, it can be helpful to consider all of the different mental strengths that you possess.

9 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Cerruti C. Building a functional multiple intelligences theory to advance educational neuroscience. Front Psychol. 2013;4:950. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00950
Edutopia. Big thinkers: Howard Gardner on multiple intelligences.
Martin DJ, Loomis KS. Building Teachers: A Constructivist Approach to Introducing Education. Cengage Learning; 2013.
Scherer M, Gardner H. The understanding pathway: a conversation with Howard Gardner. The Constructivist Classroom. 1999; 57(3):12-16.
Watson TS, Skinner CH. Encyclopedia of School Psychology. Springer Science & Business Media; 2012.
Langworth RM, Gardner H. Multiple Intelligences. ReadHowYouWant.com; 2010.
Kornhaber ML. In Palmer-Cooper, J. A., Cooper, D. E., & Bresler, L., Fifty modern thinkers on education: From Piaget to the present day. London: Routledge; 2001.
Gardner H, Davis K. The App Generation, How Today's Youth Navigate Identity, Intimacy, and Imagination in a Digital World. Yale University Press; 2013.
Newton PM, Miah M. Evidence-based higher education - Is the learning styles 'myth' important? Front Psychol. 2017;8:444. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00444

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd
Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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