The Brain,
Intelligence and
Thinking in
Adolescence
What do you
know about the
brain?
The Brain
Frontal Lobe
- Involved in reasoning, motor control,
emotion and language
Parietal Lobe
- Involved in processing information from
the body’s senses
Temporal Lobe
- Associated with hearing, memory,
emotion and some aspects of language
Occipital Lobe
- Responsible for interpreting incoming
visual information
Hemispheres of the Brain
• Right hemisphere is often associated
with creativity, spatial reasoning
• Left hemisphere is associated with
logical abilities
• Sulcus – deep furrow that divides the
brain into hemispheres
• Corpus callosum – bundle of axons
that connects the left and right
hemisphere which sends messages
from one side to another
How do the brain receive and send messages?
• Neuron – series of nerves that
communicates with each other in
order for the brain to receive and
send messages
• Neurotransmitter – chemical
substance that transmit messages
from one neuron to the next neuron
• Synapse – the space between two
neurons where neurotransmitters
are released
Brain Dominance
Theory vs. WholeBrain Theory
Brain Dominance Theory
• States that
our behavior
is a function
of the
heightened
activity of
either left or
right brain
hemisphere
• Left brain hemisphere dominant – logical,
detailed and methodical
• Right brain hemisphere dominant – manifest
spatial ability and artistic talent
Whole Brain Model
• Brain is divided into 4
quadrants, each
responsible for particular
abilities
• Proposed by Ned
Hermann
• Quadrants do not work
independently but rather
functions cooperatively by
integrating information
Multiple Intelligences
• Proposed by Howard
Gardner
• Innate intelligences are
expressed in different
sensory modalities
1. Linguistic Intelligence
•The ability to use words in both oral and
written communication
•Skills: Good in listening, speaking, writing,
discussing and other language skills
2. Logico-mathematical intelligence
•Ability to reason, apply logic and work with
numbers
•Skills: problem solving, classifying, thinking
logically, questioning, carrying out
investigations, performing mathematical
calculations
3. Visual-Spatial Intelligence
•Ability to perceive the visual
•Skills: understanding charts and graphs,
sketching, painting, creating visual images,
constructing and fixing design
4. Musical Intelligence
•Ability to produce and appreciate music
•Skills: singing, playing musical instruments,
recognizing sounds and tonal patterns,
composing music, remembering melodies
5. Bodily-kinesthetic Intelligence
•Ability to control body movements and
handle objects skillfully
•Skills: dancing, physical coordination, sports,
crafts, acting, using hands to create or build
6. Interpersonal Intelligence
•Ability to relate and understand other
people
•Skills: seeing things from other perspectives,
listening, using empathy, understanding
other people’s moods and feelings
7. Intrapersonal Intelligence
•Ability to understand ourselves, who we are,
and what makes us the way we are
•Skills: reasoning with themselves, capacity
for self-analysis, awareness of inner feelings
8. Naturalistic Intelligence
•Ability to recognize and categorize things
•Skills: lovers of nature, see patterns on how
nature works.
THINKING
•Involves manipulating mental
representation and prevents us from making
a mistake
•Creative and Critical Thinking
CREATIVE THINKING
•Production of effective novelty through the
operation of our mental processes
•One can see relationships of things around
•Capable of carrying out an analogy
CRITICAL THINKING
•Requires logic and coherence as we try to
analyze, synthesize, evaluate and interpret
information rather than simply apply
technical abilities
•Trying to evaluate whether we should be
convinced that some claim is true or some
argument is good