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Tiffany Barndt
Professor Hultgren
PORTfolio 121
15 November 2014
Intelligence Theories
Robert Sternberg is an American psychologist who has done research on intelligence and
believes that there are three types of intelligences: analytical, creative, and practical. Sternberg
also says that if you can combine all three types of intelligences you have successful intelligence.
Howard Gardner is another psychologist who came up with the idea of multiple intelligences.
Instead of having just three, Gardner believes that there are eight different types of intelligences:
linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal,
and naturalist intelligence.
Sternberg defines analytical intelligence as “involving conscious direction of our mental
process to find a thoughtful solution to a problem” (155). He believes that there are six basic
steps that a person takes when reaching a solution from any given problem. These steps typically
follow this order but it is possible they can be arranged. The first step is problem recognition
(Sternberg 156). This is pretty self-explanatory. It is where a person acknowledges that he or she
has a problem that needs a solution. The second step is problem definition (Sternberg 158).
Realizing that there is a problem is completely different than knowing what the problem is. In
this step the individual identifies the problem and can actually put a name to said problem. The
third step is to formulate a strategy for problem solving (Sternberg 161). Basically, the individual
needs to figure out a way to effectively fix their problem. The fourth step is representing
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information (Sternberg 163). The information about the problem needs to be represented
accurately because, if skewed, the proper solution becomes more or less reachable, depending on
whether the information was skewed positively or negatively. The fifth step is allocating
resources (Sternberg 165). When addressing a problem an individual needs to decide what
resources he or she has and how to disperse them so that a solution is achieved in a timely
manner. The sixth, and final, step is monitoring and evaluation (Sternberg 169). Monitoring
involves observing the process the individual went through to reach the solution and evaluation
involves assessing the process and deciding if it was an efficient way of solving the problem. A
personal example of this process would be when I was applying for college. It was over the
summer between my junior and senior year of high school. I needed my official transcript in
order to complete my application but my counselor had left the school so I didn’t officially have
one. The problem was pretty easy to recognize and define; I needed a transcript but I didn’t have
a counselor to ask. The way I decided to solve my problem was to email a different counselor
that I had met once or twice and ask him if he could help me. Within a day I had gotten a reply
with him saying that he would be happy to help and asked about the information for the school I
was sending my application to. When looking back at the situation I think I made a good
decision. I knew that I needed to get the application finished in a certain amount of time and used
the resources I knew to get the job done. If I had to do it over again I would make the same
decisions I made back then.
Sternberg’s second type of intelligence is creative intelligence. He defines this in many
different ways, including, “the ability to come up with new ideas” and “the ability to go beyond
the given to generate novel and interesting ideas” (Sternberg 191). In class we did a hands-on
activity in which we had to create a collage out of paper that we ripped. Our only guidelines
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were to make it about us. I had an idea in my head about what I wanted it to look like, complete
with symbols of things I like to do in my free time. Books, my favorite video game logo, a
softball, and a crayon were some of the things I was going to include in my collage, but I ended
up turning in a mostly bare paper. Perhaps it was because I am a perfectionist. It took me a lot of
time to make one symbol, a movie clapper board, without scissors to help me. Every individual
white stripe on the board had to be evenly spaced or it wouldn’t look right to me. Compared to
my analytical intelligence, I feel like my creative intelligence was lacking. I didn’t have any
original ideas like using negative space to write my name or even something simpler like making
a self-portrait out of the scraps of paper. My ideas were merely already created symbols put
together on the same piece of paper.
Sternberg’s final intelligence is practical intelligence. He defines it as “The ability to
translate theory into practice and abstract ideas into practical accomplishments” (Sternberg 192).
Sternberg also says that it is sometimes called social intelligence or common sense (221). A
personal example would be when I was 16 years old and trying out for several travel softball
teams. I was offered a spot on an 18u team as well as multiple 16u teams. I had to decide which
team I would join, which was a big decision at the time. If I chose the 18u team I would probably
not get a lot of playing time but I would have good coaches that knew how to help me excel at
the sport. If I chose the 16u team I would have coaches that weren’t as good at teaching but I
would get a lot of playing time. I decided that playing for the younger team would be the better
deal because, although practices wouldn’t be as insightful, I knew that the real help would be in
playing in the actual games. I knew that practice situations were only going to get me so far and
that the game-type situations would ultimately help me succeed further.
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Howard Gardner concluded that there are not three types of intelligences, but eight. He
defines linguistic intelligence as “the capacity to use language, your native language, and
perhaps other languages, to express what’s on your mind and to understand other people”
(Checkley). I would not consider myself to have very high linguistic intelligence. I tend to have
difficulties putting my thoughts and feelings into words. Out of all eight of Gardner’s
intelligences I think logical-mathematical intelligence would be the one I scored the highest on.
Some of my favorite things to do in my free time are to solve math based puzzles. My favorite
math based puzzle would be Sudoku. Spatial intelligence is another one that I think I would
score high on. I like to complete 3D puzzles, where you not only have to see the picture the
pieces make, but also how to construct it in your mind. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is a tough
one to decide where I lay. Although I am athletic – I played softball for 10 years – I am not good
at using my hands to create things. I can see the image of what I want to create in my head but
when I try to use my hands to make it things never turn out the way I imagined. Garner defines
musical intelligence as “the capacity to think in music, to be able to hear patters, recognize them,
remember them, and perhaps manipulate them” (Checkley). I wouldn’t consider myself to be
musically intelligent at all. I have tried multiple instruments throughout school, violin, piano, and
guitar, but never really got the hang of them. However, violin was the only instrument that I
actually had a teacher for. Anything I learned on the piano or guitar was learned through
watching YouTube videos and practicing for hours on end. Gardner defines interpersonal
intelligence as “understanding other people” and intrapersonal intelligence as “having an
understanding of yourself” (Checkley). I think that I have more intrapersonal intelligence than
interpersonal intelligence. Finally, Gardner defines naturalist intelligence as “the human ability
to discriminate among living things as well as sensitivity to other features of the natural world”
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(Checkley). The only reason I would have any naturalist intelligence is because I took an
environmental science class my senior year of high school and we had to memorize all different
types of trees, birds, and flowers found near our school. I don’t use the information I learned in
that class in my everyday life so that intelligence would be declining.
Both Gardner and Sternberg made significant contributions to the world of psychology,
mainly in intelligence theories. Although both theories are valid I believe Gardner’s theory of
multiple intelligences is more accurate than Sternberg’s. Sternberg’s theory is very broad while
Gardner’s theory covers a lot but does so in a way that it is broken down into manageable
sections.
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Works Cited
Checkley, Kathy. The first seven . . . and the eighth: a conversation with Howard
Gardner. Educational Leadership, 55. 1997. 8-13. Print.
Sternberg, Robert J. Successful Intelligence: How Practical and Creative Intelligence Determine
Success in Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. 155-247. Print.