ABSTRACT
MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the concept of intelligence has been carefully studied. Intelligence tests, conceived early in the century, have continued to be developed and refined. Early psychologists generally believed that intelligence could be defined as overall intellectual capacity and potential. Toward the end of the century, the most widely used intelligence tests were challenged as being culturally biased. However, the concept of a single quality of intelligence remained largely intact. The psychologist who has offered the greatest challenge to this idea, when it comes to learning, is Howard Gardner (1983). Gardner has discounted the idea of considering intelligence in the limited dimensions assessed by the kinds of tests that have been used in education. In fact, he has argued that schools often fail because they have concentrated exclusively on verbal and mathematical ability; Gardner has contended that individuals have different kinds of intelligence and that schools should provide learning activities that allow students to learn as they learn best.
