6 types of intelligence that cannot be measured by an IQ test

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

In addition to standard testing, there are other ways to assess a person's thinking abilities.

You can be smart in different ways. There is something in our minds that cannot be measured by standard tests. Howard Gardner, a Harvard professor, believes that in addition to the two types of intelligence, determined by our mental and emotional abilities, there are six other areas in which we can evaluate a person. Unfortunately, there are no tests that can translate this estimate into standardized numeric data.

1. Musical intelligence

People often think that music is a talent, not a mental ability. However, Professor Gardner is confident that if we evaluate vocabulary and oratory as components of intelligence, then the ability to understand, feel and handle rhythms and timbres should be viewed in the same vein.

2. Spatial intelligence

The ability to easily perceive and reproduce the state of things in space allows the chess player to win the next game, and the surgeon to create another medical miracle. How well you orient yourself in space and determine the trajectory of movement is another criterion for assessing your mental abilities.

3. Body-kinesthetic intelligence

It is worth forgetting that "all athletes are stupid." Coordination of movements requires a lot of work of intelligence, it just cannot be measured with a standard IQ test. This type of intelligence exists in two dimensions. One of them is the ability to use your entire body to solve a problem or task. Another dimension is the ability to use individual body parts. Crafts are a good example of this, so a person who works hard physically is an intellectual, according to Gardner.

4. Interpersonal intelligence

A bit like the concept of emotional intelligence, isn't it? Interpersonal intelligence is how you understand other people, motivate and guide them, and how you work with them. This type of intelligence is especially important for leaders.

5. Personal intelligence

Personal intelligence, or the ability to self-knowledge, is very difficult to assess. However, according to Gardner, it is critically important in today's world.

In modern developed society, people themselves determine what their life will be like. We are building a career and changing professions. We can leave the parent's nest when we grow up. Therefore, it is very important to realize who we really are. If there is no such understanding, it will sooner or later become a problem.

6. Intellect of a natural scientist

The ability to perceive connections between species of living beings, to understand the principles of their interaction is the most important type of intelligence. Gardner calls it the intelligence of a natural scientist, the intelligence of Charles Darwin.

And before you say that you live in a city and do not need this kind of intelligence, it is worth noting that everything you do in this modern, technological and commercial world is based precisely on the ability to understand the environment. You choose this cute sweater, not that awful synthetic one, because your brain can tell the "tasty berry" from the "poisonous" one.

Either way, you use your natural instinct, even if you don't go to the park on Saturdays.

If this list seems cumbersome to you, we hasten to upset you: according to Gardner, the list should be longer. Two more types of intelligence can be distinguished, but psychology still continues to study them.

The simplest conclusion you need to draw is this. If you are hoping to develop your intelligence simply by reading books, you should definitely pay attention to other areas of mental activity.