Howard Gardner and the research team were interested in the following questions:
1. Do young children have domain-specific as well as more general strengths?
2. Is there any correlation between performances in different activities?
3. Does a child's strength in one domain facilitate or hinder performance in other domains?
In Question #1, the majority of the children's strengths and weaknesses were identified in relation to the group. In all cases, areas of strength and weakness were identified for each child. In Question #2 the results indicated little correlation between the activities. In Question #3 there was some evidence that a child's strength in one area might facilitate performance in another. In regards to a child's working style Gardner and his colleagues were interested in two issues:
1. Do children utilize distinctive working styles when solving
problems from different domains? (And if so, what is the
nature of the differences in a child's areas of strength and
weakness?)
2. Are some working styles more effective than others in
particular domains?
With the first issue "...the majority of children, while one or two working styles were usually obtained across domains, other working styles depended more on the content of the area being explored." In the second issue, "some of the children who exhibited a consistent working style were clearly helped by their content - Neutral Style, whereas others were probably hindered by it. Project Spectrum revealed outstanding strengths that had not otherwise been identified in eight out of the seventeen children, all together Spectrum identified twelve strengths that had not been identified by parent or teacher. The domains of strength included science, visual arts, music, and social understanding.
The Seven Multiple Intelligences
*MUSICAL INTELLIGENCE
Parts of the brain play important roles in perception and the
production of music.
*BODILY-KINESTHETIC INTELLIGENCE
Control of the body's movement is localized in the motor cortex.
"Body movement undergoes a clearly defined developmental
schedule in children."
*LOGICAL-MATHEMATICAL
Problem-solving abilities
*VISUAL-SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE
Ability to create visual-spatial representations of the world.
*INTERPERSONAL
The ability to work effectively with others, to understand them,
and to notice their goals, motivations, and intentions.
*INTRAPERSONAL
The ability to be deeply aware of inner feelings, intentions, and
goals.
*VERBAL
Reading and writing skills. Sensitivity to nuances, order, and
rhythm of words.
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