Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence refers to the skillful use of one’s body for expressive or goal-directed purposes, as in dance, athletics, surgery, or craftwork. Gardner uses the example of the mime Marcel Marceau to illustrate how movement can convey complex ideas and emotions. This intelligence is rooted in sensori-motor processes and is shown to be essential in both early child development and professional mastery, though often neglected in formal education.

IQ, or intelligence quotient, was developed as a (purportedly) broad and objective measurement of individual intelligence. However, Frames of Mind critiques it as an overly narrow and culturally biased measure of human intelligence, arguing that IQ tests primarily assess linguistic and logical-mathematical abilities and thus neglect other vital forms of intelligence, such as musical, spatial, and bodily-kinesthetic.

Linguistic intelligence refers to the capacity to use language effectively for expression, communication, and reasoning. Gardner explores this intelligence through examples of poets, writers, and speakers who demonstrate sensitivity to word meanings, rhetorical power, and syntactic nuance. It is one of the intelligences that contemporary secular education tends to promote.