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Howard Gardner (born in 1943 in Scranton, Pennsylvania) is a psychologist who is based at Harvard University. He is best known for his theory of multiple intelligences. In 1981, he was awarded a MacArthur Prize Fellowship.

His most famous work is probably Frames of Mind, which details eight dimensions of intelligence (Visual / Spatial Intelligence, Musical Intelligence, Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence, Logical/Mathematical Intelligence, Interpersonal Intelligence, Intra personal Intelligence, Bodily / Kinesthetic Intelligence, and the latest Naturalistic). Gardner's claim is that pencil and paper IQ tests do not capture the full range of human intelligences. He has garnered much praise within the field of education but has also met criticism, largely from psychometricians. Since the publication of Frames of Mind, Gardner has additionally identified the 8th dimension of intelligence: Naturalist Intelligence, and is still considering a possible ninth: Existentialist Intelligence. (See Intelligence Re framed).

He recently has written a book, Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other People's Minds.

Howard Gardner believes that we all have individual tendencies (areas that we enjoy and excel at) and that these tendencies can be placed within one of the intelligences listed above.

He explored the concepts of creativity and intelligences and the parts they play in children's learning, including the major role that arts education can play in developing basic cognitive skills.

While Gardner based his original theory on empirically derived sources of evidence such as selective impairment of a specific intelligence following brain injury and the presence of prodigies in each intelligence domain, there is little empirical work to support more specific predictions derived from his theory, and his ideas have often been overlooked within psychology.

Gardner is the author of 18 books, including:

• Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligence (1983) ISBN 0-465-02510-2 (1993 ed.)
• The Unschooled Mind: How Children Think and How Schools Should Teach (1991) ISBN 0-465-08896-1 (1993 ed.)
• Creating Minds: An Anatomy of Creativity Seen Through the Lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi (1994) ISBN 0-465-01454-2
• Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice (1993) ISBN 0-465-01822-X (1993 ed.)
• Multiple Intelligences After Twenty Years, 2003. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, Illinois, April 21, 2003. [1]

See below for research into validity of Gardner's theory:

• Bennett, M. (2000). Self-estimates and population estimates of ability in men and women. Australian Journal of Psychology, 52, 23–28.

• Howard Gardner's Project Zero home page at Harvard University
• Howard Gardner's personal home page
• Howard Gardner School for Discovery in Scranton, PA
• The Howard Gardner School in Alexandria, VA