PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORIES

Introduction
Theorizing is part and parcel of the scientific study of children’s development. In scientific
method, theories frequently direct the conceptualization of a process or problem to be
investigated. A theory is defined as an interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain
and to make predictions. For instance, a theory on mentoring could try to explain and infer
why unrelenting support, guidance, and concrete experience positively affect the lives of
disadvantaged children.
The theory could center on opportunities where children can model the behavior and
strategies of mentors, or it could center on the effects of individual attention, which could be
missing in the lives of children. A hypothesis, on the other hand, is a specific, testable
assumption or prediction. It is frequently written as an if-then statement. For example, a
sample hypothesis might be: If disadvantaged children are given individual attention by
mentors, the children will devote more time studying, which results in higher grades.
Hypothesis testing can inform researchers whether or not a theory is accurate.
Extensive theories make understanding the development of children a challenging
undertaking. This lesson will discuss the psychoanalytic theories, which contribute an
important piece to understanding the development of children. One will see in the succeeding
lessons how theories disagree about certain aspects of development and how many of their
ideas are actually complementary.

Psychoanalytic theories view development as primarily beyond awareness (unconscious) and

deeply affected by emotion. Psychoanalytic theorists stress that behavior is simply a surface
characteristic and that a true understanding of development requires analyzing the symbolic
meanings of behavior and the deep inner workings of the mind. Psychoanalytic theorists also
give emphasis as to how early experiences with parents extensively shape development. These
features are highlighted in Sigmund Freud’s (1856-1939) psychoanalytic theory.
Psychosexual Theory Having been able to listen to, query, and examine his patients, Sigmund
Freud became convinced that their problems were effects of their early life experiences. Freud
believed that as children grow up, their focus of pleasure and sexual impulses moves from the
mouth to the anus and in due course to the genitals. Consequently, we experience five stages
of psychosexual development: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital (Table 1). Freud (1917)
claimed that adult personality is defined by the way we address conflicts between sources of
pleasure at each stage and what reality demands.
Following are the ideas of an important revisionist of Freud’s psychosexual theory- Erik Erikson.
Psychosocial Theory. Erik Erikson (1902-1994) acknowledged Freud’s contributions but
believed that Freud misapprehended some important aspects of human development. For
instance, Erikson (1950, 1968) said individuals develop in psychosocial stages, rather than in
psychosexual stages, as Freud upheld. The primary motivation for human behavior, according
to Freud, is sexual in nature; according to Erikson, it is social and reveals a desire to associate
with other people. Our basic personality, according to Freud, is formed in the first five years of
life; developmental change, according to Erikson, transpires throughout the life span. Hence,
Freud regarded early experience as far more important than later experiences, whereas
Erikson underscored the importance of both early and later experiences.
In Erikson’s psychosocial theory, eight stages of development unfold as we go through life
(Table 2). A unique developmental task challenges individuals with a crisis that must be
addressed at each stage of development. This crisis, according to Erikson, is not a disaster but a
defining moment marked by both increased vulnerability and intensified potential. A healthier
development depends primarily on how an individual successfully addresses the crises.

Trust versus mistrust is Erikson’s first psychosocial stage, which occurs in the first year of life.
Trust in infancy creates the condition for a lifelong expectation that world will be a good and
pleasant place to live.
Autonomy versus shame and doubt is Erikson’s second stage, which takes place in late infancy
and toddlerhood (one to three years). Infants start to discover that their behavior is their own
after gaining trust in their caregivers. They start to claim their sense of independence. They
recognize their will. If restrained too much or punished too harshly, infants and toddlers may
probably develop a sense of the shame and doubt.
Initiative versus guilt, Erikson’s third stage of development, transpires during the preschool
years. As preschoolers encounter a wider social world, they confront new challenges that need
active, purposeful, and responsible behavior. If the child is irresponsible and is made to feel too
anxious, feelings of guilt may arise, though.
Industry versus inferiority is Erikson’s fourth developmental stage. This takes place
approximately in the elementary school years. Children in this stage need to focus on
mastering knowledge and intellectual skills. Consequently, a child may develop a sense of
inferiority-feeling incompetent and unproductive-as a negative outcome.
In adolescence, individuals explore their identity, what they are all about, and where they
intend to be in life. This is Erikson’s fifth developmental stage, identity versus role confusion. If
adolescents explore roles in a healthy manner and reach a positive path to follow in life, then
they achieve a positive identity; otherwise, role confusion rules.

Intimacy versus isolation is Erikson’s sixth developmental stage. Individuals experience this
during the early adulthood years. At this time, individuals deal with forming intimate
relationships. If young adults are able to develop healthy friendships and an intimate
relationship with another, intimacy will be attained; otherwise, isolation will be the
consequence.
Generativity versus stagnation, Erikson’s seventh developmental stage, takes place during
middle adulthood. Generativity denotes primarily a concern for helping the younger
generation to develop and have useful lives. The sense of having not done anything to help the
next generation is stagnation.
Integrity versus despair is Erikson’s eighth and final stage, which happens in late adulthood. In
this stage, a person reviews life in retrospect. If it reveals a life well spent, it will result in
integrity; otherwise, the retrospective glances likely lead to doubt or gloom-the despair Erikson
characterized.
EVALUATING
Psychoanalytic theories influenced how families and other significant adults view children.
These theories focused on the importance of early experiences in children’s development.
Children’s interactions with parents and other caregivers as well as early childhood educators
can determine how they will view future relationships. Children’s personalities are better
understood using the developmental lens. They do not have a “one size, fits all” personality,
but rather build up from one stage to another as they continue to mature and resolve internal
crisis. Hence, parents and teachers need to recognize these crises and guide the children as
they go through each one of them (Crandell, Crandell, & Zanden, 2009).
However, psychoanalytic theories received criticisms primarily because researchers find it
difficult to test their theories. These theories make few predictions that can be subjected to
scientific process. Since these theories were focused on the unconscious, it is challenging for
scientists to study such aspects objectively. Freud’s theory was also centered on male
perspectives and was quite insensitive to female views. His theory was also criticized because
of its emphasis on the oedipal and Electra complexes among children. Many argued that these
were cover-ups for the child abuse happening during their time (Crandell, Crandell, & Zanden,
2009).
Learning Theories
JOHN WATSON
John Watson (1878-1958), an American psychologist, promoted ideas about human
development that were very distinct from those of Sigmund Freud. Watson held that children
could be trained to be or do anything through manipulation of the environment (Jones, 1924;
Watson & Rayner, 1920). Watson invented the term behaviorism to refer to this point of view.
Behaviorism defines development in terms of changes in behavior caused by environmental
influences. As Watson (1930, p. 104) put it:.
“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up
in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I
might select-doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief,
regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. I
am going beyond my facts, and I admit it, but so have the advocates of the contrary and they
have been doing it for many thousands of years.”
Watson’s ideas exemplify a thinking pathway about development common to all the
learning theories. These theories claim that development is brought about by an accumulation
of experiences. Each of the learning theories, however, has a unique way of explaining how
experience affects development..

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
A lot of Watson’s ideas about the relationship between learning and development were
Pavlovian in origin. Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, found that organisms are able
to develop new signals for existing responses (behaviors). This principle was later termed as
classical conditioning. Every incidence of learning starts with a biologically programmed
stimulus- response connection or reflex. For instance, when you put food in your mouth,
salivation naturally happens. With respect to classical conditioning, the food is the
unconditioned (unlearned, natural) stimulus, while salivation is an unconditioned (unlearned,
natural) response.
Stimuli introduced just before or together with the unconditioned stimulus are those
that are likely to be associated with it. Most foods have aromas, for instance, and to reach
one’s mouth, food has to pass near one’s nose. Consequently, one usually smells food before
he/she tastes it. Food aromas sooner or later become conditioned (learned) stimuli that
stimulate salivation. Basically, food aromas function as a signal to one’s salivary glands that
food is approaching. After the connection between food aromas and salivation has been
formed, smelling food prompts the salivation response even when food is not actually eaten.
When a response appears reliably in relation to a conditioned stimulus in this way, it is referred
to as a conditioned (learned) response.
Watson believed that Pavlov’s principles of classical conditioning maintained the key to
appreciating human development. He considered developmental change as simply the
acquisition of connections between stimuli and responses. As a proof, Watson tried to use the
principles of classical conditioning to cause an infant to develop a new emotional response to a
stimulus. The 11-month-old “Little Albert,”
Watson’s unlucky subject, was subjected to loud noises as he played with a white rat, a
stimulus that had intrigued him when first introduced. However, because of the pairing of the
rat with the noises, Albert learned to fear the rat so utterly that he cried loudly at the mere
sight of the rodent. Also, Little Albert generalized his fear of the rat to other white, fluffy
objects, such as a rabbit, a fur coat, and even a Santa Claus mask.
As one might figure out, Watson’s experiment would be considered unethical by modern
standards. Few developmentalists, moreover, would go along with Watson’s claim that classical
conditioning expounds human development. However, the experiment conducted on Little
Albert demonstrated that classical conditioning may certainly be the foundation of
developmental changes involving emotional responses. Therefore, classical conditioning
remains to have a place in the study of human development, especially in the study of infancy.
When a child’s mother or father’s presence coincides with nice things happening, such
as when a child feels warm, comfortable, and cuddled, their presence ordinarily serves as
conditioned stimuli for pleasant and satisfying feelings, which makes it possible for the parent’s
presence to give comfort to a child. In addition, classical conditioning is the foundation of
numerous helpful therapies addressing anxiety problems. This can also be observed in the
preschool setting. When teachers are warm and caring, preschoolers tend to like attending
preschool. The way they interact with the children becomes the conditioned stimuli for young
children to feel safe, secure, and comforted in a place outside their home.

OPERANT CONDITIONING
Another behavioristic approach to development may be derived from a set of learning
principles referred to as operant conditioning. This term was coined by Burrhus Frederic
Skinner (1904-1990), the most prominent advocate of this theory (Skinner, 1953, 1980).
Operant conditioning involves learning to replicate or prevent behaviors due to the
consequences they generate. Reinforcement is anything that strengthens or increases the
behavior it follows. Punishment is the presentation of an adverse event or outcome that
causes a decrease in the behavior it follows.
A consequence (usually involving something pleasant) that follows a behavior and
increases the chances that the behavior will occur again is referred to as positive
reinforcement. For instance, if one buys a scratch ticket and wins P10,000, he/she will most
likely be more willing to buy another ticket in the future than he/she would if he/she had not
won the money.
Negative reinforcement, on the other hand, happens when an individual learns to do a
specific behavior to cause something unpleasant to stop. Coughing, for instance, is an
unpleasant experience for most of us, and taking a dose of cough medicine normally stops it.
Consequently, when we start coughing, we look for he cough syrup. The cessation of coughing
reinforces the behavior of taking a spoonful of cough syrup.
It should be noted, however, that positive and negative reinforcements time and again
interact in complex ways in real-life situations. For instance, it is understood that paying
attention to a preschooler’s whining is expected to increase it-an example of positive
reinforcement. Nevertheless, parents are used to attending to whining preschoolers since
whining is irritating, and responding to it usually halts the behavior. Hence, like taking cough
syrup to address an annoying cough, the parents’ behavior of responding to whining is
negatively reinforced by its consequence-i.e., that the child stops whining.
At variance with both kinds of reinforcement, punishment stops a behavior. Occasionally
punishments include eliminating nice things, e.g., suspending TV or video game privileges.
However, punishment may also include unpleasant things such as reprimand. Similar to
reinforcement, however, punishment is defined by its effect. Those consequences that do not
halt a behavior cannot be fundamentally called punishments.
Alternatively, stopping an unwanted behavior may be done through the gradual
elimination of a behavior through repeated nonreinforcement. This is referred to as extinction.
For instance, if a teacher successfully eliminates a student’s undesirable behavior by ignoring
it, the behavior is considered to have been extinguished.
These examples show the complex way reinforcements and punishments work in the
real world. Operant-conditioning researchers, in laboratory setting, typically work with a single
participant or animal subject at a time; hence, they do not need to worry about the social
consequences of behaviors or consequences. The situation can also be controlled so that a
specific behavior is reinforced whenever it occurs. In reality, partial reinforcement-i.e.,
reinforcement of a behavior on some occasions but not others-commonly takes place. Studies
dealing with partial reinforcement reveal that people learning a new behavior takes longer
under partial reinforcement conditions; but once established, such behaviors are very resilient
to extinction..
The use of consequences is usually observed in parents in trying to change their
children’s behavior. It is seldom realized that in many cases, parents may actually be
strengthening those behaviors-for instance, a father whose three- year-old son continually
demands attention while the father is preparing dinner. The father ignores the child the first
three, or five, or seven times the child says “Dad” or tugs at the father’s pants leg. But after the
eighth or ninth repetition, with the child’s voice getting whinier each time, the father cannot
hold it anymore and asks, “All right! What do you want?” The parent in this manner builds a
pattern of partial reinforcement that encourages the child to be all the more demanding.
Essentially, the child becomes like a gambler who deposits token after token in a slot machine,
aware that he/she will hit the jackpot in the end. Thus, parents may have more success in
changing children’s behavior if they administer an appropriate consequence the first time an
unwanted behavior occurs.
Albert Bandura (b. 1925), whose thoughts are more prominent among developmental
psychologists than those of the behaviorists, contends that learning does not always involve
reinforcement (1977b, 1982, 1989). According to him, learning may also arise as a result of
observing someone else carry out some action and experience punishment or reinforcement.
This type of learning called observational learning, or modeling, is involved in wide-ranging
behaviors. For instance, by observing teachers’ reactions to the misconducts of children who
are risk-takers-that is, those who act out without having determined how teachers might react-
observant school children learn to distinguish between strict and lenient teachers. When in the
presence of strict teachers, observant children conceal prohibited behaviors, such as talking
inappropriately or indiscreetly and leaving their seats without permission. In contrast, when
under the authority of lenient teachers, these children may exhibit just as much misconduct as
their risk- taking peers.
Bandura stressed that what an observer gathers from observing someone else will
depend on two cognitive factors: what one pays attention to and what one can remember.
Likewise, to learn from a model, an observer must be physically able to mimic the behavior and
determined to perform it on his/her own. What a child learns from any given modeled event
may be entirely dissimilar from what an adult learns from an identical event because
attentional abilities, memory, physical capabilities, and motivations vary with age (Grusec,
1994).
Bandura stressed that what an observer gathers from observing someone else will
depend on two cognitive factors: what one pays attention to and what one can remember.
Likewise, to learn from a model, an observer must be physically able to mimic the behavior and
determined to perform it on his/her own. What a child learns from any given modeled event
may be entirely dissimilar from what an adult learns from an identical event because
attentional abilities, memory, physical capabilities, and motivations vary with age (Grusec,
1994).
According to Bandura, as a child, one learns not only overt behavior, but also ideas,
expectations, internal standards, and self-concepts, from models. An individual, at the same
time, acquires expectancies about what he/she can and cannot. Bandura (1997) calls this self-
efficacy. Once those standards and those expectancies or beliefs have been formed, they
influence the child’s behavior in steady and lasting ways. For instance, self-efficacy beliefs
affect our complete sense of well-being and even our physical health.

APPRAISING LEARNING THEORIES

Some implications of learning theories are worth stressing. First, learning theories can
explicate both consistency and change in behavior. For instance, a child who is friendly and
smiling both at home and school would be explained by learning theorists a behavior being
reinforced in both settings. Likewise, it possible to give explanation to why a child is happy at
home but despondent a school. One can only hypothesize that the home environment
reinforces cheerfu behavior; the school setting does not.
Learning theorists also have a tendency to be optimistic regarding the possibility of
change. Change in children’s behavior can occur if the reinforceme system-or their beliefs
about themselves-changes. Hence, problem behavio can be modified.
Learning theories have major impact in the classroom as educators try to modify
students’ behaviors to eliminate undesirable ones and increase desirable responses. Most
often, teachers reinforce a certain behavior, completing a pen and paper task, for instance, by
giving students a reward. On the other hand, students may get punished by withholding their
tokens when they display negative behaviors.
The power of learning theories lies in the fact that they seem to give an exact picture of
the way in which various behaviors are learned. Clearly, both children and adults learn through
conditioning and modeling. In addition, the mental elements added by Bandura to the learning
theory give more power because they allow an integration of learning models and other
approaches.
The learning theorists’ approach, however, is not truly developmental as it fails to tell us
much about change with age, either in childhood or in adulthood. In the same way, Bandura’s
variation on learning theory fails to explain if there are any changes with age in what a child
can learn from modeling. Hence, while learning theories help developmentalists understand
how specific behaviors are acquired they fail to contribute to an understanding of age-related
change.

Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory

The most famous and significant theory on children’s learning was developed by Swiss
cognitive theorist, Jean Piaget (1896-1980), which was drawn out of his close observation of
his three children. According to Piaget, infants do not start as cognitive beings but build and
refine psychological structures out of their perceptual and motor activities. He viewed children
as discovering or “constructing” all knowledge of their world through their activity. This theory
was called the constructivist approach to cognitive development (Berk, 2013).
Piaget described several processes of development. One of these processes is the
schema (schemes). Schemes are actions or mental representations that organize knowledge. In
Piaget’s theory, behavioral schemes (physical activities)characterize infancy, and mental
schemes (cognitive activities) develop in childhood. Organization is the grouping of isolated
behaviors into a higher-order, more smoothly functioning cognitive system. A child for example
who has an unclear idea of how a hammer is used, may also have unclear ideas of how the
other tools are used.
As the child matures and gains understanding how a hammer is used, he/she then
organizes his/her knowledge of the other tools used for construction. Equilibration is the
mechanism that explains how children shift from one stage of thought to the next. This
mechanism occurs as children experience cognitive conflict, in trying to understand the world,
which eventually gets resolved to reach a balance. Piaget believed that children go through
three stages of development pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational
stages. (Santrock, 2011). These stages will further be discussed in Lesson 23.
Sociocultural Theory
Many of the developmental theories are of the perspective that development happens
as an “individual activity” and that the environment merely acts as a “limiting factor” that
works on the individual. However, there are groups of developmental psychologists who think
otherwise. One of the significant proponents of this school of thought in developmental
psychology is Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky argued that the physical and social environment in which
an individual lives and is exposed to gives context as to how that particular individual develops.
He, therefore, concludes that we, human beings, are meshed or embedded in our
environments and that our environment a part of who we are and what we become.
As individuals mature, there remains an endeavor to belong and be a part of our society.
This is achieved through the process of learning. Learning is imperative in the process of
development. By acquiring skills and knowledge, individuals gain the ability to survive in their
respective environments. As with other crucial elements, the ability to learn and assimilate
information starts during childhood. Among the different cultural aspects, Vygotsky
emphasized the importance of language. Language, he argues, further solidifies the ability of
the child to learn by creating a solid connection with older individuals via senseful
communication. Once the skill of language has been established, the child now maximizes the
potential of learning by communicating with other people. Hence, the importance of society
and culture.
Culture here can be defined as the broad term that encompasses the values, traditions,
beliefs, practices, relationships, knowledge, and skills observed in the given society. It includes
social settings that the child takes part in like the schools, churches, or playgrounds, and even
the physical settings of that community. How people react to their physical environment is,
therefore, also encompassed by culture (Miller, 2011).
Content Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, argued differently on how learning occurs
in the child. He theorizes that when a child interacts with the physical and social environment,
then the developmental process that entails learning can occur (Scott & Palincsar, n.d.). In
every action done by the child, there is the fusing together of the social players involved, as
well as the social context in which the action takes place. It is also important to note here that
as much as the child’s environment affects the child, so does the child affect the environment
as well. There exists, therefore, the element of interrelatedness as can be seen in a two-way
relationship.
The sociocultural theory highlights how children acquire knowledge by observing and
communicating with older peers, adults, and other authority figures (Piaget & Inhelder, 1956).
Society teaches them culture, belief, and values to enable them to better adapt and normalize
with their respective communities. An important term in sociocultural theory is
“internalization” wherein the greater the exposure of the child to a certain way of thinking, the
higher the chances he/she has of internalizing these thought patterns around him/her
(Vygotsky, 1986).
Vygotsky defined this more by introducing the term the zone of proximal development.
To better understand this concept, we must first outline two ideas: actual development and
potential development. Actual development pertains to the existing knowledge and skill that
the child currently possesses, while potential development pertains to the knowledge and skill
the child can assimilate when guided by a more knowledgeable individual/adult. When
presented with a learning opportunity, a child starts with his/her actual skill and knowledge
and then, with the help and supervision of an adult, he/she incorporates a new skill. This
illustrates the difference between a child attempting to accomplish a task on his/her own
compared to doing with an adult.
 For example, a child tries to sweep the floor and when helped by an adult, they can
easily and effectively perform the task The zone of proximal development, therefore, is defined
as the difference between the actions and tasks that a child can complete on his/her own and
those that need the assistance of a more knowledgeable individual. This method is termed as
scaffolding. This is one of the important features of social interaction theory Vygotsky defined
scaffolding as “adjusting the support offered during a teaching session to fit the child’s current
level of performance.”
This can be observed in the classroom when a child is unable to perform a task, and a teacher
comes over to suggest strategies or ask questions until the child finally has an understanding of
what he/she is supposed to do. The second important feature of this theory is intersubjectivity
which is, defined as “the process wherein two participants who begin a task with different
understanding arrive at a shared understanding.” Preschoolers often display this feature when
they engage in dialogues with their peers during play. They would suggest, add new ideas so
that they can sustain the activity they are engaged in (Berk, 2013).
It is important to note here that learning need not take place face-to-face between a
child and an adult. A child can equally learn by observing from a distance, especially when the
actions and behaviors observed occur frequently. Learning, therefore, takes place with or
without supervision and could also be nonverbal, as exhibited by infants. It is also not “adult-
dependent,” as long as the child is led to engage in activities that can go beyond his/her
normal functioning.

Undoubtedly, role models play a critical role in scaffolding. But tools, such as computers,
books, and articles, aid in the child’s learning as well. It can be said here that the more
knowledgeable and skilled the role model is, the higher the yield of learning for the child
would be. The use of cultural tools also needs to be mentioned. These are language, cognitive
skills, physical skills, emotional skills, and social skills. Parents, the primary and most likely
model of the child, could use these tools to enhance the learning process.
But tools here are not only limited to physical objects that aid in learning, but also
techniques, traditions, thought patterns and systems, and psychological tools as well. These
sets of tools, of course, unlike the concrete objects that are externally oriented, are internally
oriented. Each of the tools enhances and stimulates a cognitive skill possessed by the child. To
re-emphasize, all given tools, be it externally or internally oriented, are all dependent on
culture.
This means that the type of tools a child is exposed to, and the tools utilized by the
society have already been predetermined by that community’s culture (Miller, 2011). In
essence, all these factors are very much environment-dependent, which gives the impression
that the environment a child lives in and the type of people he/ she frequently mingles with
would play a crucial role in his/her development.
LESSON 14
THEORY OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
Humans learn through different media, whether it be inside the classroom or out in the field.
The multiple intelligences theory proposed the presence of different abilities or modalities
where one’s knowledge can be developed as compared to uniformly testing the learning of
children that is prevalent in the current educational system. At the Boston Veterans
Administration Medical Center, Howard Gardner worked with brain-damaged patients and
became aware of how they lost different abilities depending on the area of injury in the brain
(Hoerr, 2000).
Gardner first outlined his theory in his 1983 book, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple
Intelligences, where he suggested that all people have different kinds of intelligences. Gardner
(2000) defined intelligence as “a biopsychological potential to process information that can be
activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products that are of value in a
culture.” The theory distinguishes human intelligence into certain “modalities,” rather than
seeing intelligence as dominated by a single general ability. Hence, it can be said that we learn
through language, logical-mathematical analysis, spatial representation, musical thinking.
Bodily-kinesthetic, an understanding of other individuals, and an understanding of ourselves
(Armstrong, 2000).

In this theory, Gardner relates that these different forms of intelligence function independently
from each other and fulfill eight different criteria: potential for brain isolation by brain damage:
place in evolutionary history; presence of core operations; susceptibility to encoding (symbolic
expression); a distinct developmental progression; the existence of savants, prodigies, and
other exceptional people; support from experimental psychology; and support from
psychometric (Gilman, 2012). Today, there are nine intelligence modalities, which are discussed
below.

VISUAL SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE

People with high visual-spatial intelligence learn through their environment by identifying the
physical space through images in their minds. They can recognize patterns and visualize things
with ease and are often good with directions, maps, charts, videos, and pictures. They enjoy
interpreting pictures, graphs and charts, puzzles, maps, and daydreaming. The potential
careers they may take are architects, artists, and engineers. In teaching, visual media help
them acquire concrete concepts, such as object identification and spatial relationship when
linguistics are inefficient.

VERBAL – LINGUISTIC INTELLIGENCE

This intelligence can be identified in a person when he/she is typically writing, with dexterity in
words and languages. He/she has highly developed auditory skills as well. He/she is usually
good at debating, telling stories, comprehending readings easily, and memorizing information
and dates (Gardner & Hatch, 1989). The excellent career choice would be writer, journalist,
lawyer, and teacher. They can be taught by encouraging them to say and see words and read
books together.
LOGICAL MATHEMATICAL INTELLIGENCE
People with this intelligence are good in calculating, abstract thinking, logic, reasoning, and
exploring patterns and relationships (Gardner & Hatch 1989). They tend to learn and form
concepts before they can deal with the details. Careers that are good for logical-mathematical
learners are scientists, mathematicians, computer programmers, engineers, and accountants.
They can be taught through logic games, investigations, and mysteries.

MUSICAL RHYTHM INTELLIGENCE

People who have strong musical intelligence sense music differently by seeing patterns, tones,
musical structures, rhythms, and sounds. They have a strong appreciation for music and often
have a good pitch, tone, melody, playing musical instruments, musical composition, and
performance (Gardner & Hatch, 1989). Good career choices are becoming composers,
musicians, conductors, singers, and music teachers. They are able to learn by having music in
the background and learn lessons by turning them to lyrics, speaking rhythmically, and tapping.

BODILY KINESTHETIC INTELLIGENCE

Those who have high bodily-kinesthetic intelligence have a keen sense of bodily motions and
excellent hand-eye coordination (Gardner & Hatch, 1989). They also exhibit good physical
movement, performing actions, and motor control. Good career choices are being dancers,
surgeons, builders, sculptors, and actors. They communicate well through body language and
taught through physical activity, hands-on learning, acting out, and role- playing. Tools include
equipment and real objects.

INTERPERSONAL INTELLIGENCE
This type of intelligence enables people to better understand and interact with other people.
People who have keen interpersonal intelligence have many friends, are able to empathize
with others, and are street-smarts. They can communicate verbally and nonverbally and see
situations from other people’s perspectives. These individuals are skilled at assessing the
emotions, motivations, desires, and intentions of those around them and can resolve conflict
in groups.

INTRAPERSONAL INTELLIGENCE
People who exhibit strong intrapersonal intelligence tend to shy away from other people. They
have a sense of self-awareness in their emotions, feelings, and motivations. They can analyze
their strengths and weaknesses, as well as explain theories and ideas. Potential career choices
may be writers, scientists, philosophers, and theorists. They can be taught through
independent study and introspection. Tools include books, creative materials, diaries, privacy,
and time. They are the most independent of the learners.
NATURALISTIC INTELLIGENCE
Not a part of the original seven, the naturalistic intelligence was added in 1995. The naturalist’s
strength is the ability to “recognize flora and fauna, to make other consequential distinctions in
the natural world, and to use this ability productively (in hunting, in farming, in biological
science) is exercising an important intelligence and one that is not adequately encompassed in
the current list. They can go on to become good farmers, biologists, gardeners, and
conservationists. They enjoy learning things by camping, gardening, hiking, and exploring the
outdoors.

EXISTENTIAL INTELLIGENCE
This intelligence was suggested in addition to the other modalities as it tackles people who can
deeply inquire the human existence, such as the meaning of life, the reason why we die, and
how we got here among others. (Gardner, 2000).

Gardner’s theory has met criticisms as it is still a broad outlook on the types of intelligences
lacking in empirical research and representing talents, traits, and abilities that can be seen in
humans. Despite this, many of the educators integrate multiple intelligences in their work and
classroom.