Frames of Mind

An eclectic upbeat approach to human intelligence - from the author of Art, Mind and Brain, Artful Scribbles, The Quest for Mind. For Gardner, human intelligence is not embodied in a Spearman "g" factor, representing general intelligence, nor in I.Q. tests. Neither is intelligence to be seen only in terms of a Piagetian progression, though such stages may be appropriate to mathematico-logical intelligence. Instead, he perceives human mental endowment as an assemblage of fairly autonomous "frames of mind," or multiple intelligences: linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinetic, and a category Gardner calls "personal intelligences" - meaning both intrapersonal and interpersonal. The human species is unique in the depth and breadth of these multiple intelligences. Individuals vary by nature and nurture; and cultures, with their socializing and educational processes, exert strong molding influences. In exploring these global themes, and in analyzing his realms of intelligence, Gardner does a fine job of keeping his theory straight and his data in balance. The chapter on musical intelligence, for example, talks about the Suzuki method of violin-training in Japan (later discussed in depth in a chapter on educational methods); mentions how Anang infants in Nigeria are exposed to drums and dance virtually from birth on; makes extensive reference to past and present composers and virtuosos (Arthur Rubinstein came from an unmusical family but could "call the notes of any chord," with his back to the piano, by age three); goes on to discuss brain hemisphere differences, and clinical cases of aphasia and amusia. Since Gardner is not didactic, this laying out of factual data has a pleasing effect. There is material here that has teased thinkers for ages - on relations between music and mathematics, on child prodigies, the makings of a chess master. Moreover, there is a mood of optimism: we are a pretty fascinating species, and if some of us fail to understand topology, we have multiple talents in other areas. Though M.I. theory obviously has a long way to go before I.Q. is uprooted, Gardner and his colleagues seem on the right track - still tentative and impressionistic, but cogent overall. (Kirkus Reviews)