What are Multiple Intelligences?

This picture is kind of funny to me because it doubly illustrates bodily-kinesthetic learning. Not only is the child working with his hands, which is the classic definition of kinesthetic learning, but he's also building a hand.

So, as you can tell from the picture, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is about having strengths in the area of hands-on learning. It has to do with learning through bodily movement, physical experience, or the sense of touch.

Interpersonal intelligence is learning through a social experience with other people. It's about interacting with others, being involved in a group and talking about things.

Do you ever feel like you need to "talk it out" with someone to come to an understanding of something? If so, you might be an interpersonal learner.

Just like the image of "The Thinker" shows, intrapersonal intelligence is learning through a solitary experience with yourself, or within yourself. It's about self-reflection, thinking, pondering and processing.

This is one of my strongest learning styles. I'm a very introspective person and I love to quietly process things internally before I share anything externally. I love to meditate, read, write and reflect. I also love personal growth and spirituality, which is another characteristic of intrapersonal learners.

I love this picture! To me it shows that this woman just loves words!

That's what the linguistic intelligence is all about - - learning through words, both spoken and written. Learning through the spoken word is usually referred to as auditory learning. Learning through the written word is often called print learning.

Print learning is another one of my strongest learning styles. If you've read any of my other pages, you'll know I'm a total word nerd! I love to write, read, take notes, process information through writing, and play with words.

Mathematical intelligence is also called "logical-mathematical" and has to do with learning through numbers, patterns, reasoning or systematic or scientific investigation. It's about order, analyzing, making connections, categorizing, organizing and figuring things out.

I kind of see this style represented by the math and science geek in school!

This is a strong area for me as well, although not as high as print learning and introspective learning.

Musical, or musical-rhythmic, intelligence is learning through music and rhythm (that's a little obvious). People who learn this way love sound. They might always be listening to music, they probably play musical instruments and they might tap or sing or hum while they work and learn.

I love this picture! It shows the natural curiosity of kids and it shows it in a natural environment. For someone with a naturalist intelligence, this love of nature and this curiosity never goes away. Someone with a naturalist intelligence loves learning through nature or through an experience in the natural world. They love investigating and studying things in nature.

This is another area of strength for me. I feel a connection to nature and love being in and around it.

Spatial intelligence is about learning spatially, or through pictures. It's what's usually called visual learning. Visualization, imagination, maps, photographs, videos and multi-media presentations are important for visual learners.