Who proposed the theory of multiple intelligences?

Educational and developmental psychologists have proposed several distinct theories about the nature of intelligence and learning. One influential framework holds that intelligence is not a single general ability (as in one IQ score) but a set of several relatively independent types of intelligence — for example linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic — each of which can develop to differing degrees in a person.

This framework is the Theory of Multiple Intelligences, introduced by Howard Gardner in his 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Gardner is therefore credited with originating the concept of multiple intelligence asked about here.

• Piaget is known for the Cognitive Development Theory, describing four sequential stages of children's intellectual growth (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational).

• Bruner is known for Discovery Learning and the spiral curriculum, describing enactive, iconic, and symbolic modes of representing knowledge.

• Vygotsky is known for the Socio-cultural Theory of development, emphasizing the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and the role of social interaction and language in learning.

None of these three theorists proposed a multiple-intelligences framework, which confirms Gardner as the originator of the concept.