The relationship between Howard Gardner’s Academic and Personal Intelligences and Working Memory

The aim of this research was to explore whether there existed a relationship between Working Memory and Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, in specific, his Academic Intelligences and Personal Intelligences. To do this, a quantitative assessment was administered to a group of high school students enrolled in AP Psychology at Corvian Community High School. This assessment was intended to test for their Academic Intelligence, which was defined to consist of Logical-Mathematical Intelligence and Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence as well as their Personal Intelligence, which was defined to consist of Interpersonal Intelligence and Intrapersonal Intelligence. Each of these Intelligences were then compared with their Working Memory, which consisted of the Phonological Loop, the Visuospatial Sketchpad, and Central Executive Functioning. It was found that neither Gardner’s Academic nor Personal Intelligences possessed a significant correlation with the Working Memory or any of its components. Based on the testing methods used in this study, it was concluded that Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences is not based on cognitive ability due to its lack of a quantitative correlation with Working Memory, a critical cognitive ability.