What Is Auditory Intelligence and How To Improve It?

So far, we have answered the question “What is auditory intelligence?”. Before answering the question, “How to develop auditory intelligence?”, let us become more familiar with the subject. Let’s quickly examine the features of auditory intelligence.

Features of Auditory Intelligence

Below are the characteristics of people with strong auditory intelligence.

They are successful in following voice commands.
They are more successful than other people in retaining verbal information.
They can follow multiple voice instructions at the same time.
They can maintain a conversation while engaging in a visual or physical job.
They are strong debaters and presenters.
Their diction is good.
They do not have difficulty in expressing their feelings and thoughts.
They learn to play instruments easily.
They are skilled in socialising and establishing a dialogue with others.
They are comfortable and impressive at public speaking events.

What Problems Can Be Experienced If Auditory Intelligence is Weak?

Weak auditory intelligence is a type of learning disability. It can cause the following types of disruptions:

In school (what is described in lessons cannot be remembered.
Difficulty in learning through listening.
Inability to follow consecutive voice instructions.
Late detection and late interpretation of information.
Inability to express themselves well while talking.

How To Develop Auditory Intelligence?

The best auditory intelligence exercises are the ones that require following and remembering voice instructions. These exercises are often reminiscent of games. In fact, gamified exercises are the most common method used to improve childrens’ auditory intelligence.

Some Auditory Intelligence Exercises For Your Child:

1- Follow voice instructions

There are many different ways to give instructions. Here’s a gamified method to improve auditory intelligence that requires some colored blocks (colored blocks can also help visual intelligence). It is also possible to transform it into an auditory intelligence game in the following way.

You will provide the following directive to your child.

Get the single red block and place it next to the single white block.

Now make these instructions increasingly difficult.

Get the single red block, place it on the double yellow block with the single white block.

Place the double yellow block on the triple green block. Then place the single white block on the double yellow block and make a ladder.

This way, you can increase the difficulty in increments.

2- Determine the direction of a sound

In this game, there are several people standing around your child (right, left, front, back, and diagonally across). When your child closes their eyes, one of the people around them must clap their hands. If your child correctly predicts the direction of clapping sound, then they earn one point. Adults can try the same exercise and it’s possible to turn this game into a gentle competition. This way, you will both have fun, as well as strengthen your child’s auditory intelligence skills.

3- Practice Mental Imagery and Visualisation

To improve your child’s auditory memory, describe a specific object for them and ask them to picture it in their mind. Now, ask them to draw your depiction on a piece of paper.

For example, ask your child to draw a bird with long feathers and a big beak, placed on the corner of a table with a broken leg. Here, there are no details left to the imagination of your child. The table they’re going to draw must have a broken leg. The bird on the table should be in the corner, not in the middle. This bird must have long feathers and a big beak. Your child should depict this exact scene on paper.

This is a very powerful auditory intelligence exercise that will also support the development of visual intelligence.

4- Utilise Intelligent Technologies

It is possible to support the development of auditory intelligence with fun digital games played on smartphones, tablets or computers. For example, you can download the MentalUP Brain Games for your child.

MentalUP is an app housing the world's largest library of intelligence games designed especially for children. MentalUP’s fun games supports the development of childrens’ attention, auditory perception, auditory memory, verbal intelligence and logic skills. Adults can also enjoy the app. MentalUP uses artificial intelligence to automatically determine the correct difficulty level of the exercises for each user.

Download for Free

5- Recognise natural sounds

Trying to recognise sounds from nature – such as birds, dogs, cats, thunder, running water – is a good exercise for children. It is also possible to gamify this method and can be performed even when walking down the street. Ask your child to name the sound they just heard. Applaud and congratulate your child if they can name the sound correctly.

In this way, your child will focus on sounds and try to determine their source. This type of focusing and interpretation will improve their auditory perception skills.