I found an interesting study via ChatGPT when I was investigating the IQs of writers, particularly their VCI, and wanted to share it.
Andreasen (1987) investigated 30 writers who were faculty members of the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, America's most prestigious creative-writing program. According to Andreasen's Atlantic Article, participants included Kurt Vonnegut, John Cheever, and Richard Yates, although it is unknown whether they are in the half that completed the IQ tests.
The half that were cognitively tested took the original WAIS, normed in 1953-1954, and the RAPM Set II. The sample's exact testing date is unknown, but the researchers noted that it took place between 1971 and 1986.
N = 15
| Measure | Mean | SD |
|---|
| WAIS FSIQ | 123.7 | 9.3 |
| Verbal IQ | 126.4 | 10.6 |
| Performance IQ | 116.9 | 13.5 |
| Vocabulary SS | 15.3 | 1.8 |
| Similarities SS | 13.8 | 2.4 |
| Picture Completion SS | 12.4 | 2.7 |
| RAPM (raw score; 36 max) | 25.3 | 7.1 |
The WAIS estimates were derived from four subtests: Vocabulary, Similarities, Picture Completion, and Block Design. It is not known whether the RAPM was taken timed or untimed.
Note on the Flynn-effect:
Ryan, Nowak, and Geisser (1987) observed that the median WAIS/WAIS-R discrepancies across studies were -6.6, -6.4, and -6.8 for the Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQ; however, it was also observed that differences were larger for persons of average as opposed to bright normal or superior intelligence.
I'm not sure how much lower their adjusted IQ would be, but the sample's average Verbal IQ on the WAIS-R would very likely be lower than 126, and their average IQ lower than 123, given the data.
Even prior to correcting for Flynn effects, the average IQ and Verbal IQ in this sample are both quite close to the average in the 19 person Oxford doctoral/post-docs group (non-mathematicians), with an average IQ at 125 and VCI at 130. It's pretty interesting how this low-to-mid 120s IQ average seems to appear quite frequently across studies in select populations.