Exceptional ability usually can’t be predicted by general ability tests

• “Creativity ratings” of professional architects, mathematicians, and scientists, assigned by a survey of professors, were not significantly correlated with IQ ({MacKinnon}, {1968}). However, entering these professions seems to require high IQ: {98%} of the {140} people covered by the study had IQs in the range {118}-{140}.
• Master-level chess skill doesn’t seem to be associated with the results of psychometric tests in adults (see review in Grabner et al, 2006)
  • … though they are in children!
  • And there have been only a few, low-sized studies of this association.
• Musical ability is weakly correlated with psychometric tests (see review in Shuter-Dyson, 1968, p. 308-311)
  • This data mostly concerns broad populations, rather than people of exceptional ability.
• Acquired skill in touch typing can’t be predicted from pertaining aptitude tests

This evidence bears on To what extent is exceptional ability heritable? to the extent that performance on the constituent ability tests is heritable.

Q. In what population group is chess performance associated with psychometric test results?
A. Children

Q. What are some examples of fields in which exceptional performance is not correlated with psychometric tests?
A. e.g. chess, architecture

References

Grabner, R. H., Stern, E., & Neubauer, A. C. (2007). Individual differences in chess expertise: A psychometric investigation. Acta Psychologica, 124(3), 398–420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2006.07.008

MacKinnon, D. W. (1968). Selecting students with creative potential. In P. Heist (Ed.), The creative college student: An unmet challenge (pp. 101–116). Jossey-Bass, Inc., Publishers.

Shuter-Dyson, R. (1968). The psychology of musical ability. Methuen.