Specific mental skills are half as predictive as general intelligence
While IQ scores are often used to forecast success, specialized talents in mechanics or processing speed account for a massive portion of a person's future income.
Psychologists have long relied on general intelligence, or IQ, as the primary metric for predicting a person's socioeconomic future. This general factor represents an underlying capacity to learn and solve problems that influences performance across all mental tasks. However, specialized cognitive skills like technical knowledge, verbal ability, and mental speed are far more than just side effects of a high IQ. These specific abilities are collectively one third to one half as powerful as general intelligence in determining a person's eventual career path and income.