Andy Warhol's low IQ

[snopes]

Comment: Did Andy Warhol really have an I.Q. of 86? The rumor is all over
the Internet, and I heard it on The Howard Stern Show as well, but I find
no real evidence. A typical place is here:

http://www.archure.net/psychology/IQs.html

But if you Google "andy warhol iq" you'll find plenty. I'm guessing that
if he had an IQ test, he may have been too screwed up to test accurately.
But I'm curious.

[Sister Ray]

I find this very unlikely, considering he skipped at least two grades in school. Maybe he tested as that once, but I don't think it would be accurate.

Sister "and he was anything but screwed up" Ray

[WildaBeast]

I don't know if this would apply to Worhol or not, as I have no idea what he was like, but I know people with high function forms of autism (aspergers and similar) tend to score low on traditional IQ tests, but otherwise seem intelligent to those who know them.

[snapdragonfly]

Did he have aspergers? I had not heard that before.

It does fit in with the impression I get of him. He was an odd duck, that's for sure, but if anything he strikes me as incredibly brilliant and insightful.

[WildaBeast]

Originally Posted by snapdragonfly

Did he have aspergers? I had not heard that before.

I have no idea. I was just saying that if he did, that would explain it.

[snapdragonfly]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

I have no idea. I was just saying that if he did, that would explain it.

Yes. Well, I agree, his eccentricities were similar to characteristics that someone with asperger's would display. I guess there's no way we can know for sure though.

[Ali Infree]

Wouldn't someone with Asperger's have problems in social situations, misreading and misunderstanding what was happening? Is there any evidence of this in Warhol?
As a very young man, he and his mother, wrote to Truman Capote appreciating Capote's writing. As an artist, he began with commercial art. So, somewhere along the line he worked with a group of people in an ad agency. Then, he found ways to commercialize his own art through self-promotion.

Now he was shot in the head in 1968, and narrowly escaped death. That incident may have changed him, it seemed to lead to his career in film for one thing.
So, I have my doubts.

Ali "waiting for my last ten minutes of fame" Infree

[Sister Ray]

Originally Posted by Ali Infree

Wouldn't someone with Asperger's have problems in social situations, misreading and misunderstanding what was happening? Is there any evidence of this in Warhol?

Actually, yeah, quite a bit.

Now he was shot in the head in 1968, and narrowly escaped death. That incident may have changed him, it seemed to lead to his career in film for one thing.

Except he'd been making movies for years at that point. (edit: the woman who shot him had a bit part in one of his movies. She kept asking him for money, and he finally gave her a part so she could earn something.)

Sister "he's one of my heroes, so I'm biased" Ray

[Lambda]

Isn't an IQ score of 86 pretty much normal? It's a rather vague scale to begin with; and it's clearly not drastically below the defined average value.

[snapdragonfly]

It's low average.

http://iq-test.learninginfo.org/iq04.htm

Of course iq tests are pretty imprecise in a lot of ways.

I would expect someone as insightful and innovative as Warhol to have a higher iq than average. It takes a good amount of problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity to be an artist - I don't know but I don't think one would posses those traits in abundance and still score low on an iq test.

Originally Posted by Ali Infree

Now he was shot in the head in 1968, and narrowly escaped death.

Warhol was shot in the right side by Valerie Solanas in 1968. The bullet exited through his back and he suffered complications from the wound for the rest of his life. So, the shooting wasn't a factor in his mental state.

[Sister Ray]

Originally Posted by Accidental Martyr

Warhol was shot in the right side by Valerie Solanas in 1968. The bullet exited through his back and he suffered complications from the wound for the rest of his life. So, the shooting wasn't a factor in his mental state.

He was shot twice. Another man there was also injured.

Sister "and his boyfriend and another friend were held as suspects until Solanas confessed" Ray

Originally Posted by Sister Ray

He was shot twice. Another man there was also injured.

Sister "and his boyfriend and another friend were held as suspects until Solanas confessed" Ray

An account of the shooting here:
http://www.warholstars.org/chron/andydies68n33.html

[Judecat]

IMO the only things an IQ test measures is how well one takes an IQ test, and to some extent one's reading ability.

I'm socially retarded, physically uncoordinated, and learning disabled, and have no artistic or creative, or critical thinking talent at all. But I do read really well -- I've also never scored below 140 on any IQ test. Heck I was 12 before I could tie my own shoes, but scored 160 on an age adjusted IQ test that year.

[Auntie Witch]

Originally Posted by Judecat

IMO the only things an IQ test measures is how well one takes an IQ test, and to some extent one's reading ability.

Then you've never taken either of the two most popular forms (Wechsler in either WISC or WAIS, and Stanford-Binet). Neither rely on any sort of reading ability at all. The closest to reading ability is the vocabulary section, which is one subtest.

There is no perfect IQ test, but most yield a fair bit of usable information, from how well someone can problem-solve visual puzzles and manipulate things visually, to how well they can perform hands-on tasks, to short-term memory skills.

[Critterbites]

Aptitude tests are more likely to rely on one's reading ability.

[Judecat]

The IQ tests that I was exposed to were all written on paper -- therefore one had to be able to read the questions in order to answer them. I'm sure many people would score higher on the tests if they were oral tests. That's what I meant about reading ability.
Otherwise all they actually test is one's ability to take the test.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Judecat

I'm socially retarded, physically uncoordinated, and learning disabled, and have no artistic or creative, or critical thinking talent at all.

IQ tests are not intended to measure any of those things. They measure cognitive ability. And no, that is not the same as critical thinking, which is a learned skill.

Heck I was 12 before I could tie my own shoes, but scored 160 on an age adjusted IQ test that year.

Learning to tie your shoes has nothing to do with cognitive ability.

Since you clearly don't know what IQ tests are intended to do, your assessment of how well they perform that function is of very little value.

[geminilee]

As Auntie Witch said, only part of any IQ test is reading, unless you consider looking at images and numbers to be reading. Yes, there is a vocabulary section. It is about 1/4 of the test. I would think you would have to have extrodinarily good reading comprehension for that one section carry you.

[Judecat]

When I was in school and taking IQ tests, there were Written instructions for each section. And the analogy section was not pictures, it was words. As where logic problems. The spacial relations part, with trying to mentally turn the cube like things was the only picture, and you had to read the instructions to know what one was supposed to do with them. I don't know the names of the test I took the first time, but it was the standard one used in the early 1960's.
My basic point is that other than determining is one educatable, special ed, or "normal", the IQ score is not an indication of anything real.