May 12th, 2007
I first became aware of the Implicit Assumptions Test, after reading Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell (which I recommend). The IAT is a fascinating tool, which is part of Project Implicit at Harvard University. Project Implicit is "a hands-on science museum exhibit, allowing web visitors to experience the manner in which human minds display the effects of stereotypic and prejudicial associations acquired from their socio-cultural environment." According to the website, these are some of the primary findings that have come out of Project Implicit in its first seven years…
- Implicit biases are pervasive. They appear as statistically "large" effects that are often shown by majorities of samples of Americans. Over 80% of web respondents show implicit negativity toward the elderly compared to the young; 75-80% of self-identified Whites and Asians show an implicit preference for racial White relative to Black.
- People are often unaware of their implicit biases. Ordinary people, including the researchers who direct this project, are found to harbor negative associations in relation to various social groups (i.e., implicit biases) even while honestly (the researchers believe) reporting that they regard themselves as lacking these biases.
- Implicit biases predict behavior. From simple acts of friendliness and inclusion to more consequential acts such as the evaluation of work quality, those who are higher in implicit bias have been shown to display greater discrimination. The published scientific evidence is rapidly accumulating. Over 200 published scientific investigations have made use of one or another version of the IAT.
- People differ in levels of implicit bias. Implicit biases vary from person to person – for example as a function of the person’s group memberships, the dominance of a person’s membership group in society, consciously held attitudes, and the level of bias existing in the immediate environment. This last observation makes clear that implicit attitudes are modified by experience.
I strongly recommend that you visit the IAT site and take a couple of the tests. I think that the Race IAT is a good place to start. Here is some media coverage of the IAT and here is some research regarding the IAT.