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Reactions to the implicit association test as an educational tool: A mixed methods study

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Abstract

We examined reactions to the Race Implicit Association Test (IAT), which has been widely used but rarely examined as an educational tool to raise awareness about racial bias. College students \((N=172)\) were assigned to read that the IAT reflected either personal beliefs or both personal and extrapersonal factors (single vs. multiple explanation conditions). They then completed the IAT and quantitative measures of affect, attitudes, and belief in bias. A subset of participants \((n=32)\) also wrote reaction papers, which were used to develop qualitative themes to more fully describe reactions to the IAT. Quantitative results revealed that participants with a stronger implicit preference for European Americans more strongly believed in implicit bias in the multiple (vs. single) explanation condition. Mixed methods analyses using data transformation and typology development indicated that participants whose qualitative IAT responses were more negative were subsequently more likely to help an African American.

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Notes

  1. This process was very similar to lean coding, where a text segment (i.e., paragraph) is summarized as a whole. For example, this passage was coded as mainly Theme 4 (depersonalized):

    I think the study is flawed in that it switches the EA and AA buttons but not the good or bad buttons. I had gotten used to it one way and had trouble remembering on the 2nd part of the test. While it is interesting and eye-opening, I think it could be improved.

    Although the participant mentions that the test was eye-opening (i.e., Theme 2: positive), the main point of the passage is that he believed his score had to do with the presentation order rather than reflecting something about him, which is conceptually consistent with Theme 4 (depersonalized). Similarly, he spends more space discussing the presentation order than his eye-opening reaction.

  2. However, those who created the IAT argue against using the IAT as a diagnostic tool; that is, the measure is not reliable enough to be the basis for decisions made about specific individuals (Nosek et al. 2007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Adrian College, 110 S. Madison St, Adrian, MI, 49221, USA

    Amy L. Hillard

  2. University of Nebraska–Omaha, Omaha, NE, USA

    Carey S. Ryan

  3. University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA

    Sarah J. Gervais

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  1. Amy L. Hillard
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Correspondence to Amy L. Hillard.

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Hillard, A.L., Ryan, C.S. & Gervais, S.J. Reactions to the implicit association test as an educational tool: A mixed methods study. Soc Psychol Educ 16, 495–516 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-013-9219-5

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