PURPOSE

The purpose of this assignment is to develop a deeper understanding of implicit bias.

STEP 1

Prejudice is defined as a negative attitude (which may include thoughts, emotions, and behaviors) directed towards individuals that are identified as belonging to a particular group (e.g., gender, sexual orientation, age, race, nationality, etc.) based solely upon their group membership. There are certain features of prejudice that are unconscious or “implicit.” In other words, your mind might have certain prejudices of which you are unaware. To learn more about this, first watch this brief video:

Scientific American Frontiers: The Hidden Prejudice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nj-MjBc-xQ&t=1s

Now go to the following website:

Project Implicit

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/

Click on “Project Implicit Social Attitudes” and read the information presented on the web page. Then click on tabs towards the top of the screen and read the information presented. These include: About the IAT, Ethical Considerations, and FAQs.

After you have read this information, click on the link in the grey bar at the top of the screen titled “TAKE A TEST.” Read the information and then proceed to the next page. Select one of the tests to take.

You may take any of the tests that you like. However, I encourage you to take a test that may challenge how you view yourself rather than a test that you think will confirm what you already know about yourself. In other words, if you feel that there is a characteristic (e.g., skin tone, race, age, etc.) for which you don’t have a strong, conscious prejudice but that makes you uncomfortable in some way, take the test on that characteristic.

Follow the instructions carefully, and don’t try to “beat” the test. Also, if you receive a result that you feel is inaccurate for whatever reason, take the test two more times and average the results. As the test creators acknowledge, the order of presentation of the conditions can affect the results on this demonstration test.

STEP 2

Respond to the following three sets of questions in a cohesive paper (that means everything fits together logically and flows from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph). Include brief introductory and closing paragraphs.

1. What are implicit associations? How are implicit associations acquired? Note that this question is not asking about the implicit association test (the IAT), but the concept of implicit associations. Paraphrase the information on the website when answering this question.
2. Which Implicit Association Test (IAT) did you take, and what were your specific results on the test (that is, which category did your test results fall into)? If you found that you had an automatic preference for one group over the other, what do you think this preference reflects? If you found that you did not, why do you think that’s the case? NOTE: Make sure you have read the FAQs carefully before responding to this question.
3. For those who have implicit biases, what are some specific psychological strategies that could be used to overcome these biases? Before answering this question, review the information in the FAQs as well as the section in your textbook on overcoming prejudice.

Address each of these questions in a cohesive paper about 2 to 3 pages in length, with double spacing, 1-inch margins, and double spacing. Make sure to carefully proofread your paper, and run both a spell check and a grammar check.