Thursday, November 8, 2007

Implicit Association Test

One afternoon, I was sitting in the hostel in Perth watching Oprah. I find watching her reminds me of home and Chicago, plus there's not much on daytime tv in Australia! Anyway, she was talking to Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Blink, and they were talking about the IAT (Implicit Association Test). When you take the test, it judges your subconscious reactions and bias. There's no way to trick it, and the results can be very enlightening. Anyway, I was watching the show with a black girl from England, and we both decided to take the test online. She wasn't surprised when her result was a slight preference to white over black, because of the environment she had grown up it. I was surprised when my result was a slight preference to black over white, simply because it doesn't seem to reflect my upbringing. I just re-took the test and got the same result. Anyway, I would love for you all to take the test and comment on here with your preference. What do you think about results?

Posted by Kathleen @ 1:29 AM

Read or Post a Comment

I did this before for the multi-culturalism test.

I did it again, and had a light preference for European American compared to African American (in the words of the test). I do think the tests are interesting, but I feel that whichever test group is positively associated first would come out ahead, because my brain learns one way, and then it's hard to switch for the second part.

But the fact that you and I had different results perhaps makes the test more reliable?

Posted by Blogger Carole @ November 8, 2007 at 11:23 AM #
 

meant slight, not light preference.

Posted by Blogger Carole @ November 8, 2007 at 11:24 AM #
 

Yeah, the twin thing makes it interesting (because we took the test in the same order). I had been thinking my results could reflect two things: I had a lot of great friends in university from Uganda and Kenya, and I think I developed prejudice against white people in Taiwan.

Posted by Blogger Kathleen @ November 8, 2007 at 8:03 PM #
 
<< Home