{"id":1185,"date":"2015-02-20T10:49:32","date_gmt":"2015-02-20T18:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/?p=6461"},"modified":"2023-08-25T10:16:38","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T17:16:38","slug":"implicit-test","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/implicit-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Test Your Implicit Bias with Science"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-admin\/upload.php?item=1183\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1183 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/implicit-test-large.jpg\" alt=\"Implicit Bias Test Series of Faces\" width=\"574\" height=\"304\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/implicit-test-large.jpg 574w, https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/implicit-test-large-300x159.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 574px) 100vw, 574px\" \/><\/a>\n<p>Created by <a href=\"https:\/\/implicit.harvard.edu\/implicit\/aboutus.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Project Implicit<\/a>, a research collaboration between scientists at Harvard, the University of Virginia, and the University of Washington, this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/american-denial\/implicit-association-test.html\">Implicit Association Test (IAT)<\/a> aims to \u201c[measure] the strength of associations between concepts (e.g., black people, gay people) and evaluations (e.g., good, bad) or stereotypes (e.g., athletic, clumsy)\u201d that remain \u201coutside of conscious awareness and control.\u201d The test, which has been taken by more than two million people, reveals that even the most consciously tolerant of us may hold prejudices, and while you may be surprised by the results, you\u2019ll be in good company.<\/p>\n<p>The fast-moving test only takes about five minutes to complete, but regardless of your results, you&#8217;ll be thinking about your implicit associations for some time.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/video.pbs.org\/viralplayer\/2365399552\" width=\"600\" height=\"426\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\"><\/iframe>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Implicit-association_test\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Here&#8217;s more\u00a0about the test on Wikipedia<\/a>, including some controversies (some of which have been addressed) and debates.<\/p>\n<p>Chris Mooney, writing in\u00a0the <em>Washington Post<\/em> Wonkblog, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/wonk\/wp\/2014\/12\/08\/across-america-whites-are-biased-and-they-dont-even-know-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shares a map based on results of the test<\/a> that shows where more bias was shown.<\/p>\n<p>Mooney also\u00a0adds an interesting point: &#8220;A cautionary note: The people who have taken the IAT at the Project Implicit website are not a random sample of Americans, either nationally or on a state-by-state basis. Rather, they&#8217;re people who, for some reason, chose to take an online test measuring their implicit biases \u2014 which may actually mean they are <em>less<\/em> biased than average. (After all, at least they wanted\u00a0to know how biased they are.)&#8221; Ultimately, Mooney\u00a0concludes, &#8220;looking at a map like this one tells us something pretty crucial to our understanding of racial bias: It is everywhere, from north to south, from Maine to California. It is present among liberals and conservatives, men and women, young and old. We have a huge amount of work to do.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1182\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1182\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1182\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/doctor-takes-test.jpg\" alt=\"Reenactment photo of doctor taking the Implicit Association Test\" width=\"600\" height=\"402\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/doctor-takes-test.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/doctor-takes-test-300x201.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1182\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Doctor taking the test, from American Denial. Vital Pictures, Inc.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Implicit bias tests aren&#8217;t just for gauging racial bias; there are tests about\u00a0sexuality, religion, weight, and more. A recent article on Fusion talks about an interesting trend among law enforcement agencies, from local police departments to the Department of Justice and the FBI, aimed at reducing bias among officers. The piece uses singer Susan Boyle as an example of appearance-based bias.<\/p>\n<p>More:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">250 agencies across the country have already received the training \u2014 including cities like Detroit and San Francisco \u2014 and there\u2019s been a big uptick in interest since the Michael Brown case in Ferguson. The training costs anywhere from a few thousand dollars for a group of patrol officers \u2014 to $16,000 for a train-the-trainer program for big departments.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cIt\u2019s really important that officers across the nation be exposed to the modern science of bias,\u201d she said. \u201cIt stops shaking the finger at them, and the worst thing that\u2019s said in the training is you\u2019re human like everybody else. Let\u2019s talk about how your mind works.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Fridell says implicit bias can influence whether cops think someone is suspicious, and potentially lead them to conduct searches or even use force against certain demographic groups. There\u2019s race, but also factors like gender, sexual orientation and economic status. And the biases can lead officers to be under-vigilant and overlook real threats.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/video.pbs.org\/viralplayer\/2365400633\" width=\"600\" height=\"426\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\"><\/iframe>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Created by Project Implicit, a research collaboration between scientists at Harvard, the University of Virginia, and the University of Washington, this Implicit Association Test (IAT) aims to \u201c[measure] the strength of associations between concepts (e.g., black people, gay people) and evaluations (e.g., good, bad) or stereotypes (e.g., athletic, clumsy)\u201d that remain \u201coutside of conscious [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"topic":[],"class_list":["post-1185","blog","type-blog","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Test Your Implicit Bias with Science - Independent Lens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Take the implicit association test and read more about Project Implicit&#039;s tests on racial bias. 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