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Screen tittle New Student Orientation: Day 2 -- Implicit Bias and The IAT

Content description This is the course title page, featuring the UVA logo, the course title, a "Let's Take It!" button to launch the

course, and the Project Implicit logo. Before the button is active, Maya tells learners they're about to take

a look at their biases. She also defines the Implicit Association Test (IAT), which measures attitudes and

stereotypes that could exist outside of our conscious awareness or control and that might influence our

behavior.

Audio Ready to see an example of your bias? Kind of a scary thought, huh? But don’t worry. I’ll walk you

through it.

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures attitudes and stereotypes that could exist outside of our

conscious awareness or control and that might influence our behavior.

In just a moment I’ll ask you to take an IAT. But first, click the LET’S TAKE IT! button for a quick

explanation.

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Screen tittle Implicit Associations

Content description Maya briefly reviews concepts from the previous course: Implicit attitudes are evaluations of people,

places, and even ideas. They might be outside our conscious awareness or control. Implicit stereotypes

are beliefs about the characteristics of certain groups of people—like “Women are nurturing” or “Older

people are bad at technology.” Then she invites us to answer two questions: 1. What color do you think of

when you hear the word stop? 2. What’s the first word you think of when you see the word bread? When

the learner clicks Submit, there is popup feedback that tells the learner: People commonly respond red for

stop and butter for bread. Your mind is always making associations between concepts. It’s how you learn.

The IAT measures the strength of your associations between concepts.

Audio Let’s start with a quick review. In case you forgot…

Implicit attitudes are evaluations of people, places, and even ideas. They might be outside our conscious

awareness or control

So do implicit stereotypes, which are beliefs about the characteristics of certain groups of people—like

“Women are nurturing” or “Older people are bad at technology.”

These are associations we automatically make in our minds, based on past learning. Answer each

question to see what I mean.

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Screen tittle How the IAT Works

Content description Maya explains that the IAT measures associations between concepts, like Black people and White

people, and evaluations, like good or bad, or stereotypes, like athletic or nerdy. She also tells learners

that they'll receive confidential feedback about their biases.

Audio The IAT measures associations between concepts, like Black people and White people, and evaluations,

like good or bad, or stereotypes, like athletic or nerdy.

After you finish the IAT, you’ll receive feedback about your biases. Your performance and feedback is

completely confidential. Click Next to take the IAT and see for yourself.

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Screen tittle Take the IAT

Content description Maya tells the learner to take the IAT and then return to this page and click Next to see an

explanation of the results. The link directs users to the Project Implicit website, which administers

IATs. The IAT is a speeded categorization task that requires users to quickly view and sort words

and pictures into categories. There is also an option to skip the IAT.

Unfortunately, the IAT is not accessible for individuals with visual impairments, but here is an

explanation of how the IAT works. The IAT is divided into 5 blocks. Block 1 is a practice block that

requires students to sort faces of Black people and White people into categories. They press “e”

to sort the face into the category “White people” on the left side of the screen and press “i” to sort

the face into the category “Black people” on the right side of the screen. They are instructed to

sort as quickly as possible. Block 2 is another practice block where students sort bad words, such

as “detest” and “scorn”, into the category “Bad words” on the left side of the screen with the “e”

key and good words, such as “excitement” and “glad”, into the category “Good words” on the right

side of the screen with the “i” key. In Block 3, the tasks from Blocks 1 and 2 are combined.

Students sort images of White people and bad words to the left side of the screen, while

simultaneously sorting images of Black people and good words to the right side of the screen. In

Block 4, the categories “Black people” and “White people” appear on the screen, but have

reversed locations, so now students practice sorting faces of Black people to the left with the “e”

key and faces of White people to the right with the “i” key.

Finally, Block 5 requires students to sort all four categories at once again, as they did in Block 3,

but now the location of the categories “White people” and “Black people” is switched. In Block 5,

students sort bad words and Black faces to the left with the “e” key and good words and White

faces to the right with the “i” key. An explanation of how IAT results are computed follows.

Audio When you've finished the IAT, come back to this page and click Next for an explanation of your results.

Link Link to the IAT

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Screen tittle Reflecting on Your Results

Content description Maya tells the learner that a lot of people are surprised by their results on the Race IAT. She asks how

they felt, then suggests they take a minute to ask themselves a couple questions--assuring them that their

answers are confidential. The questions are: 1. Did you expect the results you got from your IAT? 2. Why

do you think you scored the way you did? After the learner has answered both questions, the Submit

button displays.

Audio A lot of people are surprised by their results on the Race IAT. I know I was.

What about you? Were you surprised by the results you got? Disappointed? Frustrated?

How about we take a minute before we move on, and you can ask yourself a couple questions. Nobody’s

going to see this but you.

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Screen tittle Understanding Your Results

Content description Maya reviews the IAT and explains how it works.

Audio Here is how the IAT works. Blocks 1, 2, and 4 are just practice so that you can learn the task. Blocks 3

and 5 - where all four categories appear at once - are the ones used in your score.

The main idea of the IAT is that people are able to go more quickly when closely related concepts share

the same response key. So if people categorize faster when White people and Good share a response

key than when Black people and good share a response key, that indicates an implicit preference for

White people relative to Black people.

If people are faster when Black people and Good share a response key than when White people and

Good share a response key, that indicates an implicit preference for Black people relative to White

people. And some people fall right in the middle and have no implicit preference for one group over the

other.

You might be wondering whether the order of the blocks could impact your score? The short answer is

yes, but it’s a tiny effect that is unlikely to influence your feedback. When the IAT is used in scientific

research, the order of Blocks 3 and 5 is randomized to control for this effect. The long answer, and

answers to other questions you might have about the IAT, can be found in the FAQs page under

Resources.

Do you think more Americans show an implicit preference for White people or an implicit preference for

Black people?"

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Screen tittle An Overview of IAT Results

Content description Maya explains the overall results on the Race IAT for White, Black, and Asian participants.”

Audio Let’s look at the results

Of the hundreds of thousands of White participants who took the same IAT you did, 73 percent showed

an implicit preference for White people relative to Black people, meaning they were faster when White

was paired with Good and Black was paired with Bad than the opposite. Eleven percent showed an

implicit preference for Black people, and 16 percent showed no real preference either way.

Here are the results from Black participants—34 percent showed an implicit preference for White

people, 41 percent for Black people, and 25 percent showed no preference. We tend to favor our own

groups, so it makes sense that more Black people than White people would show a pro-Black

preference. However, cultural stereotypes in the U.S. are often pro-White, and those messages may be

reflected in this data, as well.

Asian participants showed a pattern much like White participants—69 percent had an implicit White

preference, and 12 percent had an implicit Black preference.

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Screen tittle Interpreting Your Results

Content description Maya tells the learner that: 1. You learn implicit associations without even realizing it. 2. Explicit values

reflect conscious beliefs and decisions. 3. Implicit associations may not align with consciously held

beliefs. She also tells them: A pro-White preference on the IAT doesn’t mean a person is racist. It simply

means they have associations in their minds linking White people with Good more than Black people with

Good. This may or may not align with that person’s consciously held beliefs about race.

Audio As you think about your results and how you feel about them, there are a couple of important points to

keep in mind.

Associations come from past experiences, the media, people we meet, and many other sources, and you

can learn them without even realizing it.

These implicit associations are not necessarily conscious. Your explicit values, on the other hand, reflect

your conscious beliefs and the decisions you make about the person you want to be.

A pro-White preference on the IAT doesn’t mean a person is racist. It simply means they have

associations in their minds linking White people with Good more than Black people with Good. This may

or may not align with that person’s consciously held beliefs about race.

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Screen tittle Conclusion

Content description Maya provides reminders, explains the content of Module 3, and refers learners to the resources tab.

Audio Remember. Implicit associations may not align with your conscious beliefs. They reflect automatic

thought patterns. It’s what you do with them that counts.

In Module three, we’ll talk about what happens when implicit bias affects our judgments and behaviors.

In the meantime, click the Resources tab to download a list of frequently asked questions about the IAT,

as well as a list of other IATs you can take on your own. See you later!