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Items' cross-category associations as a confounding factor in the Implicit Association Test.
1Universität Trier. steffens@uni-trier.de
Zeitschrift Fur Experimentelle Psychologie : Organ Der Deutschen Gesellschaft Fur Psychologie
|June 8, 2001
Summary
The Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures concept associations, but this study found that how strongly concepts are linked to their instances also affects reaction times, questioning the IAT's purity as a measure.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is widely used to assess associations between concepts.
- The IAT effect, a difference in reaction times, is interpreted as the strength of these associations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if the association between concepts and their specific instances influences reaction times in the IAT.
- To determine if stereotypic associations impact the IAT effect.
Main Methods:
- Participants completed an IAT task using male and female names as target categories.
- Evaluative categories (pleasant/unpleasant adjectives) were manipulated to be either female-associated or male-associated.
- Reaction times were recorded and analyzed for differences between conditions.
Main Results:
- Stereotypic associations between evaluative adjectives and gender categories significantly influenced the IAT effect.
- The degree of association between concepts and their instances demonstrably affected reaction times.
Conclusions:
- The IAT effect is not solely a measure of the association between concepts.
- Instance-concept associations and stereotypic biases can confound IAT results.
- The interpretation of the IAT as a pure measure of conceptual association is challenged by these findings.