A portable version of the go/no-go association task (GNAT)

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Implicit social cognition measurement is often limited to lab settings.
• Difficult-to-reach populations and field research require portable assessment tools.
• Existing portable implicit measures, like the Implicit Association Test (IAT), provide a foundation for new developments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a portable version of the Go/No-Go Association Task (GNAT) for personal digital assistant (PDA) devices.
• To adapt the GNAT for field settings and diverse populations.
• To assess the validity of the PDA-GNAT in measuring implicit attitudes toward smoking.

Main Methods:

• Development of a PDA-compatible version of the GNAT.
• Administration of the PDA-GNAT to a sample of smokers and nonsmokers.
• Analysis of implicit attitudes toward smoking and their correlation with self-reported attitudes.

Main Results:

• Smokers exhibited less negative implicit attitudes toward smoking on the PDA-GNAT compared to nonsmokers.
• Implicit attitudes measured by the PDA-GNAT positively correlated with self-reported smoking attitudes in both groups.
• This supports the validity and utility of the PDA-GNAT for assessing implicit attitudes.

Conclusions:

• The PDA-GNAT is a valid and reliable tool for measuring implicit social cognition in real-world settings.
• This portable measure facilitates research with hard-to-reach populations and in field studies.
• The findings demonstrate the GNAT's adaptability and effectiveness in assessing attitudes related to health behaviors like smoking.