Are You a Closet Dualist? Evidence From Brief Implicit Association Task

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Philosophy of Mind
• Social Psychology

Background:

• The mind-body problem is a long-standing philosophical debate.
• Understanding implicit biases is crucial for explaining human cognition and behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether people implicitly contrast minds and bodies.
• To examine the persistence of Dualism as an implicit bias.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a brief implicit association task.
• Participants categorized words related to mind/body attributes (e.g., solid/airy).

Main Results:

• Physical properties selectively facilitated responses for 'body' categories.
• Abstract properties ('airy') facilitated responses for 'mind' categories.
• This implicit association persisted even when participants explicitly rejected Dualism.

Conclusions:

• People tacitly view the mind as ethereal and distinct from the physical body.
• Dualism operates as an implicit bias, independent of explicit beliefs.
• This implicit bias may explain the common contrast between mind and body in Western adults.