For this extra credit assignment, I completed the implicit association test for race. Implicit bias is defined as “attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner” (kirwaninstitute.osu.edu). I completed the implicit association test for race knowing what I was being tested on, and my results stated that I have “little to no automatic preference between African Americans and European Americans”. There are questions you are asked pairing European Americans with “good” and African Americans with “bad”. This description words are then flip flopped, 12 more questions are presented to you, and then your results are displayed. While completing the test, I focused on the accuracy and speed of my answers, and that is why my results state this. I like to think of myself as a very self-aware person, not showing any biases (implicit or not) towards others. Thinking about this test and how it is conducted, I could see how it would present someone with results that may surprise them.

The Kirwan Institute states that “the implicit associations we hold do not necessarily align with our declared beliefs or even reflect stances we would explicitly endorse”. I think this is important to understand, but it is also important to know that unwanted implicit biases can be gradually unlearned through debiasing techniques and tests.

Curious about my results, I took this same test again. Throughout this next try, I didn’t think about my answers too much, and went for speed. I didn’t get any questions incorrect, and my results stated that I have “little to no automatic preference between African Americans and European Americans”. With my second test results, I understood how the test was conducted and how results were finalized. I think that when taking these types of implicit bias tests, it is extremely important to read the instructions carefully and understand that if you don’t, then your results may surprise you. Overall, I thought taking these tests was interesting and it was cool to see what results I got.

Sources:

The Kirwan Institute. “Understanding Implicit Bias.” Understanding Implicit Bias | Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, 29 May 2012, https://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/article/understanding-implicit-bias.