Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Implicit Bias and Racism
- Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology
- The Cambridge Handbook of Implicit Bias and Racism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Taking Stock of Explicit and Implicit Prejudice
- 1 Report from the NSF Conference on Implicit Bias
- Section I What is Implicit Bias and (How) Can We Measure It?
- Section II Do Measures of Implicit Bias Predict Cognition and Behavior?
- Section III Challenges of Research on Implicit Bias
- Introduction
- 11 The Rationality, Interpretation, and Overselling of Tests of Implicit Cognition
- 12 Listening to Measurement Error: Lessons from the Implicit Association Test
- 13 IAT Scores, Racial Gaps, and Scientific Gaps
- 14 Commentary
- Section IV Improving Measurement and Theorizing About Implicit Bias
- Section V How to Change Implicit Bias?
- Section VI Explicit Prejudice; Alive and Well?
- Section VII The Public’s (Mis)understanding of Implicit Bias
- Index
- References
11 - The Rationality, Interpretation, and Overselling of Tests of Implicit Cognition
from Section III - Challenges of Research on Implicit Bias
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 December 2024
By
Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Implicit Bias and Racism
- Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology
- The Cambridge Handbook of Implicit Bias and Racism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Taking Stock of Explicit and Implicit Prejudice
- 1 Report from the NSF Conference on Implicit Bias
- Section I What is Implicit Bias and (How) Can We Measure It?
- Section II Do Measures of Implicit Bias Predict Cognition and Behavior?
- Section III Challenges of Research on Implicit Bias
- Introduction
- 11 The Rationality, Interpretation, and Overselling of Tests of Implicit Cognition
- 12 Listening to Measurement Error: Lessons from the Implicit Association Test
- 13 IAT Scores, Racial Gaps, and Scientific Gaps
- 14 Commentary
- Section IV Improving Measurement and Theorizing About Implicit Bias
- Section V How to Change Implicit Bias?
- Section VI Explicit Prejudice; Alive and Well?
- Section VII The Public’s (Mis)understanding of Implicit Bias
- Index
- References
Summary
I highlight three issues pertaining to the Implicit Association Test (IAT). First, using the test’s documented validity estimates, I show that using the IAT to classify individuals can result in lower adherence to a benchmark of rationality than using a blatantly unfair categorization scheme. I also suggest that using base rates to classify people when negligible individuating information is available is rational. In fact, people use racial base rates when executing their own classification strategy but denigrate other people for doing so. Second, I emphasize the very tenuous relation between one’s IAT score and dependent variables such as medical therapy choices which can be influenced by multiple factors other than prejudice. Third, I question the use of the IAT as a basis for deeming a person to be implicitly racist and therefore ineligible to be hired or in need of “diversity training” whose benefits have yet to be established.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of Implicit Bias and Racism , pp. 325 - 336Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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