The Psychology of Blink

[bluemonday]

Project Implicit (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/) @ Harvard have developed a test which aims to reveal unconscious prejudices (gender/racial/political/etc). If you've read Malcolm Gladwell's Blink (http://www.gladwell.com/blink/) you'll be familiar with the concept. Fascinating/scary stuff. You can take test anonymously or contribute to the research. Unconscious preferences are more reliable than the things we tell ourselves about ourselves. This research has important applications for amongst others education and public policy.

Blurb from site:
The IAT was originally developed as a device for exploring the unconscious roots of thinking and feeling. This web site has been constructed for a different purpose -- to offer the IAT to interested individuals as a tool to gain greater awareness about their own unconscious preferences and beliefs.

Many years ago, Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote: "Every man has reminiscences which he would not tell to everyone but only his friends. He has other matters in his mind which he would not reveal even to his friends, but only to himself, and that in secret. But there are other things which a man is afraid to tell even to himself, and every decent man has a number of such things stored away in his mind."

These lines from Dostoyevsky capture two concepts that the IAT helps us examine. First, we might not always be willing to share our private attitudes with others. Second, we may not be aware of some of our own attitudes. Your results on the IAT may include both components of control and awareness.

Also a lecture on ITunesU : The Psychology of Blink : Understanding how our minds work unconsciously (http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/washington-public.1525625259)

Post your results here, if you like.

[INTJMom]

After that, I don't know if I dare.



I was going to take the age test but it seems to high pressure.
I chickened out.

[01011010]

I scored: Moderate Automatic Preference for Barack Obama compared to John McCain

[bluemonday]

After that, I don't know if I dare.
I chickened out.

Awww. Go on, go on, go on!
I think I was one of the 0.000001% that didn't associate women with family and men with work.

[Oleander]

I'm not sure how effective conclusions drawn from tests of this sort are. If you, for instance, do associate men with paid work and women with housework, does that show you are a male chauvinist who wants the world that way, does it show you are a feminist who sees the world trying to trap her in the home and hates it, does it show you feel forced to work and envy women free to stay at home, does it show you wish the modern world would go away so we could all live a simple village life clustered round the hearth? It may show what you feel to be true but it doesn't necessarily show why or whether you approve or not.

[bluemonday]

I'm not sure how effective conclusions drawn from tests of this sort are. If you, for instance, do associate men with paid work and women with housework, does that show you are a male chauvinist who wants the world that way, does it show you are a feminist who sees the world trying to trap her in the home and hates it, does it show you feel forced to work and envy women free to stay at home, does it show you wish the modern world would go away so we could all live a simple village life clustered round the hearth? It may show what you feel to be true but it doesn't necessarily show why or whether you approve or not.

That's the whole point. Consciously, we may believe ourselves to be perfectly liberal and enlightened in these matters, but we are not immune to contamination by deep-ingrained cultural "norms".

It's not about judging people as chauvinist/feminist/racist/whatever. It's about revealing the way we process data at an unconscious level. It is useful because only by becoming aware of our unconscious prejudices, can we tackle the implications, both as individuals and as members of society.

[Colors]

I came out as:
Being neutral on George Bush/ Abraham Lincoln.
Slightly preferring gay people over straight people.
And slightly considering Asian Americans more American than European Americans.

It doesn't seem to mean much.

I had a really hard time on the straight/gay test because the images were made so similarly. Also, I think it made a huge difference which ones they showed paired up first.

[bluemonday]

I came out as:
Being neutral on George Bush/ Abraham Lincoln.
Slightly preferring gay people over straight people.
And slightly considering Asian Americans more American than European Americans.

It doesn't seem to mean much.

I had a really hard time on the straight/gay test because the images were made so similarly. Also, I think it made a huge difference which ones they showed paired up first.

I don't know about those ones, I did the Gender/career, Race, Religion, and they used to have one on preference for different countries and on on Coke vs. Pepsi but I don't see those now.

I like how it's impossible to lie on these tests.

[bbites]

I did three:
Slight preference for straight people over gay people
Slight preference for African-Americans over European-Americans
Little to no preference for thin people versus fat people

For whatever it's worth I'm asexual, white, and slightly overweight.

I really liked the test; I definitely felt moments of surprise and guilt and determination to "get it right" whatever that means. I haven't read the book; maybe I'll check it out.