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of implicit social cognition. The tests are free, online, and available to everyone at
. Table 3 describes the 14 tests available.
The IAT is a widely used measure of implicit social cognition that measures relative
association strengths between two pairs of concepts.102 It has become widely accepted as
a measure of implicit social cognition because it captures evaluations that are related but
distinct from self-report,103 and has predictive validity across a variety of topics.104 In the
Weight IAT, the concepts are thin people, fat people, good words, and bad words; test takers
are required to quickly categorize pictures of overweight and thin people and value-laden
words as they appear on a computer screen by pressing one of two computer keys. In one
condition, participants categorize pictures of overweight people and “good” words with one
key and pictures of thin people and “bad” words with the other key. In a second condition, the
key assignments are reversed, pictures of thin people and “good” words are categorized with
one key and pictures of overweight people and “bad” words are categorized with the other
key. The difference in the average response time between the two conditions is an indicator of
the relative association strength or bias toward one group rather than the other.
Table 3 – Types of Implicit Association Tests (IAT)105
Weight IAT Weight (‘Fat – Thin’ IAT). This IAT requires the ability to
distinguish faces of people who are obese and people who
are thin. It often reveals an automatic preference for thin
people relative to fat people.
Presidents IAT Presidents (‘Presidential Popularity’ IAT). This IAT requires
the ability to recognize photos of Barack Obama and one or
more previous presidents.
Arab-Muslim IAT Arab–Muslim (‘Arab Muslim – Other People’ IAT). This
IAT requires the ability to distinguish names that are likely to
belong to Arab–Muslims versus people of other nationalities
or religions.
Age IAT Age (‘Young – Old’ IAT). This IAT requires the ability to
distinguish old from young faces. This test often indicates
that Americans have automatic preference for young over
old.
Disability IAT Disability (‘Disabled – Abled’ IAT). This IAT requires the
ability to recognize symbols representing abled and disabled
individuals.
Gender-Science IAT Gender – Science. This IAT often reveals a relative link
between liberal arts and females and between science and
males.
Skin-tone IAT Skin–tone (‘Light Skin – Dark Skin’ IAT). This IAT requires
the ability to recognize light and dark–skinned faces. It often
reveals an automatic preference for light–skin relative to
dark–skin.
Religion IAT Religion (‘Religions’ IAT). This IAT requires some familiarity
with religious terms from various world religions.