Implicit Association Test

n. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is an indirect measure of thought and feeling. It measures speed and accuracy in the act of associating a concept (e.g., elderly) to an attribute (e.g., slow) to infer the strength of association between the two. From such measurement it predicts the presence of unconscious social cognition - thoughts and feelings that are not necessarily accessible to conscious awareness or control. The application of IAT methodology is broad, from marketing to clinical psychology. Its most extensive application has been in the domain of discrimination, with its signature result being the presence of bias toward social groups when no or minimal bias is expressed on measures of self-report. The IAT can produce effects that are relatively large, show dissociations from conscious cognition, be visible in children as young as age 5, predict consequential behavior, and show underlying social cognition to be highly malleable. See https://implicit.harvard.edu and http://projectimplicit.net/ to find more information and to sample an IAT yourself.

- DRC, MRB