Implicit Association Test (IAT)

The Implicit Association Test is a flexible task designed to tap automatic associations between concepts (e.g., math and arts) and attributes (e.g., good or bad, male or female, self or other). Interested visitors can try the task or participate in on-going research at Project Implicit.  Researchers can find out more about Project Implicit by visiting the information website. Also, Project Implicit is a non-profit organization that provides access to its virtual laboratory infrastructure (especially implicit measures) for other researchers data collection purposes. If you are interested in learning more, see the description of services, and then contact services at projectimplicit.net.

If you are interested in using the IAT for your research, we recommend that you review background information about the task at the IAT website, and review the current literature about the technique (over 400 papers in print). Request this packet for a starter's guide of two encyclopedia entries and one overview paper to get acquainted with this literature. Some of review papers from our laboratory can be found below. Please note that using the IAT in selection or diagnostic contexts is not endorsed by the developers. The IAT is a useful measure of individual differences - its predictive utility and construct validity are still under investigation.

IAT Materials

Race (black/white) IAT.  This file is an Inquisit (www.millisecond.com) script that contains an Implicit Association Test (standard format) measuring attitudes toward Blacks relative to Whites.  It also contains a warm-up (flowers/insects) task. This task is for demonstration purposes only. Use of the IAT for research purposes requires consideration of many procedural factors that may or may not be consistent with this demonstration.

Visit Tony Greenwald's website for a generic Inquisit IAT file, more instructions, SPSS syntax for analysis, and general information about obtaining software for IAT research. SAS syntax is also available. See the papers below for more information about designing and scoring the IAT.

Some papers relevant to IAT methodology

Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwartz, J. K. L. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The implicit association test.   JPSP, 74, 1464-1480.  
Greenwald, A. G., & Nosek, B. A. (2001). Health of the Implicit Association Test at Age 3. Zeitschrift fuer Experimentelle Psychologie, 48, 85-93. Request Paper
Nosek, B. A., Banaji, M. R., & Greenwald, A. G. (2002). Harvesting implicit group attitudes and beliefs from a demonstration website.  Group Dynamics, 6(1), 101-115. Request Paper
Greenwald, A. G., Nosek, B. A., & Banaji, M. R. (2003). Understanding and using the Implicit Association Test: I. An improved scoring algorithm. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 197-216. Request Paper; SPSS syntax; SAS syntax
Nosek, B. A., Greenwald, A. G., & Banaji, M. R. (2005). Understanding and using the Implicit Association Test: II. Method variables and construct validity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31(2), 166-180. Request Paper
Supplement A
Supplement B
Nosek, B. A., Greenwald, A. G., & Banaji, M. R. (2007). The Implicit Association Test at age 7: A methodological and conceptual review. In J. A. Bargh (Ed.), Automatic Processes in Social Thinking and Behavior (pp. 265-292). Psychology Press.
 Request paper
Nosek, B. A., Smyth, F. L., Hansen, J. J., Devos, T., Lindner, N. M., Ranganath, K. A., Smith, C. T., Olson, K. R., Chugh, D., Greenwald, A. G., & Banaji, M. R. (2007). Pervasiveness and correlates of implicit attitudes and stereotypes. European Review of Social Psychology, 18, 36-88. Request paper
Supplement page
Nosek, B. A., & Hansen, J. J. (2008). The associations in our heads belong to us: Searching for attitudes and knowledge in implicit evaluation. Cognition and Emotion, 22, 553-594.
 Request Paper
Supplement page
Nosek, B. A., & Hansen, J. J. (2008). Personalizing the Implicit Association Test increases explicit evaluation of the target concepts. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 25, 226-236.
 Request Paper
Supplement page
   

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