Malleability of attitudes or malleability of the IAT?

In the current set of experiments, we establish, and explore the consequences of, the imprecision that characterizes the attribute response labels typically employed in the Implicit Association Test (IAT). In Experiment 1, we demonstrate the malleability of the IAT, as conventionally implemented. IA...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of experimental social psychology 2010-03, Vol.46 (2), p.286-298
Main Authors: Han, H. Anna, Czellar, Sandor, Olson, Michael A., Fazio, Russell H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitude change
Attitudes
Behavior. Attitude
Biological and medical sciences
Business administration
Cognition
domain_shs.gestion.mark
Experiments
Extrapersonal associations
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humanities and Social Sciences
Implicit Association Test
Labelling
Memory
Methodology
Methods
Psychological tests
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Social psychology
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Description
Summary:In the current set of experiments, we establish, and explore the consequences of, the imprecision that characterizes the attribute response labels typically employed in the Implicit Association Test (IAT). In Experiment 1, we demonstrate the malleability of the IAT, as conventionally implemented. IAT scores are shown to be influenced by perspective mindsets induced by an unrelated preceding task. Then, we explore how the malleability of the IAT can lead to the inference that attitude change has occurred even when there is very good reason to believe it has not (Experiment 2), and conversely, how it can obscure the detection of attitude change when such change is indeed likely to have occurred (Experiment 3). We provide conceptual explanations for these discrepancies and suggest methodological improvements to enhance the specificity of IAT measures.
ISSN:0022-1031
1096-0465
DOI:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.11.011