David Gideon Katimbo

Nov 24, 2021

IAT
Week 11

The Implicit Association Test to Measure the Strength of the Association Between European Americans
and the African Americans

Race Implicit Associations Test

I chose the Race Implicit Association Test(RIAT) because I wanted to know the current relationship

among different racial groups and what the differences could impact the different groups. The RIAT was to

measure the streng of the association between the African Americans and the European Americans.

Furthermore, the test was to evaluated the good and bad in the two groups. At first, I was to look at each

presented picture as first as I could and name it either European American or African American, then each

presented word I was to name it bad or good. Later on the different pictures were presented with the words and

as first as i could I was to name the presentation either African American/bad or African American/good or

European American/bad or European American/good.

Results

My response to the test suggested a slight automatic preference for European Americans over African

Americans. About 17% of other respondants to the test have a similar preference. On the other hand 24%

suggested strong automatic preference for European American compared to African American, 27% had

moderate automatic preference for European American compare to African American, 18% had little to no

automatic preference between African American and European American, 7% had a slight automatic preference

for African American compared to European American, 5% had a moderate automatic preference for African

American compared to European American and 2% had a stong automatic preference for African American

compared to European American.

1
Project Implicit. (1998). [Graph illustration of European Americans and African Americans] Implicit
Associations Test.
Retrieved from https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/Study?tid=-1

Discussion

The results show that I have a slight automatic preference of European Americans over African

americans. The result from the test is slight different from my exact preferences.Before the test, I had selected

that I prefer both African Americans and Euroopean Americans equally. The test results could have been

brought due to the slight mistakes I made while performing the test.

Although my test score put me in slight automatic preference of European Americans over African American

catagory with an overall score of 17% from all respondents, I totally disagree with my own test result since I

have never had any slight prefferedness in racial groups.

Implications

2
 From my own IAT test experience, I observed that there could be external factors rather than individual

internal factors that could bring about the results of the test. This therefore could cause a test to seem consistent

with different respondent yet invalid.

Understanding one’s implicit association and attitude can help us to know whether a person can fit and

effectively perform in a certain society. forexample, the overall results of the test show that most people prefer

more European American over African Americans. If this result is true, then that means that there is a

possibility of creating groups that are inferior over others. The most preffered group is mostlikely to be superior

over the other and hence the cause for racial segregation and its impacts of un equal access to schools, health

services and quality infrastructures.

Peer Feedback

Regarding reviews you received, paraphrase the feedback. Do NOT copy and paste. State what you did or did

not do as a result of the feedback you received.

Regarding the reviews you provided, state an observation or insight about your own work (or an action you

took) based on your review of others’ work.