Reflection:

I took the IAT test for two topics which were weight and age. These tests basically tell whether a person is biased regarding the topic of the test or not. The results of both tests showed that I was not biased at all whether in terms of preferring thin to fat people or young to old people. Even though I kind of expected these results in the weight test, it was still a relief to know that I was not biased at all, even if it was unintentional, because I understand how by human nature we all tend to have biases even if we do not realize it. However, in the age test I honestly expected that I would be biased to older people over younger people, because I always felt that I preferred and felt warmer around old people than I do with younger people, but the test results showed that I was still not biased at all. These results were a bit unexpected especially since my answers to the questions in the beginning were obviously biased. 

Discussing the validity and credibility:

I honestly do not think the test is a reliable indication of whether a person is biased or not, especially because of how fast the questions were supposed to be answered and also because I don’t really understand how tapping the keys “E” and “I” to pictures and words that were already classified show any type of bias. In other words, I think it would’ve made much more sense if these pictures were given and I was supposed to classify them with the good and bad words according to my own point of view and not a previously shown table that had all the pictures and words already classified. Researchers also mentioned that a person’s cognitive ability to switch keys for the pictures while they remain the same for the good and bad words can be a factor affecting the results, and not necessarily a bias. They also mentioned that the test results are not consistent for the same person if they took more than one test, and I believe this also makes the test lack validity. Lastly, I couldn’t help but think of how a person might unintentionally choose specific answers and take their time in answering the questions that are meant to be answered quickly in order to manipulate the test and eliminate any bias. Overall, the test is definitely useful in showing some hidden and unintentional biases, however, I don’t think it’s a 100% credible reference to whether a person is biased or not.

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Implicit-association_test&oldid=1243846390