Give It One

Your Name

Instructor Name

Course Number

Date

Implicit-Association Test: The Race Test

Implicit associations are one of the most famous methods that are used to measure the strength of association between two contrasting concepts. This association isn’t tested in a direct manner. Rather, it is measured through the relation between the attitude held by an object with its valence i.e. the emotion attached to the object. This emotion is mostly confined to the spheres of good, or bad and relays the relationship or the association between two distinct objects with relative ease ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"T6b407Hh","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Lane et al.)","plainCitation":"(Lane et al.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":205,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/DV9L7E2M"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/DV9L7E2M"],"itemData":{"id":205,"type":"article-journal","title":"Understanding and using the implicit association test: IV","container-title":"Implicit measures of attitudes","page":"59-102","author":[{"family":"Lane","given":"Kristin A."},{"family":"Banaji","given":"Mahzarin R."},{"family":"Nosek","given":"Brian A."},{"family":"Greenwald","given":"Anthony G."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2007"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Lane et al.). It incorporates the element of speed judgment, and these quick responses lay the basis of implicitly-held attitude regarding an object or a social group. It is widely used and has been the basis of more than 200 scientific studies ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"Yy0cADgF","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Lane et al.)","plainCitation":"(Lane et al.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":205,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/DV9L7E2M"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/DV9L7E2M"],"itemData":{"id":205,"type":"article-journal","title":"Understanding and using the implicit association test: IV","container-title":"Implicit measures of attitudes","page":"59-102","author":[{"family":"Lane","given":"Kristin A."},{"family":"Banaji","given":"Mahzarin R."},{"family":"Nosek","given":"Brian A."},{"family":"Greenwald","given":"Anthony G."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2007"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Lane et al.).

I took the race test from the Harvard implicit association test and I have some reservations about the result. The element of speed judgment makes the things rather tricky since at first the good and bad keys are decided but later they switch. Thus, the biggest issue I faced was forgetting which key I was supposed to press. I am not sure how that shows an inclination towards good or bad or black or white based on my inability to remember that “I” was for good now, along with black when earlier it was the other way around. I am not sure about the results, that state that I happen to be inclined towards white as opposed to black people.

The blacks have been a marginalized class for a long time now. Although I do believe that they have been gravely mistreated ever since the colonization of America, the fact that most of them still use the mistreatment as a reason for their entitled behavior is something that offends me on a personal level. Take Dorothy Vaughan for instance. She had an inkling about how the people at NASA were going to treat the “colored computers” following the installation if IMB 7090. Thus, she took matters into her own hands and made sure that she and her colleagues would be able to keep their jobs ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"t8SxERgJ","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Rissman)","plainCitation":"(Rissman)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":207,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/3EKGVDSA"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/3EKGVDSA"],"itemData":{"id":207,"type":"book","title":"Hidden Women: The African-American Mathematicians of NASA Who Helped America Win the Space Race","publisher":"Capstone","ISBN":"1-5157-9960-3","author":[{"family":"Rissman","given":"Rebecca"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2018"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Rissman). Then there is Michelle and Barak Obama, whose term in the white house was celebrated by the American people as a whole. They didn’t use their black card or chant the slogans of how “black lives matter” to get their way in life. They all worked for it and earned the respect that people held for them.

Essentially, it no longer black against white for me. Black people have surely been oppressed by white people in a number of ways, they are treated unfairly even today and the term “black lives matter” holds legitimacy especially for those being ostracized by the system. For instance, if law enforcement chooses to arrest a black man just because he was on the scene of a crime, working towards freeing him and proving his innocence is a just cause for how black lives matter ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"hF5jUVds","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Gelman et al.)","plainCitation":"(Gelman et al.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":208,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/JCSZF3QT"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/JCSZF3QT"],"itemData":{"id":208,"type":"article-journal","title":"An analysis of the New York City police department's “stop-and-frisk” policy in the context of claims of racial bias","container-title":"Journal of the American Statistical Association","page":"813-823","volume":"102","issue":"479","author":[{"family":"Gelman","given":"Andrew"},{"family":"Fagan","given":"Jeffrey"},{"family":"Kiss","given":"Alex"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2007"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Gelman et al.). However, using a revolutionary movement to sway thing your way is a deplorable thing to do. Therefore, we all, black people, white people and anyone else for that matter should work towards removing prejudice and racial discrimination within society. We should try to implement an idealistic goal where everyone is treated on the basis of their talents and their merit and not the color of their skin ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"A7HXRwPF","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Guerin)","plainCitation":"(Guerin)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":209,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/MXJQ5XFW"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/MXJQ5XFW"],"itemData":{"id":209,"type":"article-journal","title":"Combating prejudice and racism: New interventions from a functional analysis of racist language","container-title":"Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology","page":"29-45","volume":"13","issue":"1","author":[{"family":"Guerin","given":"Bernard"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2003"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Guerin). Racial profiling and racial discrimination is not only a cruel thing to do, but it is also unfair on so many levels. It keeps people from forging meaningful relationships and understand as well as broaden their perspective on life ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"pLbVk3w7","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Whitley Jr and Kite)","plainCitation":"(Whitley Jr and Kite)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":210,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/WSWVUY4A"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/WSWVUY4A"],"itemData":{"id":210,"type":"book","title":"Psychology of prejudice and discrimination","publisher":"Routledge","ISBN":"1-317-22723-9","author":[{"family":"Whitley Jr","given":"Bernard E."},{"family":"Kite","given":"Mary E."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Whitley Jr and Kite).

In conclusion, the test may have said that I show an inclination towards white people. In reality, I show an inclination towards hard working people that earn their keep in life. They hold my respect and I am proud to be associated with them.

Works Cited

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Gelman, Andrew, et al. “An Analysis of the New York City Police Department’s ‘Stop-and-Frisk’ Policy in the Context of Claims of Racial Bias.” Journal of the American Statistical Association, vol. 102, no. 479, 2007, pp. 813–23.

Guerin, Bernard. “Combating Prejudice and Racism: New Interventions from a Functional Analysis of Racist Language.” Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, vol. 13, no. 1, 2003, pp. 29–45.

Lane, Kristin A., et al. “Understanding and Using the Implicit Association Test: IV.” Implicit Measures of Attitudes, 2007, pp. 59–102.

Rissman, Rebecca. Hidden Women: The African-American Mathematicians of NASA Who Helped America Win the Space Race. Capstone, 2018.

Whitley Jr, Bernard E., and Mary E. Kite. Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination. Routledge, 2016.