Before shifting gears toward the interaction between race, ethnicity and politics on a more practical level I would like you to take a slightly different look at how we have internalized constructions and values associated with different groups. I would like you to take at least one Implicit Assessment Test (IAT) which will serve as a tool as to how we have or have not internalized socially constructed values about race and ethnicity.
The IAT tests have been designed by Project Implicit, which, according to the project website, "represents a collaborative research effort between researchers at Harvard University, the University of Virginia, and University of Washington. While the particular purposes of each study vary considerably, most studies available at Project Implicit examine thoughts and feelings that exist either outside of conscious awareness or outside of conscious control. The primary goals of Project Implicit are to provide a safe, secure, and well-designed virtual environment to investigate psychological issues and, at the same time, provide visitors and participants with an experience that is both educational and engaging."
You can find the tests by clicking on "I Wish to Proceed" at the bottom of this screen after reading the disclaimer. On the next screen I would like you to select the Skin Tone IAT which should take no more than 15 minutes to complete. Afterward, if you would like, feel free to take other IAT tests including a Race (Black-white) IAT, Native (Native-White American) IAT, Asian (Asian-European American IAT), and Arab-Muslim (Arab Muslim - Other) IAT.
I would like you to comment on your experience taking the test and your results. I want to be clear: this is NOT a test suggesting that you are or are not racist. It is designed to indicate internalized preferences regarding issues that are both sensitive and influenced greatly by social, cultural, historical, and institutional influences. I look forward to a thoughtful discussion about your experiences on Thursday.
I thought the Skin Tone IAT test was very interesting, although I'm skeptical about how representative it really is for the population. I have no doubt that there is an average preference for light-skinned people vs. dark-skinned people in the general/total population of the US. I like to think that that gap is slowly closing with time, but for now it's a sad fact of the current world we live in. My results were slightly preferential for light-skinned people. I consider myself to be extremely accepting of others and genuinely not care about skin color, however the test did not agree with that. I think it's important to always be away of innate and subconscious preferences one may have, and to constantly work to eradicate them.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I did not like that the test first began by associating dark-skinned people with "bad". I feel like if they had reversed the order and started with light-skinned people with "bad" the results would have been skewed in the opposite direction. More than anything I felt like I was associated "left" and "right" with light/dark-skinned and "bad" or "good" words. I would be interested to see the results of the test when each question was randomized to the left or right part of the screen.
I was quite surprised by the Skin Tone IAT Test. As I made my way through the test, I found myself a little shocked when I would get an answer wrong. It was really when I tried to get into the rhythm of the examination that I made the most mistakes. Through this exam, I realize that there is more unlearning of racial stereotypes than I initially thought. I try to take it upon myself to actively unlearn racial biases as I encounter them. However, the Skin Tone IAT Test made it clear that my subconscious still holds onto a generic overview of racial stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, it is often the kind of media we are exposed to that perpetuates certain racial stereotypes rather than the actual individuals we encounter. Although I have already been exposed to this kind of biased media, my hope is that younger people begin to see a more clear, unbiased representation in media. My exposure to subliminally harmful media is part in why I must make daily efforts to unlearn stereotypes in regards to skin tone.
Doing the Skin Tone IAT test was very interesting and surprising. I never heard of these before so reading its goal and purpose was interesting and brought a little confusion for me. When it came to the part of the examination and, I guess you would say, "pairing" the correct picture or word to its category interesting but made me skeptical. I was getting everything correct until I got in the rhythm of trying to pair them up as fast as I could, which led me to get some incorrect. My results were that I had a strong preference of light skinned people over dark skinned people.
ReplyDeleteI was initially shocked and upset that from the test it calculated that I had a "strong" preference as I believe that I am accepting and prefers any person despite skin tone. I think maybe it was representing how people are easily willing and able to conform that set rules on skin tone that society or others give them. So in a way me just following the rules on the test is showing my conformity. However, I was not happy to see "bad" and "good" being on either side where the light/dark skinned groups were held. I felt like it was in a sense a trick but also I think it showed me how people can subconsciously prefer another group based on skin tone.
The Skin Tone IAT test was an eye opener. I think for the most part people don’t expect the results as this seems to try to measure subconscious biases. I think that growing up in an age with mass media all around us, it has affected us from a very young age where prejudice was acquired without really understanding the significance. As the exam began I could see how pairing the images in relation to “good” and “bad” with the light skinned and dark skinned was hidden in my subconscious because of what may have been learned early on. My results showed me that I had a slight preference of light skinned people over dark skinned people and I think it may be because of our environment when we were younger. Although I may not agree with the results completely, I could make an effort to be aware and take action. I believe though that conscious attitudes can change, as well as beliefs and that is important when wanting to change it. By being able to recognize and addressing these hidden biases, it can help us try to understand it and act on it.
ReplyDeleteMy experience with the Skin Tone IAT was very interesting. At the beginning I thought it was a little bit easy and boring because I did not know the purpose of the first half. It was just matching face colors, but in the second half of the test I understood the purpose of it. my result where that I was "moderate automatic preference for Dark Skinned People over Light Skinned people." However, this test, for me, does not prove if you are more likely to like someone of color or not, since you are just trying to match the pictures with the letters that they gave to you and you are under certain pressure because at the beginning of every part they say to you that you have to be quick with your answer. Obviously some people say that working under pressure shows what you are really thinking about and your answers are actually what you are thinking subconsciously and that is the truth of you.
ReplyDeleteFor me a test is not going to tell if you are more likely to prefer someone based on their skin color, is more of how you where raised and where did you where raised that is going to let you know if you are comfortable or not with a type of skin color.
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ReplyDeleteBecause the purpose of this test is to reveal implicit biases, I must admit I was nervous about how I’d perform. I think people tend to assume that all of their actions and preferences are completely conscious efforts, myself included. However, this test proved just the opposite.
ReplyDeleteIt was troubling to realize that even if I wholeheartedly believe in acceptance regardless of skin tone, the subconscious conditioning from social, cultural, historical, and institutional practices could still overrule my beliefs. It made me question the futility of beliefs in the first place, that is, beliefs without action or an active effort to overcome societal conditioning. I appreciated the “What Can I Do About an Implicit Preference That I Do Not Want?” section provided after completing the study.
In my experience, many studies/works on this subject offer great strategies for reducing bias, which I think may be less effective than the strategies offered by this section that “deny implicit biases the chance to operate.” Going forward, as I encounter or am involved in decision-making processes (i.e. hiring/promotion, medical treatment, and criminal justice), I can be cognizant that an active effort to implement such strategies is crucial to reducing discrimination and will strongly encourage them.
My first thought after finishing the IAT Test was "wow, that was stressful." I believe I felt that way because I wanted to believe that I had no preference between light skinned and darker skinned people and was nervous this was going to tell me otherwise or something I hoped to not be true. Not that having a preference for a certain skin tone is good or bad, but if i can keep myself from judging people before getting to know them that would be my ideal thought process. My results ended up being "no automatic preference between Dark Skinned People and Light Skinned People." What this result makes me think about the most is if I would have scored the same say taking it two years ago before moving to Chicago and immersing myself into such a diverse city?
ReplyDeleteNow it is hard for me to believe that this test is really that accurate. There were definitely times where I caught myself making mistakes because I got stuck in a groove or subconsciously tried to create a pattern even though it was random (I think? I was messing up on both light and dark skin which reenforces my belief that there was not a subconscious preference, but who knows the human mind is craaazzzyyy!!) Overall I thought it was interesting and I'm curious to hear what other people thought about it when we discuss it in class.
Before taking the Skin Tone IAT, I was very skeptical about its ability to judge on the pure fact of understanding if one sides with lighter complexion people or darker-toned people through the use of an online test. Also, how such a conclusion could be implemented into a short online test, and to deem it reliable. This skepticism is from previous ‘tests’, of a similar nature, that I have taken. A majority of the time, these tests that are meant to offer a statement were very disappointing because of how vague the questions and responses were. The first section of the test made me question why I am being asked my beliefs and opinions, and how that will be beneficial to something I am already aware of. But then the concept of matching good and bad with skin color came into play, which was definitely impressive, and if you take into account quick responses, the response becomes beneficial. In the beginning of the matching section, I found myself trying to understand what the end result would entail, which I was able to figure out half way through. I feel like getting acquainted to the concept of matching good and bad vs skin color was unclear, and thus played a role in my end result, simply due to user error. After taking the Skin Tone IAT, my results were that I suggest an automatic for Light Skinned People over Dark Skinned People, which I found very surprising. This test in no way changed my view of how I view people based on skin color. I examine the results of these tests with a grain of salt because like most of us, we prefer not to stereotype or bring race into any light, but it is a sad reality that these issues are still present. Our realities are constantly exposed to these views, especially through media outlets putting it into our subconscious, which is evident in the test results.
ReplyDeleteI think that this Skin Tone IAT test is very different and interesting but at the same time I feel like not really accurate. At first when it was asking to associate good and bad. Good being a light skinned person and bad being dark skinned person. It was kind uncomfortable for me to associate disaster with dark skinned person because I felt like that automatically makes me racist. Then when choices switched and dark skinned person was good and light skinned person was bad, I was really confused where this test is going and what kind results I will have. But I got a result that I have preference towards dark skinned people. Which I think is debatable because all people are different because you can’t trust stereotypes. There are light skinned people who are good and there are dark skinned people who are bad and other way around. So I think it comes to people you know and can’t judge by stereotypes
ReplyDeleteAt first I was pretty apprehensive about taking the Skin Tone ISAT because I am aware of certain factors that I have been exposed to. As the activity progressed I began to get more and more frustrated with myself. My head would think one way but my cognitive functions would act in a different manner. In the end, my data ended up suggesting that I have “a slight automatic preference for Light Skinned People over Dark Skinned People”. To anyone else, this outcome may seem disappointing, but I was pleasantly surprised. Having grown up in a small farming community in southern IL, I did not see any person of color in my day to day life. So the notion that I might instinctually have a learned preference for light skinned or dark is not all that surprising. In fact, I am surprised that I didn’t have a higher preference for light over dark. Where I grew up it would be accurate to state that in some cases it was very much a racist environment. So the fact that it wasn’t as dramatically evident in my results just proves to me what my time in diverse Chicago while attaining higher education has done for my internalized preferences. While I would completely agree that the notion that this test is 100% accurate is improbable, it is interesting in regards to self-reflection and the way one perceives their surroundings and the world.
ReplyDeleteI kind of figured my results would come out the way they did, not because of my personal views on skin tone but because of my upbringing. I addressed that issue in my first blog, but this test just kind of reinforced it. I was told I had a strong automatic preference for light skinned people over dark skinned people. It was kind of frustrating when I was taking the test actually. I knew exactly what the test was trying to do, and even though I was aware of it, I still found myself reflexively making decisions before I could consciously process what was on the screen in front of me. What was especially irritating is that I consider myself to be more liberal in terms of my views on race, so being faced with those results wasn't exactly what I wanted to see. It just goes to show how our conscious and subconscious preferences can be totally different without us even realizing. Superficially, no one wants to admit to themselves that they prefer a certain skin tone, so taking a test like this really gives you a reality check.
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DeleteI had the same result and I think I had a similar reaction. Going into the test, I had an idea of what it was trying to do and that made me very anxious. I tried so hard to get the right answer quickly, but continued to make the same mistakes or just take an extra second to process before answering. As Professor Epstein mentioned, this test was not to tell if someone is racist but that fact does not make the result any less horrifying. It's interesting that you mentioned your upbringing as an important factor because I keep having to stop my brain from psychoanalyzing myself, thinking back to what part of my childhood may have made me this way. (Or even, what kind of upbringing led to the results of my other classmates?) My mom always stressed the need for diversity in the classroom and sent us to schools out of our district for that reason. However, how much of a difference did this make for me? It's very confusing and even uncomfortable but I'm glad I am forced to think about it.
DeleteThe explanation page after the result is particularly interesting. When taking the test, I thought the amount of "wrong" answers would be the main factor but it actually was the time you took answering each section. This makes the result less surprising because I tried so incredibly hard to choose the right answer in the dark-skin/good and light-skin/bad category and sometimes tried to gather myself before answering each.
I also think that the section about how to "fix" the bias is very interesting/depressing. I agree that many of the diversity training packages are many times shallow, ineffective, and out of touch. Their suggestions seem to be more along the line of how to prevent it from affecting others, as opposed to how to fix it, which I think is the mistake we as a nation have been making. Maybe instead of being overly conscious of having an equal demographic, we make an effort to have no disclosure or knowledge of race/ethnicity and see if that is more effective. I’m not sure if it does but I do know there is a great deal of research on bias against women musicians that is often addressed by holding “blind auditions.”
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ReplyDeleteThis was my first time taking an IAT test and it was an interesting experience. My results suggested that I have “no automatic preference between Dark Skinned People and Light Skinned People” and I wasn’t really surprised at that. However, I think the test isn’t a very accurate way to get someone’s preferences because of how the “good”/ “bad” and “light”/ “dark” switched sides. I made the most mistakes doing the quiz when I tried to go faster near the end because I kept forgetting which side each thing was on. Also, I think the test could be skewed to having a preference of light skinned people because they were in the good category first, so when the categories switched, I had to hesitate for a second and remember that they weren’t in the “good” category anymore. The test is definitely an interesting experiment, but I don’t believe it truly validates if someone prefers a type of skin tone.
ReplyDeleteI have never taken an Implicit Assessment Test (IAT) so I was looking forward to see what my results would be for the Skin Tone (IAT). My results suggest that I have an “automatic preference for Dark Skinned people over Light Skinned people”. I was surprised by results since I would have expected the opposite to occur. That being said, I believe this exam is inaccurate. The exam focuses on muscle memory, or where you can correctly put the right faces and the right words to the correct side it is asking for. Rather than asking for situations it forces the user to make a quick decision that in reality would never occur. I think people feed into the results and believe that by making mistakes therefore makes them a racist. I think that is far from the truth because I do not believe people who are taking the exam are intentionally making sure a certain race is only getting the “good” or “bad” words used. Also I think this just goes to show that subconsciously you may have other preferences or see a different side to things that you may be unaware of. Like the results I was expecting to get rather than the one I did get.
ReplyDeleteI was extremely skeptical about the IAT test for the sole reason of how the results were derived. When I first started it, I had no idea what I was doing. This made me get a bunch of answers wrong. But once I got the hang of it, I was already towards the end of the test. I went fast when I first started just because I thought I understood the game when, obviously, I did not. So, personally I do not think it would be a completely accurate representation of society's preference towards a certain skin tone. I did think it was interesting how the test used emotion and skin tone together. This shows how people react to a particular skin tone. Yet, I would not ever associate "humiliate" with any kind of skin tone. They should consider using different words. I would not take this test extremely seriously because I do not think my test results suited me well.
ReplyDeleteI have taken an IAT test before in high school, however I cannot remember for the life of me what I received when I first took it. The result I got this time was that I strongly prefer light skinned people to dark skinned people. Which I am not surprised by, especially with where I was raised-- the south. And by the south I mean the deep south (Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, etc.). However, I am not necessarily off-put by my test results. I am already pretty aware that that was how I was conditioned, which could be related to the environment I was raised in. However, I think that even though my brain may "prefer" one skin tone to the other, I do not allow that to affect my actions. I think this test is helpful in the sense that it allows us to be aware of our subconscious and now we can begin to notice when our bodies/brains have those automatic prejudices.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time that I have taken an IAT test and the result that I got was that I had "no automatic preference between Dark Skinned People and Light Skinned People." This did not surprise me because I have never really been a person to lean more towards one group than another. Growing up my parents always told me people are people plain and simple. That definitely played a big if not the biggest part in my personal thoughts now. I do not believe that this test can be considered accurate. This test makes an assumption based off a few questions whereas society's view on issues like this are much more complex. It is interesting in the sense that it definitely makes people be more honest with themselves. Whether they click what they really feel or not the test makes them think about it and become more aware of their true feelings.
ReplyDeleteI had heard of the IAT before, but this was the first time I had ever taken the test. The test told me that I have a "slight automatic preference for Light Skinned people over Dark Skinned people". I cannot say I am particularly surprised by this result because while I did grow up in a very diverse environment, most of the people that I am closest with are white. I discussed this in my previous blog, but I went to a very diverse elementary school, but when I reached middle school and they began ranking us, and suddenly the majority of my class was white, which probably contributed to this subconscious preference. I did notice though that while my immediate reaction was a slight preference to light skin, the moment I realized that I had made a mistake with my associations, I would internally scold myself because I was not doing it consciously.
ReplyDeleteGoing into the skin tone IAT, I was interested to see how it would determine thoughts outside of my own consciousness. Having now taken the test, I am not as impressed as I thought I would be, given the format of the test. I felt like I was taking one of those online memory tests, and that my brain was just building associations based on the prompts. In other words, I don’t understand how this test can be very accurate. My result was I prefer light skin people to dark skin people, but I can’t help but think the result would have been the opposite if the association had started with “good” and “dark skin” first rather than last. I’m excited to see if anyone agrees with me (that this was about the order in which we were presented the associations). However, I still found this exercise intriguing. I slightly expected the result I got, since I grew up in a predominately white/Asian area and it’s supposed to test automatic responses. I am just having a hard time believing this test is truly accurate, but I will probably be proven wrong since researchers at Harvard created it…but until then, I will have my doubts.
ReplyDeleteThe IAT test on skin tone was interesting to begin with and the end result had me a little surprised. It stated that I slightly preferred light skin over dark skin. I did not feel that the end result serious because it felt like it testing my memory and to be actually to be tested in this it would be more complex. I personally don't have preference on skin color and feel that the test needs to be more complex to ever be accurate.
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ReplyDeleteAfter reading the instructions on the blog website about taking the IAT website, the first thing that popped into my mind was the problem that a lot of tech companies are having recently with algorithms for websites preferring one race over another, specifically white people over black people. I can’t recall the name of the company but there was an incident where a hiring algorithm the company used was proven to favor and hire more white employees than black ones. A more well-known company is also having a problem with their search algorithm. Google has been under fire recently because of what comes up when someone searches “three white teenagers” versus “three black teenagers.” For the “three white teenagers” there are pictures of very happy looking white teens while the search for “three black teenagers” brings up mugshots of black teenagers. With these algorithmic blunders that have been uncovered recently in mind, I am wary of the results I am going to receive after taking the IAT test, and know that the results are in no way definitive. Furthermore, I expect the test’s results to rely more heavily on questions about my own skin tone than questions about other’s skin tones. What I mean by that is that I expect the test to say that I prefer light skin tones over dark ones because the test is most likely used as a way to “shock” people, in a way, about their preferences and get them talking about race and about the effects that preferences to one race over the other have on our society.
ReplyDeleteThe results of the test indicate that I have a slight automatic preference to lighter skinned people over darker skinned people. The results also reveal that the test results were dependent on how fast I responded to “good” words when they were associated with lighter skinned people and darker skinned people. The problem with this way of determining one’s preferences is that there are other factors to consider that could’ve influenced the speed at which I completed each test. For example, I took the test that associated darker skinned people with "good" first and the one that associated lighter skinned people with "good" second. After the first test, I knew how the process was going to go and I had practice with the previous test so maybe my results were due to me being more familiar with the game. Or maybe my mind drifted during the first test, or any other of the hundreds of different factors that may have skewed my button pressing. My point is that tests like these are very flawed, and people should not take the results that they receive from these tests as gospel. Even though the test is very flawed, I still believe that taking it is important in that it may be a stepping stone for people to have more conversations about race and be more aware of decisions that are made because of possible prejudices. Conversations about the subject are crucial in order to improve race relations in the country.
I will be honest, when I started the IAT skin tone test, I was a bit skeptical. I quickly realized after beginning the quiz, that I was very anxious, and I wanted to get the right answers. I also felt flustered, as I wanted to answer the questions as fast as possible. I noticed right away that if I could get into a rhythm, then I could answer each question very quickly and with great accuracy. But once I got one wrong answer, it took me a few more questions to get back my rhythm and accuracy. Those following questions took more time to answer, as I was questioning myself more. My results showed that I had a moderate preference for light skinned people over dark skinned people. I was a bit taken back by this result, as I don’t think I treat people any differently regardless of skin tone. But, I suppose this test shows that unconsciously I have a predisposition to race. I did grow up in an area that was mostly white, which may have contributed to or effected these results.
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ReplyDeleteWe looked at this test in Intro to Psychology, so I've actually taken it previously. I think it's interesting that my results were different from before (no preference compared to moderate preference to light skinned). This was even more interesting to me considering that I made no mistakes on this test and several on the previous.
ReplyDeleteI find my opinion on the test as a whole hasn't changed, as I still believe it has major issues in delivering real results. I'm not denying that automatic preferences exist, but I think that this test should not be taken seriously. There are an incredible amount of factors that could influence a racial preference, so a test as simple as this seems flawed. This is even more apparent when you realize that the test is based on comparing the timing between key presses. Much like others have pointed out, Light Skinned People started off on the good side (right side) and then it switched. That alone is enough to provide a delay in key presses, as it had just previously trained us to do the opposite.
My IAT test results indicated that I have a slight preference for Light Skinned people over Dark Skinned people. This wasn't particularly surprising to me given that I know a little bit about what these tests analyze (I once took a political ideology IAT). While I believe racial prejudice and racism are bad, I'm somewhat familiar with how implicit bias operates. I understand that implicit bias, like the one I displayed towards light skinned people over dark skinned people, is a result of socialization and the cultural environment I grew up in, not necessarily what I consciously believe. That isn't to say that I'm ok with the bias I displayed, but rather that I understand it is a result of growing up in America. I don't remember where I heard this, but I remember hearing about studies testing for implicit bias that consistently found that being part of the negative-bias group doesn't protect you from holding the negative bias against your group. For example, being Black and still holding implicit biases favoring light skinned people, or being a woman and holding implicit biases favoring men.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine that, in my case, I would still find that I have an implicit bias against Latinos or immigrants even though those are both communities I identify with. Again, this would be at least partly attributable (hopefully mostly attributable) to socialization and conditioning.
So, how do you deal with implicit bias? How can it be corrected? I'm not familiar with what academia says about this, but I'm certainly interested to find out. It seems like a hard task, to have to change the seemingly subconscious associations of the brain when we aren't explicitly aware of them while they operate.
The increasing diversity is no doubt one of the most consistently impactful factors of our growing country. It brings an incredible amount of benefits such as increased innovation, new business opportunities, and a higher awareness of cultural differences. I think the diversity is important because it forces us to evolve as a society on many different fronts (rather than us stagnating in terms of cultural politics and ideas). As it continues, our acceptance of other cultures should increase (hopefully) which will lead to a more forword thinking society in terms of our feelings and interactions with other countries and peoples.
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