Dear students,

As part of our discussion of unconscious bias on Wednesday, we would like you to take part in an online “test” called “The Implicit Association Test (IAT)”, which….”measures attitudes and beliefs that people may be unwilling or unable to report. The IAT may be especially interesting if it shows that you have an implicit attitude that you did not know about. For example, you may believe that women and men should be equally associated with science, but your automatic associations could show that you (like many others) associate men with science more than you associate women with science.”- IAT website

You can find the test at the following link:

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

It will take you 5-10 minutes to complete. Please complete it before class on Wednesday.

You may choose any one of the tests on this page to find out more about your unconscious biases. Please keep in mind that we all have biases and it’s part of human nature. The test is completely anonymous and no one in the class (including faculty) will see your results. And if you’re wondering how this relates to ecology, remember that as scientists, we are working to develop and test hypothesis without bias (remaining objective), so this is a skill we should all be working on! On Friday we will talk about our experience taking the test in small groups.

In case you’re wondering about who created this particular IAT, here is a blurb from their website or read their “about page” for more detail:

“Project Implicit is a non-profit organization and international collaboration between researchers who are interested in implicit social cognition – thoughts and feelings outside of conscious awareness and control. The goal of the organization is to educate the public about hidden biases and to provide a “virtual laboratory” for collecting data on the Internet.”

See you all tomorrow!