Implicit Association Test

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) I chose to take was the Race IAT test. It tests the users ability to associate with images of European Americans (white) and African Americans (black) as well as words that correspond to good and bad. The normative results are that most Americans tend to have some form of an automatic association with European Americans. My results were typical. I felt a little embarrassed at first in reaction to seeing the results of a slight automatic preference to European Americans. I even took the test again to see if I would be better prepared for it and the result remained the same.

Media has been playing a significant role in our daily lives by developing our personalities, enriching our knowledge and providing us with different sorts of information. It has a tremendous power in framing cultural guidelines and shaping political dissertation. If the information provided to the U.S. citizens is distorted, then they cannot make informed decisions on the matters of public policy. Thus, it becomes vital to the American democracy that the news media and its institutions remain unbiased, fair and accurate. Media bias happens when a media systematically and persistently emphasize one particular point of view that is usually below the standards of professional journalism. There can be various reasons for media bias, some of

Without a doubt, black men in the United States continue to be excessively “incarcerated, policed, and sentenced to death at significantly higher rates than their white counterparts (Kerby 2).” Portrayals in the media have depicted black men as thugs and common criminals; these negative stereotypes demoralize men of color and allow society to believe and internalize this destructive thinking. The racial disparities that exist in the criminal justice system are an indirect consequence of the portrayals of African American men that circulate in society. Because of racial disparities that occur in the United States it consequently threatens communities of color by “disenfranchising thousands by limiting voting rights and denying equal access to employment, housing, public benefits, and education to millions more (Kerby 2).”

It was with some trepidation that I awaited my score for the Presidential Implicit Association Test (IAT). Was it possible that I am subconsciously racist? Despite the fact that I genuinely don’t look at Barack Obama any differently because he is black; the nature of this test forces your mind and body to work so quickly in synch that it forces a high level of veracity. Luckily in both of my IAT results my subconscious did not betray me, but it did require a certain amount of concentration at times, which might make a statement in and of itself.

discusses the results of a Implicit Association Test which measures a persons automatic association between mental representation of objects in the memory. Nearly 88 percent of the white race who took the Implicit Association Test show inherent racial bias. They have found when white people carry a implicit racial bias that they subconsciously prefer white people over black people in areas such as employment and academic. People don't even realize that they have a subconscious biases against a certain race. Which can affect how they interact with them. America still has a problem with race, The Civil War ended many years ago but the war between races still exist . Once we acknowledge the truth behind inherent racial bias we can move towards

There are large racial disparities in incarceration and related detainments for African Americans. They are more likely to be under the supervision of the Department of Corrections than any other racial or ethnic group (H.West, Sabol, & Greenman, 2010). Institutional racism is believed to be the reason why African Americans, especially males, are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system. On balance, the public believes that discrimination against black people is based on the prejudice of the individual person, correlates to the discrimination built into the nation’s laws and institutions (Pew’s Research Center, 2017). This belief is actually supported through several experimental studies that provide evidence that African Americans are to be seen as more criminal and threatening than others thus more likely to be arrested or even shot (Greenwald, Oakes, & Hoffman, 2003). Racism within the criminal justice system very much exists and is still relevant.

Why as white people have we been lulled into thinking its safe to be around other white people. Why have we been taught since birth that it’s the people of that other color we need to fear? They’re the ones that will slit your throat (Moore 57). The mass media has played and will continue to play a crucial role in the way white Americans perceive African-Americans. As a result of the overwhelming media focus on crime, drug use, gang violence, and other forms of anti-social behavior among African-Americans, the media is fostering a distorted public perception of African-Americans. Looking at past examples of African Americans treatment

The media perpetuates stereotyping and prejudice in America as they show viewers either from the television, newspaper or radio things in certain ways to make them thinks as a stereotyped or prejudice person. What I see a lot done down here in the South West is the media represents Black people the wrong way. They put in a lot in peoples head that Black males are criminals and drug dealers. That could be easily someone with a different ethnicity. People of color are often put out there as bad but we’re not. Just like in any race or ethnic background, there is always that bad one and that is how I see every race. Just like my Uncle Jeffery mentions from time to time, “there is always that one in the family that just seems to stand out”. Whether

The Implicit Association Test or IAT is a valuable tool that those in the criminal justice system use; often times during the hiring process candidates will be required to complete the IAT so that hiring officials can see if they have any unconscious bias. The IAT is still relatively new in terms of psychological research only being created in the 1990’s by psychologist Anthony Greenwald (Kaufman, 2011). Individuals who take the race portion of the test are shown pictures of Caucasian and African-American males or females, then are given positive or negative words that they associate with each race as fast as possible. After taking the test it measures the unconscious bias that everyone has deep down (Kaufman, 2011).

     One problem that plagues us everyday without us even realizing it is media bias. We see it in the news. We see it on our favorite sitcoms. We read it everyday in the paper. Yet, we really don't recognize it when we hear it or see it. Media bias is evident in every aspect of the media, yet the problem is that we don't even recognize it when it is right in front of our faces. Are the impressions that we form about individuals a product of the media? Do we form certain opinions about particular types of people based solely on the things we see and hear in the media everyday without even realizing it? The problem is not only that there is media bias present, but also that we can't recognize it when we see

In the television show The First 48, which is promoted as being an authentic form of reality television, the depiction of blacks as criminals is evident. In most cases, it is a black person who is suspected, accused and arrested for a crime; although, one might argue the show does its job to follow along with the calls received and crimes reported, the overrepresentation of blacks relative to the population numbers is evident. Ardis C. Martin, in an Academic Psychiatry Journal, writes, “People develop conceptions about the world as a result of repeated exposure to consistent and repetitive images in the media.” In watching The First 48, it is no surprise why a white consumer would come to the realization that all blacks are deviant criminals, while a black consumer would be susceptible to being a criminal because of a media that has already defined him or her by the color of his or her skin.

Media is an artistic profession with a lot of positivity related to how the current events reach the mainstream public. With the introduction of social media and online news article, the public has constant access to the material presented by media outlets. During the last couple years there are many instances where media has helped develop an illusion of the American current society with the use of fallacies portraying a negative image of the cultural. Historically, media outlets report according to what the actual media makers and producers believe versus what the current public believes. This causes a mis-representation of American cultural, America’s racism, and statistics on crime.

“Media stereotypes are inevitable, especially in the advertising, entertainment and news industries, which need as wide an audience as possible to quickly understand information. Stereotypes act like codes that give audiences a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people—usually relating to their class, ethnicity or race, gender, sexual orientation, social role or occupation.”

The first experiment conducted by Devine and colleagues conducted a well thought out experiment in terms of their technique. In all three studies the authors’ randomly assigned the participants to the experiments increasing the ability to generalize this sample to a larger population. In addition, the participants were asked to freely respond to the question, providing a more accurate knowledge of stereotypes because no cues were provided to influence the subjects’ knowledge. The anonymity of the participants also allows subjects to freely provide information without being judged resulting in an easier access to their private thoughts. Alternatively, in all three studies the authors recruited a number of white participants. This may produce bias in their results as stereotypes and prejudice towards blacks have historical roots in their culture. In the first study, the list of traits do not completely capture

The implicit association test was a very interesting experience with fascinating questions that I have never encounter before. This was my first time taking an implicit association test and also my first time hearing about it. In the beginning I was wandering how could this test possibly depict if I preferred another race over the other. The process of the test was very quick, easy, and informative. The beginning of the test asked for general information of demographics like ethnicity, female or male, and etc. The test consisted of pictures of African American and European American faces, and words that were either bad or good associating with the faces. So, I had to respond quickly to each statement by pressing the appropriate keys that were