Temporal Stability of the Implicit Association Test-Anxiety

Evidence of an Indirect Effect of Generativity on Fear of Death Through Ego-Integrity Considering Social Desirability

Recent research has shown an indirect effect of generativity on fear of death through ego-integrity in older adults. The present paper aims at demonstrating that the indirect effect is valid even when controlling for social desirability. For that purpose, participants (N = 260 German adults) in study 1 provided self-reports on generativity, ego-integrity, fear of death, and social desirability. Analyses confirmed the indirect effect when the tendency for socially desirable responding was statistically controlled. In study 2, participants (N = 133 German adults) also reported on their generativity and ego-integrity. Fear of death, however, was assessed with a reaction time-based measure (i.e., the Implicit Associations Test). Again, the indirect effect could be confirmed. Taken together, the studies lend further credibility to the extant findings on the indirect effect of generativity on fear of death through ego-integrity.

Same same, but different: A psychometric examination of three frequently used experimental tasks for cognitive bias assessment in a sample of healthy young adults

Cognitive bias research draws upon the notion that altered information processing is key for understanding psychological functioning and well-being. However, little attention has been paid to the question of whether the frequently used experimental paradigms hold adequate psychometric properties. The present study examined the psychometric properties of three widely used cognitive bias tasks: the Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT), the visual dot-probe-task, and the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Approach, attentional, and association biases towards valenced stimuli were repeatedly measured at five different time points in a sample of 79 healthy young adults. Two different devices were used for assessment: a personal computer (PC) and a touchscreen-based tablet. Reliability estimates included internal consistency and temporal stability. Validity was inferred from convergence across different behavioral tasks and correlations between bias scores and self-reported psychological traits. Reliability ranged widely amongst tasks, assessment devices, and measurement time points. While the dot-probe-task appeared to be completely unreliable, bias scores obtained from the PC-based version of the AAT and both (PC and touchscreen) versions of the IAT showed moderate reliability. Almost no associations were found across information processing tasks or between implicit and explicit measures. Cognitive bias research should adopt a standard practice to routinely estimate and report psychometric properties of experimental paradigms, investigate feasible ways to develop more reliable tools, and use tasks that are suitable to answer the precise research question asked.

Ableism, racism, and the quality of life of Black, Indigenous, people of colour with intellectual and developmental disabilities

BACKGROUND

Research indicates Black, Indigenous, people of colour (BIPOC) with intellectual and developmental disabilities face disparities in quality of life outcomes. This study's aim was to examine how ableism and racism impacted the quality of life of BIPOC with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

METHODS

Using a multilevel linear regression, we analysed secondary quality of life outcome data from Personal Outcome Measures® interviews with 1393 BIPOC with intellectual and developmental disabilities and implicit ableism and racism data from the 128 regions of the United States in which they lived (discrimination data came from 7.4 million people).

RESULTS

When BIPOC with intellectual and developmental disabilities lived in regions of the United States which were more ableist and racist, they had a lower quality of life, regardless of their demographics.

CONCLUSION

Ableism and racism are a direct threat to BIPOC with intellectual and developmental disabilities' health, wellbeing, and overall quality of life.

Non-conscious processing of fear faces: a function of the implicit self-concept of anxiety

BACKGROUND

Trait anxiety refers to a stable tendency to experience fears and worries across many situations. High trait anxiety is a vulnerability factor for the development of psychopathologies. Self-reported trait anxiety appears to be associated with an automatic processing advantage for threat-related information. Self-report measures assess aspects of the explicit self-concept of anxiety. Indirect measures can tap into the implicit self-concept of anxiety.

METHODS

We examined automatic brain responsiveness to non-conscious threat as a function of trait anxiety using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Besides a self-report instrument, we administered the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to assess anxiety. We used a gender-decision paradigm presenting brief (17 ms) and backward-masked facial expressions depicting disgust and fear.

RESULTS

Explicit trait anxiety was not associated with brain responsiveness to non-conscious threat. However, a relation of the implicit self-concept of anxiety with masked fear processing in the thalamus, precentral gyrus, and lateral prefrontal cortex was observed.

CONCLUSIONS

We provide evidence that a measure of the implicit self-concept of anxiety is a valuable predictor of automatic neural responses to threat in cortical and subcortical areas. Hence, implicit anxiety measures could be a useful addition to explicit instruments. Our data support the notion that the thalamus may constitute an important neural substrate in biased non-conscious processing in anxiety.

Improved Interpretability of Brain-Behavior CCA With Domain-Driven Dimension Reduction

Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) has been widely applied to study correlations between neuroimaging data and behavioral data. Practical use of CCA typically requires dimensionality reduction with, for example, Principal Components Analysis (PCA), however, this can result in CCA components that are difficult to interpret. In this paper, we introduce a Domain-driven Dimension Reduction (DDR) method, reducing the dimensionality of the original datasets and combining human knowledge of the structure of the variables studied. We apply the method to the Human Connectome Project S1200 release and compare standard PCA across all variables with DDR applied to individual classes of variables, finding that DDR-CCA results are more stable and interpretable, allowing the contribution of each class of variable to be better understood. By carefully designing the analysis pipeline and cross-validating the results, we offer more insights into the interpretation of CCA applied to brain-behavior data.

Anti-Fat Biases of Occupational and Physical Therapy Assistants

Fat people are highly stigmatized, and anti-fat bias is pervasive resulting in stigma, prejudice, and discrimination, including in health care. The aim of this study was to explore occupational and physical therapy assistants' anti-fat biases. We analyzed secondary weight implicit association tests from 5,671 occupational/physical therapy assistants. The overwhelming majority (82%) of occupational/physical therapy assistants were implicitly prejudiced against fat people. Interventions for occupational/physical therapy assistants' anti-fat biases are critical, especially with increasing prevalence and responsibilities of occupational/physical therapy assistants in the provision of rehabilitation services.

Reliability of Implicit Self–Esteem Measures Revisited

This study investigated the internal consistencies and temporal stabilities of different implicit self–esteem measures. Participants ( N = 101) responded twice—with a time lag of 4 weeks—to five different tasks: the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the Brief Implicit Association Test (BIAT), the Affective Priming Task (APT), the Identification–Extrinsic Affective Simon Task (ID–EAST) and the Name–Letter Task (NLT). As expected, the highest reliability coefficients were obtained for the self–esteem IAT. Importantly, the internal consistencies and the temporal stabilities of the APT, the ID–EAST, and the NLT were substantially improved by using material, structural, and analytic innovations. In particular, the use of the adaptive response–window procedure for the APT, the computation of error scores for the ID–EAST, and the computation of a double corrected scoring algorithm for the NLT yielded reliability coefficients comparable to those of the established IAT. Implications for the indirect assessment of self–esteem are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Comparing IAT and TAT measures of power versus intimacy motivation

We assessed implicit orientations towards power versus intimacy using the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and the Implicit Associations Test (IAT). In addition, we assessed explicit orientations using self‐report measures of dominance versus nurturance motives and extrinsic versus intrinsic values. Further, we assessed the rated self‐concordance and importance of power versus intimacy idiographic goals. The six measures formed four factors: motives/values, goals, IAT and TAT. We also assessed a variety of outcomes ranging from well‐being to choice in a social dilemma. All six predictors correlated with at least some outcomes, with the values measure being strongest predictor of the predominantly self‐report outcomes. We suggest that there is value in simultaneously considering old school and new school approaches to assessing implicit motives. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Convergence between GNAT‐assessed implicit and explicit personality

Two studies investigated the characteristics and correlates of implicit personality measures provided by the Go/No‐Go Association Task (GNAT), a variant of the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Extraversion was assessed in Study 1, and all Big‐Five factors in Study 2. Of interest were the convergent validity of the measures with explicit personality and their reliability. The results demonstrate that the GNAT metric (d') is reliable, and has convergent validity, only when systematic variance in the GNAT indices is controlled. We also provide preliminary evidence for the predictive utility of GNAT indices of implicit extraversion and neuroticism by examining their ability to predict reaction times. The results suggest that this task provides a promising method for assessing implicit personality. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Implicitly and explicitly assessed anxiety: No relationships with recognition of and brain response to facial emotions

Trait anxiety, the disposition to experience anxiety, is known to facilitate perception of threats. Trait anxious individuals seem to identify threatening stimuli such as fearful facial expressions more accurately, especially when presented under temporal constraints. In past studies on anxiety and emotion face recognition, only self-report or explicit measures of anxiety have been administered. Implicit measures represent indirect tests allowing to circumvent problems associated with self-report. In our study, we made use of implicit in addition to explicit measures to investigate the relationships of trait anxiety with recognition of and brain response to emotional faces. 75 healthy young volunteers had to identify briefly presented (67 ms) fearful, angry, happy, and neutral facial expressions masked by neutral faces while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. The Implicit Association Test, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Anxiety Inventory were applied as implicit and explicit measures of trait anxiety. After corrections for multiple testing, neither implicitly nor explicitly measured anxiety correlated with recognition of emotional facial expressions. Moreover, implicitly and explicitly assessed anxiety was not linked to brain response to emotional faces. Our data suggest links between discrimination accuracy and brain response to facial emotions. Activation of the caudate nucleus seems be of particular importance for recognizing fear and happiness from facial expressions. Processes of somatosensory resonance appear to be involved in identifying fear from facial expressions. The present data indicate that, regardless of assessment method, trait anxiety does not affect the recognition of fear or other emotions as has been proposed previously.

The bias toward intentionality in schizophrenia: Automaticity, context, and relationships to symptoms and functioning

Previous research on attributions in schizophrenia has focused on whether individuals make hostile, intentional attributions for ambiguous negative events. It is unclear, however, whether individuals with schizophrenia differ from controls in their general judgments of intentionality judgments in nonconflict and emotionally neutral situations. Research in social psychology suggests that nonclinical individuals present with an automatic bias to see intentionality and that this bias is regulated by the operation of controlled processes. The present study examined whether this general intentionality bias distinguishes individuals with schizophrenia (n = 213) from nonpatient controls (n = 151). Indeed, individuals with schizophrenia were more likely to attribute intentional motives to others' actions relative to controls. This intentionality bias was related to hostility, role functioning, and independent living skills. These findings may provide one domain to examine in future approaches to social cognition in schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record

Applying the Latent State-Trait Analysis to Decompose State, Trait, and Error Components of the Self-Esteem Implicit Association Test

Abstract. In the literature, self-report scales of Self-Esteem (SE) often showed a higher test-retest correlation and a lower situational variability compared to implicit measures. Moreover, several studies showed a close to zero implicit-explicit correlation. Applying a latent state-trait (LST) model on a sample of 95 participants (80 females, mean age: 22.49 ± 6.77 years) assessed at five measurement occasions, the present study aims at decomposing latent trait, latent state residual, and measurement error of the SE Implicit Association Test (SE-IAT). Moreover, in order to compare implicit and explicit variance components, a multi-construct LST was analyzed across two occasions, including both the SE-IAT and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). Results revealed that: (1) the amounts of state and trait variance in the SE-IAT were rather similar; (2) explicit SE showed a higher consistency, a lower occasion-specificity, and a lower proportion of error variance than SE-IAT; (3) latent traits of explicit and implicit SE showed a positive and significant correlation of moderate size. Theoretical implications for the implicit measurement of self-esteem were discussed.

Geographic Variation in the Black-Violence Stereotype

The stereotype that Blacks are violent is pervasive in the United States. Yet little research has examined whether this stereotype is linked to violent behavior from members of different racial groups. We examined how state-level violent crime rates among White and Black Americans predicted the strength of the Black-violence stereotype using a sample of 348,111 individuals from the Project Implicit website. State-level implicit and explicit stereotypes were predicted by crime rates. States where Black people committed higher rates of violent crime showed a stronger Black-violence stereotype, whereas states where White people committed higher rates of violent crime showed a weaker Black-violence stereotype. These patterns were stronger for explicit stereotypes than implicit stereotypes. We discuss the implications of these findings for the development and maintenance of stereotypes.

Temporal Stability of Implicit and Explicit Measures: A Longitudinal Analysis

A common assumption about implicit measures is that they reflect early experiences, whereas explicit measures are assumed to reflect recent experiences. This assumption subsumes two distinct hypotheses: (a) Implicit measures are more resistant to situationally induced changes than explicit measures; (b) individual differences on implicit measures are more stable over time than individual differences on explicit measures. Although the first hypothesis has been the subject of numerous studies, the second hypothesis has received relatively little attention. The current research addressed the second hypothesis in two longitudinal studies that compared the temporal stability of individual differences on implicit and explicit measures in three content domains (self-concept, racial attitudes, political attitudes). In both studies, implicit measures showed significantly lower stability over time (weighted average r = .54) than conceptually corresponding explicit measures (weighted average r = .75), despite comparable estimates of internal consistency. Implications for theories of implicit social cognition and interpretations of implicit and explicit measures are discussed.

Using Indirect Measurement Tasks to Assess the Self–Concept of Personality: A Systematic Review and Meta–Analyses

This systematic review presents the current state of research investigating the implicit self–concept of personality. First, we present results on meta–analyses estimating internal consistency, reliability coefficients, the implicit–explicit consistency and the single association predictive effect of implicit self–concept of personality measures. To do this, studies were aggregated over personality domains. Second, for each of the Five Factor personality domains, different aspects of construct validity and predictive validity are reviewed in a narrative way. Results show that implicit self–concept of personality measures are reliable, and there is evidence for the construct and predictive validity of these implicit measures, especially in the extraversion and agreeableness domains of personality. However, it must be kept in mind that clear evidence for publication bias was found for studies examining the single association predictive pattern. Finally, this systematic review identifies some achievable improvements that are needed in future research. Large cross–lab efforts are important in this respect. Moreover, the implicit self–concept of personality field must move from an ‘ad hoc’ to a ‘validation’ approach in developing new indirect measurement tasks. By adopting these research objectives, the information processing account of personality will increase its potential to become integrated into mainstream personality theory and research. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

Integrating Implicit and Explicit Social Cognitions for Enhanced Personality Assessment

The current article advocates integrating implicit and explicit social cognitions for enhanced personality assessment in organizational contexts (e.g., personnel selection settings). Several methods for measuring implicit cognitions are reviewed, and their strengths and limitations are discussed. The most widely used method for measuring explicit cognitions, the self-report questionnaire, also is described along with its strengths and limitations. Implicit and explicit cognitions then are integrated to form a general model of personality prototypes. The authors describe several mechanisms by which implicit and explicit cognitions may operate (e.g., coact, interact) to predict criteria, depending on the nature of the personality construct assessed and the outcome of interest. These different operations implicate different statistical methodologies. The authors then present specific examples of this integrative procedure for enhancing personality assessment using the construct of achievement motivation. They conclude by discussing how future research could extend and apply this general framework for use with other personality constructs.

Integrating Implicit and Explicit Social Cognitions for Enhanced Personality Assessment: A General Framework for Choosing Measurement and Statistical Methods

The current article advocates integrating implicit and explicit social cognitions for enhanced personality assessment in organizational contexts (e.g., personnel selection settings). Several methods for measuring implicit cognitions are reviewed, and their strengths and limitations are discussed. The most widely used method for measuring explicit cognitions, the self-report questionnaire, also is described along with its strengths and limitations. Implicit and explicit cognitions then are integrated to form a general model of personality prototypes. The authors describe several mechanisms by which implicit and explicit cognitions may operate (e.g., coact, interact) to predict criteria, depending on the nature of the personality construct assessed and the outcome of interest. These different operations implicate different statistical methodologies. The authors then present specific examples of this integrative procedure for enhancing personality assessment using the construct of achievement motivation. They conclude by discussing how future research could extend and apply this general framework for use with other personality constructs.

Development of Indirect Measures of Conscientiousness: Combining a Facets Approach and Network Analysis

Because indirect measures of personality self–concepts such as the Implicit Association Test (IAT) allow tapping into automatic processes, they can offer advantages over self–report measures. However, prior investigations have led to mixed results regarding the validity of indirect measures of conscientiousness. We suggest that these results might be due to a failure to consider the different facets of conscientiousness. These facets are of crucial importance because they are associated differentially with other psychobiological constructs and they are also characterized by different mechanisms. Therefore, focusing on facets while developing indirect measures of conscientiousness may improve the validity of such measures. In Study 1, we conducted a psycholexical investigation to develop one IAT for each conscientiousness facet. In Study 2, we examined the convergent and discriminant validities of each facet IAT in relation to self–report measures, peer–report measures and self–report behavioural indicators, and we investigated differential associations of the conscientiousness facets with working memory capacity and self–control. We employed network analysis as a novel approach to elucidate differential relationships involving personality facets. The results corroborated the convergent and discriminant validity of the conscientiousness facet IATs with self–reports and showed that the conscientiousness facets were differentially associated with working memory capacity and with self–control. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology

Should We Stop Looking for a Better Scoring Algorithm for Handling Implicit Association Test Data? Test of the Role of Errors, Extreme Latencies Treatment, Scoring Formula, and Practice Trials on Reliability and Validity

Since the development of D scores for the Implicit Association Test, few studies have examined whether there is a better scoring method. In this contribution, we tested the effect of four relevant parameters for IAT data that are the treatment of extreme latencies, the error treatment, the method for computing the IAT difference, and the distinction between practice and test critical trials. For some options of these different parameters, we included robust statistic methods that can provide viable alternative metrics to existing scoring algorithms, especially given the specificity of reaction time data. We thus elaborated 420 algorithms that result from the combination of all the different options and test the main effect of the four parameters with robust statistical analyses as well as their interaction with the type of IAT (i.e., with or without built-in penalty included in the IAT procedure). From the results, we can elaborate some recommendations. A treatment of extreme latencies is preferable but only if it consists in replacing rather than eliminating them. Errors contain important information and should not be discarded. The D score seems to be still a good way to compute the difference although the G score could be a good alternative, and finally it seems better to not compute the IAT difference separately for practice and test critical trials. From this recommendation, we propose to improve the traditional D scores with small yet effective modifications.

Emotional intelligence in sport and exercise: A systematic review

This review targets emotional intelligence (EI) in sport and physical activity. We systematically review the available literature and offer a sound theoretical integration of differing EI perspectives (the tripartite model of EI) before considering applied practice in the form of EI training. Our review identified 36 studies assessing EI in an athletic or physical activity context. EI has most often been conceptualized as a trait. In the context of sport performance, we found that EI relates to emotions, physiological stress responses, successful psychological skill usage, and more successful athletic performance. In the context of physical activity, we found that trait EI relates to physical activity levels and positive attitudes toward physical activity. There was a shortage of research into the EI of coaches, officials, and spectators, non-adult samples, and longitudinal and experimental methods. The tripartite model proposes that EI operates on three levels - knowledge, ability, and trait - and predicts an interplay between the different levels of EI. We present this framework as a promising alternative to trait and ability EI conceptualizations that can guide applied research and professional practice. Further research into EI training, measurement validation and cultural diversity is recommended.

Directly and Indirectly Assessed Need for Cognition Differentially Predict Spontaneous and Reflective Information Processing Behavior

Need for Cognition (NFC) refers to individual differences in intrinsic cognitive motivation and has been proven to be an important trait factor modulating the extent of information processing in social and nonsocial contexts. Given that indirect measures may provide an increment in personality assessment, the present research aimed to further examine the psychometric quality of a newly developed indirect measure of NFC, the NFC Implicit Association Test (NFC-IAT). A sample of 108 individuals conducted the NFC-IAT twice with a retest interval of 4–6 weeks. Additionally, the NFC self-report and three tasks providing indicators of spontaneous and reflective NFC-typical behavior were administered. The NFC-IAT showed high internal consistency as well as comparably good temporal stability. Moreover, it explained variance in NFC-typical behavior that was not captured by the NFC self-report demonstrating that assessing both direct and indirect measure allows predicting a much more comprehensive spectrum of NFC-related behavior.

Brand discrimination: an implicit measure of the strength of mental brand representations

While mental associations between a brand and its marketing elements are an important part of brand equity, previous research has yet to provide a sound methodology to measure the strength of these links. The following studies present the development and validation of an implicit measure to assess the strength of mental representations of brand elements in the mind of the consumer. The measure described in this paper, which we call the Brand Discrimination task, requires participants to identify whether images of brand elements (e.g. color, logo, packaging) belong to a target brand or not. Signal detection theory (SDT) is used to calculate a Brand Discrimination index which gives a measure of overall recognition accuracy for a brand's elements in the context of its competitors. A series of five studies shows that the Brand Discrimination task can discriminate between strong and weak brands, increases when mental representations of brands are experimentally strengthened, is relatively stable across time, and can predict brand choice, independently and while controlling for other explicit and implicit brand evaluation measures. Together, these studies provide unique evidence for the importance of mental brand representations in marketing and consumer behavior, along with a research methodology to measure this important consumer-based brand attribute.

Forgiving, fast and slow: validity of the implicit association test for predicting differential response latencies in a transgression-recall paradigm

This study examined the role of automaticity in forgiving a real-life offense. As an alternative to self-report, an Implicit Association Test (IAT) of forgiveness was developed. Implicit (IAT-measured) and explicit (self-reported) forgiveness predicted shorter response times of state forgiveness ratings. The forgiveness IAT was highly reliable, moderately stable over time, and demonstrated incremental validity. Results suggest that the newly introduced forgiveness IAT could advance personality research beyond what is known from self-report measures, further corroborating the notion of implicit forgiveness. Implications for personality assessment are discussed.

Evaluating the Construct Validity of Objective Personality Tests Using a Multitrait-Multimethod-Multioccasion-(MTMM-MO)-Approach

Although Objective Personality Tests (OPTs) have a long history in psychology and the field of psychological assessment, their validity, and reliability have not yet been sufficiently studied. In this study, we examined the convergent and discriminant validity of objective (personality) tests, Implicit Association Tests (IATs), and self-report measures for the assessment of conscientiousness and intelligence. Moreover, the convergent and discriminant validity of these measures was assessed on the trait (stable) and occasion specific (momentary) level by using the multimethod latent state-trait (MM-LST) model proposed by Courvoisier, Nussbeck, Eid, and Cole (2008) which allows for the decomposition of different sources of variance. Data from 367 students assessed on three different measurement occasions was incorporated. Results indicate generally low convergence of OPTs with data gained by other approaches. Additional analyses revealed that the OPTs used assess stable rather than momentary components of the constructs. Reliabilities of different tests ranged from .54 to .95. Furthermore, a substantial amount of trait method specificity revealed that different methods assess trait components that are not shared between OPTs and other measures. Data on the criterion validity of the objective conscientiousness test revealed that it is related to the punctuality of test takers in the laboratory.

Implicit and explicit anti-fat bias among a large sample of medical doctors by BMI, race/ethnicity and gender

Overweight patients report weight discrimination in health care settings and subsequent avoidance of routine preventive health care. The purpose of this study was to examine implicit and explicit attitudes about weight among a large group of medical doctors (MDs) to determine the pervasiveness of negative attitudes about weight among MDs. Test-takers voluntarily accessed a public Web site, known as Project Implicit®, and opted to complete the Weight Implicit Association Test (IAT) (N = 359,261). A sub-sample identified their highest level of education as MD (N = 2,284). Among the MDs, 55% were female, 78% reported their race as white, and 62% had a normal range BMI. This large sample of test-takers showed strong implicit anti-fat bias (Cohen's d = 1.0). MDs, on average, also showed strong implicit anti-fat bias (Cohen's d = 0.93). All test-takers and the MD sub-sample reported a strong preference for thin people rather than fat people or a strong explicit anti-fat bias. We conclude that strong implicit and explicit anti-fat bias is as pervasive among MDs as it is among the general public. An important area for future research is to investigate the association between providers' implicit and explicit attitudes about weight, patient reports of weight discrimination in health care, and quality of care delivered to overweight patients.

An Inkblot for the Implicit Assessment of Personality: The Semantic Misattribution Procedure

Misattributions people make about their own reaction to ambiguous stimuli can be used to measure personality self–concepts implicitly. On the basis of a semantic misattribution priming paradigm [semantic misattribution procedure (SMP)], we assessed the implicit personality self–concept related to three dimensions included in the Big–Five model: conscientiousness, neuroticism, and extraversion. Across three studies (N1 = 98, N2 = 140, and N3 = 135), the SMP was robustly related, in the expected direction, to individual differences in self–reported personality questionnaires and managed to predict both self–reported and objectively measured behaviours. The main advantage of SMP over classical explicit measures of personality is its higher resistance to social desirability tendencies, although its psychometric properties are somewhat lower than those pertaining to explicit measures of personality. Finally, comparisons of our results with studies that used other implicit measures of personality self–concept indicate that the SMP has higher criterion validity. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A Picture Story Exercise Set in a German and a Cameroonian Sample

Building on a recent study by Schultheiss, Liening, and Schad (2008 ), we examined the internal consistency, retest reliability, sample-level profile stability, and ipsative stability of a Picture Story Exercise (PSE) measure for implicit achievement, affiliation, and power motive. While Schultheiss et al. (2008 ) examined these indices by administering eight picture cues to students with 2 weeks between assessment occasions, in the present study adult samples from Germany (n = 129) and Cameroon (n = 122) provided data on five picture cues at two assessment times 18 months apart. Despite these differences, reliability indices are comparable to those presented by Schultheiss and colleagues: Internal consistency is low, but retest reliability and ipsative stability are in the expected range. The reliability of the PSE is also discussed and compared to the reliability of self-report and other non-self-report measures.

Perceived control in clinically anxious and non-anxious children indirectly measured with the Implicit Association Procedure (IAP)

BACKGROUND

Perceived control is thought to play an important role in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders in children. The objective of the present study was to further investigate the Perceived Control Implicit Association Procedure (IAP, Hogendoorn et al., 2008) as an indirect measure of perceived control in children.

METHODS

The IAP was completed by 136 anxiety disordered children (aged 8-18 years old, M = 12.51) and 31 non-selected children (8-15 years old, M = 11.65). A second control group of 38 non-selected children (aged 8-18 years old, M = 12.08) was used to validate the pictorial stimuli in the computer task.

RESULTS

First, children were able to correctly classify the pictures into Control and No control categories. Second, as predicted, anxious children reported less perceived control than the control group on both the direct measure (the ACQ-C) and the indirect measure (IAP). For the No Control score however, this was only the case for children younger than twelve years old. Third, test-retest correlation in the anxious group was fair to good (ICCs .57-.58).

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that the perceived control IAP is still quite experimental, but could be an interesting departure point for future research on perceived control in children.

The associations of clinicians' implicit attitudes about race with medical visit communication and patient ratings of interpersonal care

OBJECTIVES

We examined the associations of clinicians' implicit attitudes about race with visit communication and patient ratings of care.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional study of 40 primary care clinicians and 269 patients in urban community-based practices, we measured clinicians' implicit general race bias and race and compliance stereotyping with 2 implicit association tests and related them to audiotape measures of visit communication and patient ratings.

RESULTS

Among Black patients, general race bias was associated with more clinician verbal dominance, lower patient positive affect, and poorer ratings of interpersonal care; race and compliance stereotyping was associated with longer visits, slower speech, less patient centeredness, and poorer ratings of interpersonal care. Among White patients, bias was associated with more verbal dominance and better ratings of interpersonal care; race and compliance stereotyping was associated with less verbal dominance, shorter visits, faster speech, more patient centeredness, higher clinician positive affect, and lower ratings of some aspects of interpersonal care.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinician implicit race bias and race and compliance stereotyping are associated with markers of poor visit communication and poor ratings of care, particularly among Black patients.

Explicit and implicit measures of expectancy and related alcohol cognitions: a meta-analytic comparison

Implicit measures assess the influence of past experience on present behavior in the absence of respondents' awareness of that influence. Application of implicit measurement to expectancy and related alcohol cognition research has helped elucidate the links between alcohol-related experiences, the functioning of alcohol-related memory, and alcohol-related behavior. Despite these advances, a coherent picture of the role of implicit measurement has been difficult to achieve because of the diversity of implicit measures used. Two central questions have emerged: Do implicit measures assess a distinct aspect of the alcohol associative memory domain not accessible via explicit measurement; when compared with explicit measurement, do they offer unique prediction of alcohol consumption? To address these questions, the authors conducted a meta-analysis of studies using both implicit and explicit measures of alcohol expectancy and other types of alcohol-related cognition. Results indicate that implicit and explicit measures are weakly related, and although they predict some shared variance in drinking, each also contributes a unique component. Results are discussed in the context of the theoretical distinction made between the 2 types of measures.

Physicians' implicit and explicit attitudes about race by MD race, ethnicity, and gender

Recent reports suggest that providers' implicit attitudes about race contribute to racial and ethnic health care disparities. However, little is known about physicians' implicit racial attitudes. This study measured implicit and explicit attitudes about race using the Race Attitude Implicit Association Test (IAT) for a large sample of test takers (N=404,277), including a sub-sample of medical doctors (MDs) (n=2,535). Medical doctors, like the entire sample, showed an implicit preference for White Americans relative to Black Americans. We examined these effects among White, African American, Hispanic, and Asian MDs and by physician gender. Strength of implicit bias exceeded self-report among all test takers except African American MDs. African American MDs, on average, did not show an implicit preference for either Blacks or Whites, and women showed less implicit bias than men. Future research should explore whether, and under what conditions, MDs' implicit attitudes about race affect the quality of medical care.

Assessing the impact of replication on implicit association test effect by means of the extended logistic model for the assessment of change

The present study consists of a longitudinal investigation in which implicit association measures were collected by means of the implicit association test (IAT), with the purpose of assessing the impact of replication on the test effect with the same participants. The extended logistic model for the assessment of change (ELMAC), a procedure that belongs to Rasch modeling, was applied. By means of the ELMAC application, the existence of latent traits characteristic of the impact on the IAT effect (due to replication through time) is shown; more precisely, the model time parameters show the decrement of the IAT effect through time, due to the decrease of the implicit preference in both conditions, compatible and incompatible, associated with sweet foods and salty foods. The results confirm that in the long run, the incompatible condition latency may approach the compatible condition latency, causing a significant attenuation of the IAT effect.

Implicit but Stable

This study investigates the malleability of explicit and implicit anxiety through mental imagery. Sixty adults imagined themselves in an anxious, calm, or neutral situation. Thereafter, explicit state and trait anxiety were assessed with self-reports, and implicit anxiety was assessed with a variant of the Implicit Association Test. The results indicate that imagery manipulation changed state anxiety in the expected direction. Explicit trait anxiety and implicit anxiety, however, were found to be stable. These findings suggest that the implicit self-concept of anxiety has trait-like characteristics and is as stable against a short-term voluntary mental control strategy as an established explicit measure of trait anxiety.

Examining the dynamics of the implicit and the explicit self-concept in social anxiety: changes in the Implicit Association Test-Anxiety and the Social Phobia Anxiety Inventory following treatment

In this study, we analyzed changes in the strength of self-anxiety associations--as measured by the Implicit Association Test-Anxiety (IAT-Anxiety; Egloff & Schmukle, 2002) and the Social Phobia Anxiety Inventory (SPAI; Turner, Beidel, Dancu, & Stanley, 1989)--following treatment of social anxiety. We assessed socially anxious participants (N = 24) prior to and following a group-based treatment; and we assessed healthy controls (N = 24) at matched time points. Results showed (a) higher implicit and explicit anxiety in socially anxious participants (as compared to controls) prior to treatment and (b) reductions in IAT-Anxiety and SPAI scores of socially anxious participants following treatment. We discuss implications of these results for clinical applications of the IAT.

Validity of the Five-Factor Model for the Implicit Self-Concept of Personality

The authors adapted the Implicit Association Test (IAT) in order to assess the implicit self-concept of personality. In two studies (N = 106 and N = 92), confirmatory factor analyses validated the five-factor model for the implicit personality self-concept. Internal consistencies of the IAT proved satisfactory for all Big Five personality dimensions. Correlations between the personality IAT and different self-report measures of personality were generally small, and significant only for Extraversion and Conscientiousness. Patterns of means and factor intercorrelations were, however, highly similar for implicit and explicit personality measures.

Assessment of Individual Differences in Implicit Cognition

This review discusses basic features of Implicit Association Tests (IATs) that are relevant in order to estimate their suitability of IATs for the valid assessment of individual differences. We start with a description of the essential characteristics of the procedures of IATs and also refer to theoretical accounts for IAT effects. Then, we provide an overview of research on the psychometric properties of IATs including their reliability and incremental validity for the prediction of behavior over and above explicit measures. Finally, we describe some alternatives to IAT measures and offer an outlook for future research.

Differential Stability

The current research explored the stability of the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998 ) depending on contextual constraints and chronic accessibility. Two studies incorporated background pictures into the IAT. In Study 1, the 2-week stability of an IAT assessing anxiety was higher when IAT stimuli were embedded in an anxiety-relevant background (e.g., a snake). In Study 2, this context effect could be replicated in the domain of racial attitudes. Moreover, the context effect in Study 2 was especially pronounced for participants with high chronic access to the relevant concept. The results support the assumption that implicit measures like the IAT are sensitive to contextual constraints and that these constraints can be utilized to enhance the stability of the IAT.

Changes in implicit associations do not occur simultaneously to Pavlovian conditioning of physiological anxiety responses

Previous research shows that an 'angry face' conditioned stimulus will elicit conditioned skin conductance responses (SCR) after a small number of trials pairing it with a mild electric shock. Such conditioning occurs even with masked presentations of the facial stimulus. Furthermore, the Implicit Association Test (IAT) has been demonstrated to be sensitive to the presence of information processing biases seen in specific phobias. We examined the ability of the IAT to detect changes in implicit associations that arise from pairing one facial image (CS+) with a mild electro-tactile stimulation whereas a second facial image (CS-) was presented alone. Participants (N=117) were assigned to one of four groups: a group that received no shocks with unmasked presentation of the facial images; a group that received no shocks with masked presentation; a group with shocks delivered simultaneously to the masked presentation of the CS+; and a group that received shocks simultaneous to unmasked CS+ presentation. Learning was assessed through both SCR and the IAT. Results showed that while it was possible to condition a SCR to the CS+, this learning was not detectable using the IAT. Implications of the discrepancies in the outcome measures are discussed.