Implicit Association Test (IAT)
Psychology: Social & RelationshipsReliability: behavioural test3 sample items
About this scale
A reaction-time-based behavioural measure of implicit attitudes — pairing target categories with attribute categories. Differential reaction times reveal implicit associations not detectable by self-report.
Sample item(s)
“[Target: black/white faces, Attribute: good/bad words] Faster pairing = stronger implicit association”
“[Target: male/female, Attribute: career/family]”
“[Target: gay/straight, Attribute: positive/negative]”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: behavioural test. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Foundational implicit-attitudes measure; available via Project Implicit.
Source & citation
Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwartz, J. L. K. (1998): Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The Implicit Association Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 74, No. 6, pp. 1464–1480.
Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.
Use it in your research
Need to check the reliability or psychometrics of this scale in your own data? Use the free DrAIStudio research tools:
Cronbach’s alpha calculator
All statistical calculators
Search the full Scale Atlas
Academic writing humanizer