Hypothesis testSocial Cognition

Implicit Association Test

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is a computerized measure designed to detect automatic associations between concepts in memory, such as implicit attitudes toward social groups or implicit self-concepts. Introduced by Greenwald, McGhee, and Schwartz in 1998, it infers the strength and valence of associations from the ease and speed with which people categorize stimuli when pairing concepts, revealing unconscious biases and attitudes that may not appear in explicit self-report measures.

Open in MethodMindSoonVideoSoon

Read the full method

Members only

Sign in with a free account to read this section.

Sign in

Sources

  1. 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, 74(6), 1464-1480. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1464
  2. Nosek, B. A., Greenwald, A. G., & Banaji, M. R. (2007). The Implicit Association Test at age 7: A methodological and conceptual review. In J. A. Bargh (Ed.), Social psychology and the unconscious: The automaticity of higher mental processes (pp. 265-292). Psychology Press. DOI: 10.4324/9780203717967
  3. Greenwald, A. G., Nosek, B. A., & Banaji, M. R. (2003). Understanding and using the Implicit Association Test: I. An improved scoring algorithm. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 197-216. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.197

Related methods

ScholarGateImplicit Association Test (Implicit Association Test). Retrieved 2026-06-04 from https://scholargate.app/en/psychology/implicit-association-test