Project Implicit Assignment

Discrimination and prejudice, though much less a part of public life than they once were, are still ugly realities in our world. Where do these harmful and erroneous thought (and behavior) patterns come from and why do they persist?

One theory currently being explored by researchers at Harvard University, the University of Virginia, and the University of Washington is that we learn associations (perhaps unconsciously) between certain images and general feelings or attitudes. It is hypothesized that, even if we explicitly report no preference for say, white faces over black ones, perhaps through learning our brains actually behave differently. The exercises at https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/ are meant to test subjects' implicit (unspoken, unconscious) attitudes about different images.

The idea is that, if you have a more difficult time matching positive words like "love" and "good" with black faces (or females, or presidential candidates) as compared to white ones, your brain may be sabotaging your professed egalitarian beliefs and revealing your true, albeit hidden, feelings. What does this mean? That's a topic for class discussion...

Refer to the directions on the handout you received in class for the requirements for this project, particularly the written reflection portion. Due Friday, May 1.