2.5

I have taken several Implicit Association Tests for other classes throughout my undergraduate and graduate education.  Therefore, this time I chose one that I had not done before and that approached an issue I have been relatively fired up about lately.  I took the weapons test.  It asked me to pair weapons and harmless items with either Caucasian people or African American people.  I have honestly become somewhat jaded about IATs over time.  I had an interesting thing happen a couple years ago when IATs had been assigned.  For a particular class I was in, we were assigned to take three different IATs.  I took all three of them back to back.  Curiously, I became less biased as I practiced.

This leads me to James and his chapters on habit and learning.  If I believe that we get better at skills when we practice (which I do), than I have to believe that I can get better at sorting faster when taking IATs.  James (1899) said, “Education is for behavior, and habits are the stuff of which behavior consists” (p. 34).  James also mentioned that he believes as close to 99 percent of what we do every day is habit.  We acquire habits over time; therefore, learning and memory are also important components in a discussion on habits.  It goes back to the reading last week where we discussed how learning cannot be undone or ignored.  Our habits are there and cannot be undone.  They may come out at unexpected times; however, that does not change their presence.  I am unsure whether or not I believe that IATs are revealing some entrenched habit I have regarding bias or if they only demonstrate the habits I have in reading, motor coordination, and reaction time.  I tend toward the later.