This chapter compares claims regarding the scientific and societal significance of the Implicit Association Test (“IAT”) to the empirical record. The data fails to support the rhetoric: the mechanisms of bias remain in dispute and theories of prejudice have not converged; bold claims about the superior predictive validity of the IAT over explicit measures have been falsified; IAT scores add practically no explanatory power in studies of discriminatory behavior; and IAT research has not led to new practical solutions to discrimination. The implicit prejudice construct should be subjected to greater theoretical and empirical scrutiny.
Citation
Gregory Mitchell & Philip E. Tetlock, Popularity as a Poor Proxy for Utility: The Case of Implicit Prejudice, in Psychological Science under Scrutiny: Recent Challenges and Proposed Solutions, Wiley Blackwell, 164–195 (2017).