Psychometric Properties of a Single-Target Implicit Association Test (ST-IAT) to Measure Implicit Attitudes towards Inclusion

Abstract

Attitudes towards inclusion (ATI) are seen as an important aspect for the implementation of inclusive education. However, explicit measures of ATI have some limitations. Single-target implicit association tests (ST-IAT) provide an opportunity to measure implicit ATI based on differences in reaction times. Prior studies do not investigate the psychometric quality of these measures sufficiently, e. g. the reliability of measuring ATI via ST-IAT, nor do they consider different ways of calculating the ST-IAT effect size (D-score). In this study, data from 562 university students are analysed to evaluate the psychometric quality of a shortened ST-IAT Inclusion. Results show that the reliability of the ST-IAT is good and in line with findings on reliability of other IAT procedures. The difference between several D-score procedures was rather marginal. High associations of the verbal stimuli with the concept of inclusion as well as a significant yet low correlation between implicit and explicit ATI can be interpreted as indicators for the validity of the measure.