Single-Attribute Implicit Association Tests (SA-IAT) for the Assessment of Unipolar Constructs

Abstract

Abstract.A major problem with Implicit Association Tests (IATs) is that they require bipolar attributes (e.g., good-bad). Thus, IAT effects for an attribute category can be interpreted only relative to an opposite category. Problems arise if there is no clear opposite category; in this case, a neutral category can be used, although it induces systematic error variance and thus reduces validity. The present study suggests that this problem can be solved using single-attribute IATs (SA-IATs). Sociosexuality (the tendency to engage in uncommitted sex) was expected to be related at the implicit level to stronger stranger-sex associations relative to partner-sex associations. An IAT was constructed that used conversation as a neutral attribute; it showed satisfactory reliability but only low correlations with explicit sociosexuality. An alternative SA-IAT with sex as the only attribute showed a similar reliability but higher correlations with explicit sociosexuality.

Knowing who’s boss: Implicit perceptions of status from the nonverbal expression of pride.

“…Although we included three fairly different expressions in the other set, the inclusion of fear-an expression that may signal submission-could have been salient enough to drown out any opposing impact of happiness and disgust, and promote a low-status association with the set as a whole. Thus, in Study 3, we used the nonrelative, single-target IAT (Penke et al, 2006) to assess whether pride is associated with high status irrespective of any comparison stimulus.…”

“…Seven studies using (a) the implicit association test (IAT; Greenwald & Banaji, 1995), (b) the single-target IAT (Penke, Eichstaedt, & Asendorpf, 2006), and (c) the affect misattribution procedure (AMP; Payne, Cheng, Govorun, & Stewart, 2005), tested whether the pride expression functions as an automatic signal of high status. The standard IAT, used in Studies 1, 4, 5, and 6, assesses implicit associations between pairs of dichotomous stimuli by measuring reaction times for categorizing stimuli across pairings.…”

Using Implicit Association Tests for the Assessment of Implicit Personality Self-Concept

“…A less radical approach to tackle the problem that four categories are confounded in standard IATs is presented by single category IATs (Karpinski and Steinman, 2006;Nosek and Banaji, 2001;Penke et al, 2006;Wigboldus et al, 2005). Single category IATs employ one unipolar concept (e.g.…”

Evaluating Implicit Sentiments for Sinners and Sins: A Cross-cultural Investigation

“…Recently, several researchers have been using a variation termed the Single-Category IAT (Bohner, Siebler, Gonzales, Haye & Schmidt, 2008;Friese, Bluemke & Wanke, 2007;Houben & Wiers, 2009;Karpinski & Steinman, 2006;Penke, Eichstaedt, & Asendorpf, 2006;Siebler et al, 2010; for a discussion of the reliability and validity of such IAT's, see Bluemke & Friese, 2008). In these IAT's, participants only categorize instances from one target category at a time, with either negative or positive instances.…”