The Implicit Association Test at Age 7: A Methodological and Conceptual Review

Among earthly organisms, humans have a unique propensity to introspect or look inward into the contents of their own minds, and to share those observations with others. With the ability to introspect comes the palpable feeling of “knowing, ” of being objective or certain, of being mentally in control of one’s thoughts, aware of the causes of one’s thoughts, feelings, and actions, and of making decisions deliberately and rationally. Among the noteworthy discoveries of 20th century psychology was a challenge posed to this assumption of rationality. From the groundbreaking theorizing of Herbert Simon (1955) and the mindboggling problems posed by Kahneman, Slovik, and Tversky (1982) to striking demonstrations of…