Measuring task-switching ability in the Implicit Association Test

Exp Psychol. 2005;52(3):167-79. doi: 10.1027/1618-3169.52.3.167.

Abstract

Recently, the role of method-specific variance in the Implicit Association Test (IAT) was examined (McFarland & Crouch, 2002; Mierke & Klauer, 2003). This article presents a new content-unspecific control task for the assessment of task-switching ability within the IAT methodology. Study 1 showed that this task exhibited good internal consistency and stability. Studies 2-4 examined method-specific variance in the IAT and showed that the control task is significantly associated with conventionally scored IAT effects of the IAT-Anxiety. Using the D measures proposed by Greenwald, Nosek, and Banaji (2003), the amount of method-specific variance in the IAT-Anxiety could be reduced. Possible directions for future research are outlined.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Algorithms
  • Association Learning*
  • Attention*
  • Concept Formation*
  • Discrimination Learning*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual*
  • Personality Tests / statistics & numerical data*
  • Psychometrics
  • Reaction Time*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Set, Psychology*