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MSNBC Report on Implicit Associations
MSNBC recently filed this video clip on the widely regarded Implicit Association Test (IAT) experiment. The exercise gives a great look into the power of our unconscious minds and how they are deeply ingrained in our everyday behavior.
Take Aways:
- The unconscious mind is in charge. To change longterm behavior we must acknowledge and attend to our unconscious biases.
- The organization is set up to primarialy deal with tasks, systems, and processes. Unfortunately overlooking the unconscious in a detailed and systematic way makes change unlikely.
- To protect us from ourselves we need to first identify the behavior we want to change, reframe it in such a way that creates a new unconscious paradigm, and then create systems that reinforce the behaviors we want to encourage.
Categories: Uncategorized
Diversity 2.0 
It is refreshing to see the topic of one’s skin tone looked at from a different perspective than is typical, that preferring one race to another is racism, rather that it is a subconscious function of the way our minds process the huge volumes of information surrounding us. Also extremely interesting is that the effects of any negative stereotypes one may have can be circumvented by positive exposure and interaction with groups different than one’s self.
Looking forward to more posts.
The IAT is a tool that can be used to show the framework of the brain. Our brain, through the many years of usage, has developed short cuts that allow it to process information at a faster rate. Without these short cuts, it would take hours to complete the simplest of tasks. With repeated use, these short cuts become hardwired into the brain making it difficult to have functional thought outside of them. This is where unconscious bias makes its home. We are not aware of this process so this makes addressing the issue even tougher. The IAT is a way to show people the living bias that is within us all. Simply by becoming aware of these subtle slights, we can address them and form new paths for the brain to function in that allow for the respect and acknowledgement of others.
The video was very interesting and also telling on how the results that one receives can be biased toward a certain race. When I took the test it said I had a moderate preference for black people as I thought it would. Having a black dad and a white mom, I was not certain how the results would play out but I have to say that some of me wanted to have a preference for blacks because I see myself as being black.