MT 2

Question 1

Implicit vs Explicit

Answer 1

Implicit: What’s uncontrollable (automatic) and not accessible via introspection
Explicit: Controllable and accessible via conscious thought

Question 2

Roger Shepard

Answer 2

“…any knowledge or understanding of the ilusion we may gain at the intellectual level remains virtually powerless to diminish the magnitude of the illusion.”

Even if you’re aware of the illusion, you can’t override your implicit interpretation of it (ie. you’ll still see the illusion)

Question 3

Name the person:

“…any knowledge or understanding of the ilusion we may gain at the intellectual level remains virtually powerless to diminish the magnitude of the illusion.”

Even if you’re aware of the illusion, you can’t override your implicit interpretation of it (ie. you’ll still see the illusion)

Answer 3

Roger Shepard

Question 4

What do optical illusions and stuff shown in class illustrate?

Answer 4

1. Unconscious processes can influence conscious processes

2. Subjective awareness may not influence unconscious processing

Question 5

Social Categories functions

Answer 5

Reasoning (evaluation/attitudes & stereotypes)
Facilitates social interaction (helping, friendships)
ie. Children are more likely to share with in-group than out-group

Question 6

Sources of Intergroup Cognition

Answer 6

Experience
Peers, family
Media
Biology
Interaction (culture fills in content)

Question 7

Aboud

Answer 7

In-group liking emerges before dislike of outgroup (explicit)
Age 3-4 for in-group liking; outgroup dislike after age 7

Question 8

Bigler, Jones & Lobliner

Answer 8

Children seem to spontaneously form categories and prefer in-group members (by age 6)

Question 9

Effect of Contact

Answer 9

Bar graph shows that white children in an all-white school are significantly more likely to make hostile interpretations for black children
On the other hand, white (and minority-group) children who are in a mixed school are equally likely to make hostile interpretations for black and white children
Thus, attending a mixed school results in reduced racial bias; contact matters; more diverse interactions results in decreased racial bias (explicitly, at least)

Question 10

Intergroup Cognition Paradox - Aging

Answer 10

1. As you get older, there is a decrease in negative attitudes toward the outgroup
2. As you get older, there is an increase in negative behaviour toward the outgroup

Question 11

As you get older, there is a decrease in negative attitudes toward the outgroup

Answer 11

Race bias

• Emerges by age 3 or 4
• Peaks near age 7
• Declines throughout adolescence
• As you get older, you adopt more egalitarian views

Question 12

As you get older, there is an increase in negative behaviour toward the outgroup

Answer 12

Fewer interracial interactions & friendships
Discrimination:
-Housing (lending, renting practices)
-Employment (salaries, promotions)
-Healthcare (access to treatment, quality of treatment)
-Education (access/quality of education)
-Subtle ways (ie. looting vs finding food)

Question 13

Limitations of Explicit Measures

Answer 13

Access: Assume that we have access to everything we’re thinking and feeling, which is untrue
Social Desirability: Assume that we don’t care about what the other person thinks; assume that we won’t say what we think they want to hear (this is also untrue)

Question 14

Implicit preferences predicts

Answer 14

Friendliness
Hiring
Voting
Medical Treatment

Question 15

Where do these implicit biases come from?

Answer 15

Your peers, family, media, personal experience

Question 16

Development of implicit group preferences

Answer 16

Theory 1: Learn gradually

Theory 2: Early and automatic

Question 17

Theory 1: Learn gradually

Answer 17

product of our experiences; as you get older, the more opportunity to have to gain experiences; to hear about biases from the media; to interact with people from different social groups to reinforce or challenge your biases; there’s a gradual accumulation of experience

Parents, peers, media, personal experience
Is there an optimal age to intervene and shape a person’s bias? What’s the developmental pattern of biases? How early does it form? How strong is it? How big of a role do interventions play in shaping these biases?

Question 18

Theory 2: Early and automatic

Answer 18

In-group preference (place people in group A and group B, people will immediately form biases and show preference to their own group)
Mere familiarity

Question 19

Key Takeaways about implicit biases

Answer 19

Early acquisition (if there is developmental change, it is occurring before age 6)
Group membership (if you’re in the majority group, it doesn’t matter, but if you’re in a minority group, preference for in-group vs out-group depends on the status of the out-group being used for comparison and their social status)
By age 6, you have some amount of in-group bias, and it’s not really changing over development past this stage
If you’re in a high status group, you have a stronger in-group bias than if you’re in a low status group
Roots prior to age 6
Early life experiences are important for acquisition

Question 20

Development of Intergroup Cognition

Answer 20

With age, explicit intergroup preferences change
Implicit intergroup preferences remain fairly constant
Relationship with behaviour?
-Implicit is correlated with behaviour
-At what age do biases begin to correlate with behaviour
Malleability across development?
-Maybe there’s periods in development where it’s easier to change implicit biases?

Question 21

Malleability of Implicit Bias?

Answer 21

What to make of the apparent stability of bias across development?
Forms early, slow to/doesn’t change?
Reflects shared environments between children and adults?
Need to directly examine whether development differences exist in the capacity to change implicit bias