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| International Symposium - Implicit Relational Testing: Developing Functional Behavioral Tools for the Implicit Identification of Verbal and Social History |
| Monday, May 26, 2008 |
| 10:00 AM–11:20 AM |
| Metra |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Basic Research |
| Chair: Steven Robert Gannon (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| CE Instructor: Maria R. Ruiz, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: The current series of papers outline a functional-analytic research program into the development of a method of behavioral implicit testing that can rival the ubiquitous Implicit Association Test. The first paper in the series outlines the Implicit Association Test and suggests avenues of research for understanding the core processes of the test in behavioral terms. The second paper describes a laboratory experiment designed to examine the utility of a behavioral Implicit Relations Test in identifying a laboratory-created history of arbitrary stimulus associations. The third paper reports on an application of the Implicit Relations Test to identify differences in the verbal categorization of adult, child, sexual and nonsexual stimuli across a sample of normal adult men and women. Finally, the fourth paper analyzes the stability of verbal categorization responses across multiple exposures to an Implicit Association Test and an Implicit Relations Test using a common stimulus set. |
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| Implicit Relational Tests: Deconstruction and Reconstruction of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) Based on Derived Relational Responding. |
| MARIA R. RUIZ (Rollins College), Bryan T. Roche (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Amanda Gavin (University of Tesside) |
| Abstract: The social-cognitive literature has generated an expanding catalog of implicit tests to measure unconscious attitudes, bias, preference and other mental states assumed to predispose an individual to generate specific response patterns under testing conditions. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is one widely used tool which we have deconstructed and reconstructed using a derived stimulus relations model to reveal a) underlying behavioral processes and b) a behavioral history that is sufficient to reproduce these response patterns using nonsense symbols. In so doing, we have replaced the IAT’s complex and obscure measurement strategy using statistically derived latency measures with transparent accuracy scores. We suggest that the IAT is better understood as an Implicit Relational Test that measures a subject’s fluency with relevant verbal categories. We demonstrate this experimentally using a variant Yes/No evaluation procedure that measures the relative strength of verbal relations that may be experimentally created or culturally driven. |
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| Building an Implicit Relational Test: A Rule-Based Matching Test for the Identification of Socially-Established Verbal Relations. |
| AMANDA GAVIN (University of Tesside), Bryan T. Roche (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Maria R. Ruiz (Rollins College) |
| Abstract: Using a respondent conditioning procedure, sexual and aversive photographic images were associated with abstract blue and red shapes, respectively. Subjects were then exposed to a yes/no matching test procedure under each of two rule conditions. A congruous rule instructed subjects to match blue comparison stimuli to sexual sample stimuli and to match red comparison stimuli to aversive sample stimuli. An incongruous rule instructed matching based on the reverse of these relations. Each rule applied for an entire block of testing, which in turn consisted of repeated presentations of pairs of photographic images and colored shapes. Subjects responded by pressing a “Yes” or “No” button on-screen in response to the stimulus pairs under the relevant rule. Subjects produced significantly more correct responses under the congruous rule than under the incongruous rule. These findings provide the basis for the development of a powerful implicit behavioral test for socially-established verbal relations. |
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| An Improved Implicit Relational Test for Measuring Socially Sensitive Verbal Relations Regarding Children and Sexuality. |
| AMANDA GAVIN (University of Tesside), Bryan T. Roche (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Maria R. Ruiz (Rollins College) |
| Abstract: Subjects were exposed to a yes/no matching test procedure under each of two rule conditions. A congruous rule instructed subjects to match sexual verbal stimuli to adult-related verbal stimuli and nonsexual verbal stimuli to child-related verbal stimuli. An incongruous rule instructed matching based on the reverse of these relations. Each rule applied for an entire block of testing, which in turn consisted of repeated presentations of pairs of sexual or nonsexual verbal stimuli and child or adult-related verbal stimuli. Subjects responded to the on-screen stimulus pairs by pressing one of two colored keys on a computer keyboard that functioned as “Yes” and “No” response keys. Male and female subjects differed considerably in their performances under the two rules. The results suggest that the current test procedure is capable of identifying and assessing verbal relations established in the social histories of individuals. |
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| How Reliable are Implicit Tests? Analyzing the Stability of Verbal Categorization Responses across Multiple Exposures to an Implicit Association Test and an Implicit Relations Test. |
| MELISSA BERNARDO (Rollins College), Maria R. Ruiz (Rollins College), Jordan Rice (Rollins College), Bryan T. Roche (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Amanda Gavin (University of Tesside) |
| Abstract: The Implicit Association Test is a promising new tool for the assessment of the strength of verbal repertoire and verbal categorization responses in a whole host of experimental and applied contexts. However, the Implicit association test employs a complex scoring procedure and utilizes stimulus presentation and feedback techniques that both obscure the behavioral processes of interest and which also likely have measurable effects on the stability of response patterns across test trials and across test exposures. In contrast the stimulus control employed in a behavioral Implicit Relations Test is transparent at the level of stimulus presentations and data analysis. The current study was designed to examine differences in performances across an IAT and an IRT and to assess the reliability of both tests across multiple exposures to each test using a common set of stimuli. |
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