So far, my cultural competency
course at William and Mary has been enlightening and eye opening. While I
entered the classroom believing that I had some understanding and meritous
opinions on the subject, it turns out that I have just as much to learn about
the true meaning of cultural awareness as anybody else.
Never
was this as apparent as yesterday when I took my first Harvard Implicit test.
Anyone can take a test by visiting the site at https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/research. By
its own definition, the tests, part of their Project Implicit study, are
designed so that a participant has the opportunity to assess one’s conscious and unconscious
preferences for over 90 different topics ranging from pets to political issues,
ethnic groups to sports teams, and entertainers to styles of music. At the same
time, the visitor assists their psychological research on thoughts and
feelings.
In
short, you can choose a topic. The test comes from being shown a series of two
images which may or may not match. Using the “I”and “E” keys, you choose
whether the two match or not. The grade is given on incorrect answers as well
as time spent answering the questions. There is little time to think as
reactions are preferred over conscious thought before answering. The idea is to
gauge instincts when comparing two subjects.
I
probably should have chosen a safe topic like pets, but instead decided to go
straight to the African
American -European American implicit attitudes test. During the course of the
10-12 minute exam, I was shown seven series of images with words or phrases
such as “European-American,” “African-American,” “Good,” and “Bad,” underneath
the images. The objective was to correctly match the image with the saying.
After completing the exam, I was
self-satisfied and ready for the people at Harvard to prove what I already
felt; that is, Jim McGrath is a culturally competent person with no racial
preference, inherent or otherwise. So it was a shocking surprise when this
result appeared.
Your Result
Your data suggest a strong automatic preference for European
American compared to African American.
|
The interpretation is described as 'automatic preference for
European American' if you responded faster when European American
faces and Good words were classified with the same key than when African
American faces and Good words were classified with the same key.
Depending on the magnitude of your result, your automatic preference may be
described as 'slight', 'moderate', 'strong', or 'little to no preference'.
Alternatively, you may have received feedback that 'there were too many errors to determine a
result'
|
WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?Who are these people? At one point, I was asked to provide
my current zip code (23602) as well as the zip code where I lived the longest
(22304 – West End Alexandria, VA). Geez… 22304 has to be one of the most
diverse zip codes in America. How did the eggheads in Cambridge, MA miss this
piece of the puzzle? Obviously, they’ve never seen my wedding pictures. How
dare they??
There
was more explanation underneath the results, but the damage was done. Whether I
want to blame it on the keyboard or not understanding the exam, according to
this group of “experts,” I have a strong preference and it was not expected.
I’m
going to take some more of these tests. Right now, I’m thinking that the people
at Harvard are a bunch of quacks!
Feel
free to look up the site and take an implicit test. If you dare!!
No comments:
Post a Comment