Module 1

The two IAT tests that I took were the Fat¬-Thin and Gender-Science. The Fat-thin had me associate fat or thin with good/bad. For this particular test, I did not expect the results that the computer gave me. I worked at weight loss camp for two summers, and originally thought that I would have no biases toward people who are overweight. I was stunned that this test showed I preferred thin people to fat people, by a large percentage. After being in such shock, I determined that maybe I do have a subconscious preference. After all, one of the primary purposes of our camp was to have a “fat person” lose weight and become a “thin person.” This was definitely a preference that I was not aware about and I will definitely be conscious of this thought process during my everyday interactions so that I do not discriminate.
The second IAT test, the Gender-Science, had an even stronger association than did the Fat-thin test. I did expect this association, unlike the first test that I took. From my experience as an undergraduate and graduate student, most of my classes had a very small percentage of boys in attendance. Also, I am surrounded by males in my family who have sought out the science profession, and from spending time with their colleagues, I have always had this idea that their careers were dominated by men. I do realize there are females, but that a lot of science directed fields are dominated by men.
I cannot help but think back to the Fat-thin test I took. I am still disturbed by my high percentage score on this test. At first, they just showed the faces of the people without associations. Coincidentally, I continued to miss the ones that were the skinny people. They then paired the word good with the word thin, and bad with fat. Again, the few that I missed that involved an “X” flashing on the screen” were all of the skinny people. Once the software matched “bad” with thin and “good” with fat, I found myself clicking the skinnier people quicker. The thin people were the ones that I had previously answered incorrectly to the thin people the reaction was the “X”, reminding me again that I was wrong. This reminded me of James, “No reception without reaction, no impression without correlative expression” (p. 17). The reaction on my part was the sense of rejection I felt when the screen displayed the red “X”. I therefore seemed to respond quicker to the thin people as a result. With my personal education, I find myself often remembering facts that I incorrectly answer in class due to the rejection I feel when I answer a question incorrectly with a teacher.
In the beginning of the book, James states that "Education, in short, cannot be better described than by calling it the organization of acquired habits of conduct and tendencies to behavior" (p.15). When learning the new associations in the IAT test, I was a prime example of the idea of thoughts becoming habits. I have a habit to assume that the liberal arts profession is dominated by females, as science is more male dominated. Throughout my life, I have noticed an association between careers and gender. Overtime, these thoughts have become a specific habit of mine. In fact, I seem to only look for the scenarios that confirm my ideas that only certain people are in a career, whereas I developed a need to start look for scenarios that dis-confirm my ideas.