Implicit Revolution 1: How We Develop Implicit Bias

Podcast

40 years ago, researchers found that patients with amnesia could form new memories… implicitly. This sparked an ongoing revolution in research on the hidden mind.

The science of implicit bias

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Dive deeper

“[W]here did this idea of implicit bias come from? How can we measure biases that people don’t know they have, or at least are unwilling to endorse openly? And is implicit bias training really enough to address the inequities in our society?” Hear the conversation between psychologists Andy Lutrell and Mahzarin Banaji at Opinion Science.

“Is there a part of ourselves that we don’t acknowledge, that we don’t even have access to and that might make us ashamed if we encounter it?” NPR’s Invisibilia discusses the implicit revolution further in their episode “The Culture Inside”.

For a broader overview into the science of our blindspots, check out Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People, by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald.

For a broader introduction to how we think, and where our blindspots are, check out Daniel Kahneman’s NYT Bestseller and Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award (2012): Thinking, Fast and Slow.

References

Claparède, E. (1951). Recognition and “me-ness” In D. Rapaport, Organization and pathology of thought: Selected sources (pp. 58-75). (Original French publication 1911).

Fowler, R.A., Sabur, N., Li, P., Juurlink, D. N, Pino, R., …, & Martin, C. M. (2007). Sex- and age-based differences in the delivery and outcomes of critical care. CMAJ, 177(12), 1513-1519.

Goyal, M. K., Kuppermann, N., & Cleary, S. D. (2015). Racial disparities in pain management of children with appendicitis in emergency departments. JAMA Pediatrics, 169(11), 996-1002.

Graf, P. Squire, L. R., & Mandler, G. (1984). The information that amnesic patients do not forget. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 10(1), 164-178.

Higgins, E. T., Rholes, W. S., & Jones, C. R. (1977). Category accessibility and impression formation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 13, 141-154.

Jacoby, L. L., Kelley, C., Brown, J., & Jasechko, J. (1989). Becoming famous overnight: Limits on the ability to avoid unconscious influences of the past. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56(3), 326-338.

Credits

The Implicit Revolution Part 1 was created and developed by Mahzarin Banaji and Olivia Kang with funding from PwC and Harvard University.

Narration by Olivia Kang, featuring Professor Mahzarin Banaji (Harvard University)

Sound Editing & Mixing by Evan Younger

Music by Miracles of Modern Science

Artwork by Olivia Kang