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| International Symposium - Social and Health Research Using the IRAP |
| Sunday, May 27, 2007 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| Elizabeth A |
| Area: VBC/EAB; Domain: Basic Research |
| Chair: Carol C. Murphy (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: Research argues that explicit self-report measures of stereotyping and health-related behavior may simply reflect socially desirable responding rather than a true measure of an individual’s beliefs. The current symposium investigates implicit (rather than explicit) attitudes in the context of socially sensitive material using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP). The first presentation discusses the utility of a series of relational tasks as a measure of implicit attitudes towards racial stereotyping. The second presentation discusses dietary practices in obese and non-obese individuals, specifically assessing attitudes to healthy and unhealthy foods. The third presentation investigates the impact of social and health related educational information on attitudes towards smoking in a sample of smokers and non-smokers. The final presentation in this symposium investigates the impact of exposure to information on liked and disliked homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual individuals on implicit measures of preference for each sub-group of sexual orientation. The results from these studies will be discussed in terms of generating interventions to address issues surrounding social stereotyping and health-related behavior. |
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| The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP): Assessing Implicit Racism. |
| PATRICIA M. POWER (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Dermot Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Yvonne Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Ian T. Stewart (National University of Ireland, Galway) |
| Abstract: This paper presents a series of studies that sought to determine if the IRAP can be used to assess implicit racial stereotypes using a comparative relational network. The IRAP involved presenting the sample stimuli “Better Than” and “Worse Than” with pairs of pictures of unfamiliar white and black faces. The white and black faces were labeled as either Irish or English. Participants were then asked to respond on tasks that presented the samples “Better Than” or “Worse Than” on each trial with six pairs of pictures as follows: Irish/White versus English/White; Irish/Black versus English/Black; Irish/White versus Irish/Black; Irish/White versus English/Black; Irish/Black versus English/White; and English/White versus English/Black. These six picture-pairs were also presented in reverse order (e.g., English/White versus Irish/White). The IRAP consisted of at least 8 blocks of trials, with each block presenting each picture-pair once in the presence of both samples across 24 trials. For half of the IRAP blocks, participants were required to respond in one direction (e.g., Irish/White Better Than English/White) and for the remaining blocks they responded in the opposite direction (English/White Better Than Irish/White). Results showed that response latencies depended upon the direction of the task and the nationality and race of the faces. |
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| The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure and Responding to Food-Related Items Among Over-Weight and Non-Over-Weight Individuals. |
| IAN MCKENNA (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Dermot Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Yvonne Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: The study sought to determine if the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) can be used to identity individual differences in attitudes to food between over-weight and non-over-weight individuals. One IRAP involved presenting the two sample stimuli, “Makes Me Feel VERY Hungry” or “Makes Me Feel SLIGHTLY Hungry” with pictures of healthy and unhealthy foods. For half of the trials participants were required to respond in one direction (e.g., Makes Me Feel VERY Hungry – Healthy Food – True) and for the remaining trials in the other direction (Makes Me Feel SLIGHTLY Hungry – Unhealthy Food – True).
It was predicted that healthy individuals would show a larger IRAP effect (e.g., responding more quickly to Makes Me Feel VERY Hungry – Healthy Food than to Makes Me Feel VERY Hungry – Unhealthy Food) than the over-weight individuals. The other IRAP presented a similar task, except that the two samples were “This is Healthy Food” versus “This is Not Healthy Food.” It was predicted that both over-weight and non-over-weight individuals show a similar IRAP effect (i.e., both would discriminate equally well healthy from unhealthy food). The results have implications for understanding the role played by knowledge of food versus urges to eat food in predicting dietary practices. |
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| The IRAP as a Measure of Implicit Attitudes to Social and Health-Related Aspects of Smoking. |
| NIGEL AUGUSTINE VAHEY (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Dermot Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Yvonne Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: Research on implicit attitudes to tobacco smoking indicates negative health-related responses to cigarettes among both smoking and non-smoking participants. However, these two groups may differ in their attitudes towards the social aspects of smoking. For example, smokers, relative to non-smokers, may be more likely to relate smoking to relaxation. The current IRAP study explored these issues, and also sought to assess the impact of anti-smoking material on implicit attitudes to smoking. Specifically, a group of smokers and a group of non-smokers were exposed to anti-smoking material (e.g., pictures of diseased lungs); another two groups (smoking and non-smoking) were exposed to health-material unrelated to smoking (the benefits of a low-fat diet). All four groups were then presented with one of two IRAPs, one health-related and the other social-related. Both IRAPs presented the sample stimuli “Smoking” and “Non-Smoking.” The health-related IRAP presented target stimuli that referred to health or disease (e.g., Fit, versus Cancer), whereas the social-related IRAP presented targets that referred to positive versus negative social experiences (e.g., relax versus tension). The results have implications for our understanding of how the verbal networks of smokers and non-smokers differ and how these networks are impacted upon by health education materials. |
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| The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) and the Malleability of Negative Attitudes to Sexual Orientation. |
| CLAIRE CULLEN (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Dermot Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Yvonne Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Ian T. Stewart (National University of Ireland, Galway) |
| Abstract: Dasgupta and Greenwald (2001) provided evidence to support the malleability of implicit attitudes using the implicit association test (IAT). The current study adopted a similar approach to this earlier work, but using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP). Participants were self-identified as either homosexual or heterosexual. In Experiment 1, the sample terms “Better Than” and “Worse Than” were presented as response options with the target word pairs “Heterosexual Homosexual”, “Homosexual Bisexual” “Heterosexual Bisexual,” and the reversed counterparts (e.g., “Homosexual Heterosexual”). The response options “True” and “False” were presented on each trial, and participants were required to respond with both speed and accuracy. Experiment 2 determined if prior exposure to pictures of admired and disliked homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual individuals impacted upon IRAP performance and whether the effect remained stable after exposure to the same IRAP minus the exemplars 24hrs later. The results raise a number of important implications for the measurement of implicit attitudes and the development of psychological interventions for tackling social stereotyping. |
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