Researchers from several major universities (Harvard, Virginia, Washington, Ben-Gurion, and Florida) have created a free website where a person can select from 14 different categories to test his/her own underlying biases toward a selected group of people (i.e., skin-tone, gender, weight, disability, etc.).

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Strengths:

This website has been in use since 2011, it is user friendly, and it provides a participant the unique opportunity to examine his/her thoughts and feelings that exist either outside of conscious awareness or outside of conscious control. Even when we feel like we are bias-free in our interactions with others, taking one of these tests can open our eyes to how powerful our underlying biases really are.

It is easy to select from the 14 options provided, as well as to read and understand the results of the selected test. Each test takes only 10-15 minutes.

Concerns:

The information provided by the website after taking a test is limited. I would not recommend that students do this on their own without the opportunity for discussion with peers and the instructor. Another minor concern is that it is best to take one of the tests in a non-distracting environment because it does require some concentration.

Recommendations:

I have recommended this site to many students in the past as a way to open-up a discussion about the subtle, yet powerful, nature of implicit biases. I would highly recommend that students in a CL course complete at least one of these tests as a lead-in to a class discussion on how biases can impact communication. Also, the instructor should be sure to take any of the quizzes on their own prior to having students participate.