Example of condition patterns in the Implicit Association Test.

A pair of concepts was introduced in the first task by asking subjects to respond with the left key (pushed with index finger) to words representing ‘self’ and with the right key (pushed with middle finger) to words representing ‘other’. The fifth task was the reverse of the second. The IAT effect measure was constructed by comparing performance in the 4th and 7th conditions. A more rapid response in the C task than in the IC task indicated that the self-positive and other-negative associations were stronger than the self-negative and other-positive associations.