Neural correlates of the implicit association test: evidence for semantic and emotional processing. Williams John K,Themanson Jason R Social cognitive and affective neuroscience The implicit association test (IAT) has been widely used in social cognitive research over the past decade. Controversies have arisen over what cognitive processes are being tapped into using this task. While most models use behavioral (RT) results to support their claims, little research has examined neurocognitive correlates of these behavioral measures. The present study measured event-related brain potentials (ERPs) of participants while completing a gay-straight IAT in order to further understand the processes involved in a typical group bias IAT. Results indicated significantly smaller N400 amplitudes and significantly larger LPP amplitudes for compatible trials than for incompatible trials, suggesting that both the semantic and emotional congruence of stimuli paired together in an IAT trial contribute to the typical RT differences found, while no differences were present for earlier ERP components including the N2. These findings are discussed with respect to early and late processing in group bias IATs. 10.1093/scan/nsq065

Implicit and explicit attitudes toward gay males and lesbians among heterosexual males and females. Breen Amanda B,Karpinski Andrew The Journal of social psychology In this article, we examined explicit and implicit attitudes toward gay males and lesbians using the Single Category IAT (SC-IAT). In Study 1, we examined attitudes toward gay people in general. Participants reported positive explicit attitudes and neutral implicit attitudes toward gay people. In Study 2, we examined implicit and explicit attitudes toward gay men and lesbians separately. Participants rated gay men and lesbians positively on explicit attitude measures. Analysis of SC-IAT scores revealed neutral associations with gay men and positive associations with lesbians. As a secondary goal, we also tested the Balanced Identity Theory in both studies and did not find evidence of balance between implicit sexual orientation attitudes, implicit sexual identity, and implicit self-esteem using the SC-IAT. 10.1080/00224545.2012.739581

Implicit measurements of sexual preference in self-declared heterosexual men: a pilot study on the rate of androphilia in Italy. Camperio Ciani Andrea,Battaglia Umberto The journal of sexual medicine INTRODUCTION:An unambiguous measurement of the rate of nonheterosexuality in the male population (male bisexuality and homosexuality) is essential to estimate the health risks associated with same-sex sexual behavior and to scale social and health programs for these citizens. However, self-reported questionnaires on explicit measures of sexual orientation yield significant underestimations of nonheterosexuality. A necessary prerequisite for nonheterosexual preference is androphilia (sexual-erotic attraction to males), which can be explored through psychological tests. AIMS:This study, using a pilot sample, investigates the possibility to inventory the frequency of male androphilia in the general population through a sexual preference implicit association test (sp-IAT). This test is a classical IAT that is based on an association of pictures and words and is easily portable. METHODS:First we conducted a preliminary validation of the specific IAT protocol on 24 control subjects; then, we examined a sample of 150 adult males in Italy as a pilot study. The subjects responded to the sp-IAT and completed the explicit Kinsey scale questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Kinsey scale scores and D value of sp-IAT for both preliminary and pilot sample. RESULTS:On the explicit Kinsey scale, 2.7% of the sample declared themselves to be sexually attracted to men, corresponding to previous explicit samplings of the Italian homosexual male population. However, the sp-IAT identified that 11.3% of self-declared gynephilic heterosexuals showed a moderate to strong androphilia with a significant effect size (D) always below -0.2, and another 5.6% of the heterosexual sample showed no preference for females (D between -0.2 and 0). CONCLUSION:The Kinsey questionnaire strongly dichotomized the responses as either attracted to females or attracted to men, whereas the sp-IAT showed a wider distribution of responses from gynephilia to androphilia. In conclusion, the sp-IAT could be a novel and unambiguous instrument useful to ascertain androphilia population prevalence as a proxy for possible male nonheterosexuality. Camperio Ciani A and Battaglia U. Implicit measurements of sexual preference in self-declared heterosexual men: A pilot study on the rate of androphilia in Italy. J Sex Med 2014;11:2207-2217. 10.1111/jsm.12565