Adapting the Implicit Association Test to speech

Issues and methodological proposals

Abstract

This contribution aims to present and to discuss how speech sciences can fruitfully apply the IAT (Implicit Association Test) protocol, an experimental procedure developed in the psycho-sociological fields designed to reveal and to measure implicit attitudes toward social objects (e.g., speech varieties). Currently, few studies employ IAT to evaluate speech attitudes applying different protocols, especially in the production and treatment of stimuli. This proposal intends to outline a framework of IAT use in spoken language study and to discuss a number of features potentially capable of constituting a valid and reproducible standard for IAT use in speech: stimuli duration, content and familiarity.