Implicit Bias:

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  • Browse videos, podcasts, articles, and interactive demos for quick insights.

  • Guide your learning with short sequences on core concepts in the science of bias.

Learn about Implicit Bias from Mahzarin Banaji

A co-developer of the concept of implicit bias, Professor Mahzarin Banaji of Harvard University brings insights from over 30 years of research to the public.

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Browse videos, podcasts, articles, and interactive demos for quick insights.

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Interactive
The Implicit Association Test (IAT)
What implicit biases might exist in your mind? How do they compare with your explicit beliefs? Take the IAT to find out!
Article
Frequently asked questions about the IAT
After taking an Implicit Association Test, people are often understandably full of questions. Here are answers to the some of the most common ones.
Article
Bias in media: a case study
Media is a powerful, mostly positive tool, but it can also propagate bias. See how bias plays out in the media coverage of the war in Ukraine.
3 min
Action sheet
Debias the classroom
What can you do as an educator to reduce bias in the classroom? Try this action sheet.
Action sheet
How to conduct a structured interview
Structured interviews are over 2x better than standard unstructured interviews at identifying talent. What's the secret?
Interactive
When does life “spark” in a face?
How human does a face have to be before it looks alive? Try this human-doll morph to test your intuitions.
Video
Bias in Healthcare
Medical experts want to treat everyone equally, but implicit bias can shape their treatment recommendations. Learn how doctors can subvert their bias to make medical treatment equitable.
04:49
Interactive
You Predict: Where Is Bias in America Headed?
How have various implicit biases—weight, disability, age, skin-tone, race, and sexuality—changed across the U.S.? Draw your predictions on the graph, and compare them with the real data.
Article
How you speak may affect your access to healthcare
A person’s language patterns and accent can impact their access to mental and physical healthcare. How can we overcome this bias and ensure equitable treatment for everyone?
4min
Video
What Sentence Would You Give?: Watch for the Anchoring Bias
We’ve all heard of cases where two people receive very different sentences for committing identical crimes. One hidden bias that can influence these kinds of decisions is the Anchoring Effect.
04:17
Video
Foreigners in their own country: Asians in America
Ms. King and Ms. Kang are both native-born American citizens. Are they equally American? The answer may seem obvious to you... but your brain might disagree.
05:20
Interactive
Changes in Bias Across America: An Explorable Map
Research suggests that Americans are showing a reduction in some implicit biases. Explore interactive maps to see how implicit age, race, and sexuality biases have changed across the U.S.
Video
4 Ways to Manage Stress: An Interview with Professor Katie McLaughlin
One powerful way to turn the stress response into an advantage is to reappraise it. What are other ways to manage stress? Stress expert Professor Katie McLaughlin weighs in.
02:45
Video
Make Stress Work for You: Cognitive Reappraisal
Negative stress is bad for us. But the science suggests that when reframed, the stress response actually helps us perform better. Learn about the science of cognitive reappraisal, featuring Professor Kate McLaughlin.
04:09
Interactive
Should You Trust Your Vision?
This demo, based on experiments by Professors Dan Levin and Mahzarin Banaji, lets you test a powerful illusion.
Video
When seeing shouldn’t be believing: Illusions at work
A common expression tells us that “seeing is believing”. But sometimes there are illusions at work, whether we’re looking at checkerboards, human faces, or resumes. Luckily, there are ways we can debunk them.
04:18
Podcast
“The DNA is a Match”: Confirmation Bias
We have more information at our fingertips than ever before… but this doesn’t mean we’re making better decisions. From DNA analysis to political debates to fantasy football, our desire to confirm our beliefs skews how we interpret the data in front of us.
06:16
Podcast
The Attractiveness Halo Effect
When it comes to food, presentation and taste are connected: the eyes eat first. The science suggests we apply a similar idea to people: attractive people are seen as smarter, kinder, more moral, and so on. It’s called the attractiveness halo.
05:33
Article
Even when judges are race-fair, Afrocentric features bias sentencing for Black and White inmates.
An analysis of over 200 cases in Florida found that judges showed no racial bias in their sentencing decisions. Yet, the same analysis revealed that race was still influencing their decisions.
Interactive
How well can you read a face?
Do you know what “competence” looks like? Try this quiz, based on Professor Alexander Todorov’s 2005 experiment, to learn what your impressions predict.
Podcast
The Availability Bias
What’s more likely: death by shark attack, or death by lightning strike? Most people choose the wrong answer. Why? It's the availability bias—our tendency to assume that events that come easily to mind must be more common or true.
05:36
Interactive
7 Questions That Will Make You Rethink What You Know
Which is more likely: achieving sainthood or winning the jackpot? Are you sure? This short quiz may shake your confidence and have you asking “how do I know that’s true?”.
Interactive
How Good is Your Memory?
Here’s a little memory test designed by psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman (1973) to reveal a cognitive blindspot.
Interactive
How Often Do You Wash The Dishes?: A Test For Housemates
We all help around the house. But how much? This simple task requires having a housemate of some sort (a partner, a roommate) who’s willing to try it too. Based on the 1979 study by psychologists Michael Ross and Fiore Sicoly.
Video
The Pygmalion Effect
Expectations can be powerful. Even if they're never said out loud, the beliefs we carry in our minds can become self-fulfilling prophecies.
2:00
Podcast
Race Bias in Hiring: When Both Applicant and Employer Lose
In a groundbreaking study, sociologist Devah Pager showed that being Black hurts an applicant's chances of being hired just as much as a felony conviction. What do decisions based on gut instincts mean for the survival of a business?
08:56
Article
Traditional “diversity training” is out. Now what?
Data collected between 1970-2002 suggest that traditional mandatory trainings don’t work, and can even backfire. How do we create education that works?
Article
Can women be biased against other women?
The science suggests that we evaluate men’s and women’s work differently… regardless of our own gender. Why? And what can we do about it?
Video
Strooped!
Most of us believe we can control what pieces of information influence our decisions. But when it comes down to it, can we? The Stroop Test suggests: no. Try it for yourself.
05:05
Podcast
Hear Me Out: Accent Bias
Voices are more than just sounds; they’re auditory "faces" that can give clues to who we are. But are these clues always accurate? How might accents skew our decision-making?
10:57
Podcast
The Standards We Choose: The Police Chief Study
We like to think we use objective criteria to make our decisions. But what happens when we choose the person first, and then choose the standard that supports our decision?
10:40
Podcast
Shifting Standards
Albert Einstein, we would say, is a genius. Yet we might say the same for a puppy that can open a cabinet to get her snacks. Sometimes it makes sense to shift our standards based on context. But are we raising and lowering the bar when we shouldn’t?
09:46
Podcast
Implicit Revolution 1: How We Develop Implicit Bias
40 years ago, researchers found that patients with amnesia could form new memories… implicitly. This sparked an ongoing revolution in research on the hidden mind.
11:22
Podcast
Implicit Revolution 2: Testing Our Implicit Associations
In Part 2, we explore the story of a small group of scientists, the test they developed to reveal implicit process of the mind, and how they harnessed the birth of the internet to share it with the world.
11:53
Podcast
Moral Credentialing
We work out, then pig out. We donate to charity, then indulge in retail therapy. Does this also happen with our good deeds? How can we avoid bringing our moral scorecards to the workplace?
07:18
Video
Who Are We Helping?
Humans help each other all the time. So what’s wrong with helping?
01:53
Podcast
The Endowment Effect
We overvalue the things we own. This is fine when it’s a family keepsake or memento – but how does this influence the decisions we make about homes, investments, and more?
07:10
Podcast
Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
You perform well at work one day, but not the next. One person sees you as “warm”; another as “cold”. Maybe it’s just you – but could other people’s expectations be shaping your behavior?
07:28
Podcast
Can You Solve the Surgeon Riddle?
Expectations help us quickly navigate our world. Yet they can also blind us to the simple solutions, talent, and opportunities that are right in front of us.
08:09
Video
About Face: How First Impressions Fool Us
Our faces broadcast information about us: whether we’re smart, warm, trustworthy. How do these signals influence decision-making – and are they accurate?
05:30
Video
The Universe Inside Your Mind
400 years ago, we began to explore the universe with simple tools, and it challenged our beliefs about our place in the universe. Are investigations of the universe inside our minds any different?
03:46
Book
Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People
In their New York Times bestselling book, Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald explore the science of why our behavior doesn't always align with our values.

Learn by topic

Guide your learning with short sequences on practical topics.

Unit 1
The science of implicit bias

What is implicit bias? Where does it come from? And how do we study it?
Unit 2
Common cognitive biases

Our brains evolved to navigate a much different world than the one we live in now. How can outdated thought patterns lead us astray?
Unit 3
How you hear

How can the way a person sounds (voice, word choice, accent) spark bias in our minds?
Unit 4
How you see

Optical illusions show us that our vision can be fooled. How can this play into other biases?
Unit 5
The power of expectations

Our brain’s ability to make predictions is an essential tool – but it can also lead us astray.

Unit 6
Can Implicit Bias change?

New research suggests some implicit biases may be changing for the better. How is this change happening, and how can we help it along?