Abstract
Given the potential advantages of online assessment of implicit alcohol-related cognitive processes, the goal of this study was to empirically validate the online administration of the implicit association test (IAT). First, we examined whether an Internet-delivered IAT programmed in Flash can be as effectively used to assess implicit alcohol-related associations as equivalent IAT versions that are programmed in local lab software, such as Inquisit. Second, participants performed the IAT versions once in the controlled laboratory setting and once on their home computers via the Internet. Findings with the alcohol IAT versions were robust and did not vary systematically with respect to setting (home or lab) or assessment software (Flash or Inquisit). Importantly, there were also indications that IAT versions performed at home were more strongly related to explicit measures and drinking behavior than were lab-based IAT versions. Together, these findings demonstrate that the alcohol IAT can be validly administered online via participants’ home computers.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ames, S. L., Grenard, J. L., Thush, C., Sussman, S., Wiers, R. W., & Stacy, A. W. (2007). Comparison of indirect assessments of marijuana-related associations among at-risk adolescents. Experimental & Clinical Psychopharmacology, 15, 204–218.
De Houwer, J. (2006). What are implicit measures and why are we using them? In R. W. Wiers & A. W. Stacy (Eds.), Handbook of implicit cognition and addiction (pp. 11–28). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
De Houwer, J., Crombez, G., Koster, E. H. W., & De Beul, N. (2004). Implicit alcohol-related cognitions in a clinical sample of heavy drinkers. Journal of Behavior Therapy & Experimental Psychiatry, 35, 275–286.
Deutsch, R., & Strack, F. (2006). Reflective and impulsive determinants of addictive behavior. In R. W. Wiers & A. W. Stacy (Eds.), Handbook of implicit cognition and addiction (pp. 45–57). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Evans, J. S. B. T. (2003). In two minds: Dual-process accounts of reasoning. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7, 454–459.
Evans, J. S. B. T., & Coventry, K. (2006). A dual process approach to behavioral addiction: The case of gambling. In R. W. Wiers & A. W. Stacy (Eds.), Handbook of implicit cognition and addiction (pp. 29–43). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Frontpage 2002 [Computer software] (2002). Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation.
Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwartz, J. L. K. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The implicit association test. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 74, 1464–1480.
Houben, K., & Wiers, R. W. (2006). Assessing implicit alcohol associations with the Implicit Association Test: Fact or artifact? Addictive Behaviors, 31, 1346–1362.
Houben, K., & Wiers, R. W. (2007a). Are drinkers implicitly positive about drinking alcohol? Personalizing the alcohol IAT to reduce negative extrapersonal contamination. Alcohol & Alcoholism, 42, 301–307.
Houben, K., & Wiers, R. W. (2007b). Personalizing the alcohol IAT with individualized stimuli: Relationship with drinking behavior and drinking-related problems Addictive Behaviors, 32, 2852–2864.
Houben, K., Wiers, R. W., & Roefs, A. (2006). Reaction time measures of substance-related associations. In R. W. Wiers & A. W. Stacy (Eds.), Handbook of implicit cognition and addiction (pp. 91–104). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Inquisit 2.0.61004.0 [Computer software] (2006). Seattle, WA: Millisecond Software LLC.
Joinson, A. N. (1999). Social desirability, anonymity, and Internet-based research questionnaires. Behavior Research Methods, 31, 433–438.
Krank, M., Wall, A., Stewart, S. H., Wiers, R. W., & Goldman, M. S. (2005). Context effects on alcohol cognitions. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 29, 196–206.
MacLeod, C., Soong, L. Y., Rutherford, E. M., & Campbell, L. W. (2007). Internet-delivered assessment and manipulation of anxiety-linked attentional bias: Validation of a free-access attentional probe software package. Behavior Research Methods, 39, 533–538.
Macromedia Flash 8.0 Professional [Computer software] (2005). San Jose, CA: Adobe Systems.
Nosek, B. A., Greenwald, A. G., & Banaji, M. R. (2006). The Implicit Association Test at age 7: A methodological and conceptual review. In J. A. Bargh (Ed.), Social psychology and the unconscious: The automaticity of higher mental processes (pp. 265–292). New York: Psychology Press.
Saunders, J. B., Aasland, O. G., Babor, T. F., De la Fuente, J. R., & Grant, M. (1993). Development of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): WHO collaborative project on early detection of persons with harmful alcohol consumption. Addiction, 88, 791–804.
Sobell, L. C., & Sobell, M. B. (1990). Self-report issues in alcohol abuse: State of the art and future directions. Behavioral Assessment, 12, 77–90.
Strack, F., & Deutsch, R. (2004). Reflective and impulsive determinants of social behavior. Personality & Social Psychology Review, 8, 220–247.
Thush, S., Wiers, R. W., Ames, S. L., Grenard, J. L., Sussman, S., & Stacy, A. W. (2007). Apples and oranges? Comparing indirect measures of alcohol-related cognition predicting alcohol use in at-risk adolescents. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 21, 587–591.
Wiers, R. W. (2008) Alcohol and drug expectancies as anticipated changes in affect: Negative reinforcement is not sedation. Substance Use & Misuse, 43, 501–516.
Wiers, R. W., Bartholow, B. D., van den Wildenberg, E., Thush, C., Engels, R. C. M. E., Sher, K. J., et al. (2007). Automatic and controlled processes and the development of addictive behaviors in adolescents: A review and a model. Pharmacology Biochemistry & Behavior, 86, 263–283.
Wiers, R. W., Cox, W. M., Field, M. Fadardi, J. S., Palfai, T. P., Schoenmakers, T., & Stacy, A. W. (2006). The search for new ways to change implicit alcohol-related cognitions in heavy drinkers. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 30, 320–331.
Wiers, R. W., Hoogeveen, K.-J., Sergeant, J. A., & Gunning, W. B. (1997). High- and low-dose alcohol-related expectancies and the differential associations with drinking in male and female adolescents and young adults. Addiction, 92, 871–888.
Wiers, R. W., Schoenmakers, T., Houben, K., Thush, C., Fadardi, J. S., & Cox, W. M. (in press). Can problematic alcohol use be trained away? New behavioural treatments aimed at changing and moderating implicit cognitive processes in alcohol abuse. In C. R. Martin (Ed.), Identification and treatment of alcohol dependency. Keswick, U.K.: M&K Publishing.
Wiers, R. W., & Stacy, A. W. (Eds.) (2006a). Handbook of implicit cognition and addiction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Wiers, R. W., & Stacy, A. W. (2006b). Implicit cognition and addiction. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15, 292–296.
Wiers, R. W., van Woerden, N., Smulders, F. T. Y., & de Jong, P. J. (2002). Implicit and explicit alcohol-related cognitions in heavy and light drinkers. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111, 648–658.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This research was supported by a grant from the Technology Foundation STW.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Houben, K., Wiers, R.W. Measuring implicit alcohol associations via the Internet: Validation of Web-based implicit association tests. Behavior Research Methods 40, 1134–1143 (2008). https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.4.1134
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.4.1134