Examining human behaviour and bias | Letter

Eldar Shafir of Princeton University says implicit bias is often used to describe actions that go well beyond

Implicit bias is frequently invoked these days, from racial bias in the classroom or in hiring, to gender bias in academic settings. Unfortunately, it is often used to describe behaviour that goes well beyond (We know there is bias. So what do we do now?, Opinion, 8 December).

Implicit bias comes in two forms. One is automatic, quick and unavoidable. It’s the reaction you have before you have time to regroup. When your task is to name the number of digits in the following array, “7 7 7 7,” the correct answer is four, but people’s first impulse, before they correct it, is to say “seven!” Correction takes time, and requires attention and understanding.

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