Administering the implicit association test in an ecological momentary assessment study

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is widely used to assess automatic associations in memory. The feasibility of administering the test in an Ecological Momentary Assessment setting was examined with 15 smokers and 15 nonsmokers who carried a handheld computer for 1 wk. as they went about their daily lives. They completed the Implicit Association Test on the computer at random times 4 times a day and whenever they felt suddenly anxious. Overall, participants completed 80.4% of random assessments (M = 23.4 assessments). Nonsmokers initially exhibited a more negative IAT Effect than smokers. Over repeated testing, however, the IAT Effect of nonsmokers (but not smokers) became less negative, and the between-group difference disappeared. The data show that it is feasible to administer the Implicit Association Test in an Ecological Momentary Assessment setting, and that the IAT Effect can change with extensive testing.