Reliability of a shortened single-target implicit association Test (ST-IAT) as an implicit measure of attitudes towards inclusion. Replication and extension of "implicitly measuring attitudes towards inclusive Education: a new attitude Test based on single-target implicit associations" (Lüke and Grosche, 2018, European journal of special needs Education)

• Published in: European journal of special needs education Vol. 39; no. 4; pp. 567 - 581
• Main Authors: Mechler, Christina, Scheer, David, Heyl, Vera
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester Routledge 03-07-2024; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Associations; Attitude tests; Attitudes; Attitudes towards inclusion; College students; implicit association test; Implicit beliefs; Inclusive education; Reaction time; Reliability; Special education; ST-IAT; teacher education
• ISSN: 0885-6257; 1469-591X
• DOI: 10.1080/08856257.2023.2253061

Attitudes towards inclusion (ATI) are regarded as an important aspect for the implementation of inclusive education. Yet, explicit measures of ATI have some limitations. Single-target implicit association tests (ST-IAT) provide an opportunity to an implicit ATI measure based on differences in reaction times. However, this can be a time-consuming procedure. The present study is a replication and extension of the study 'Implicitly measuring attitudes towards inclusive education: a new attitude test based on single-target implicit associations' by investigating reliability of a shortened version of the ST-IAT Inclusion. Prior studies did not investigate the reliability continuously, nor did they consider different ways of calculating the ST-IAT effect size (D-score). In this study, data from 594 university students are analysed to evaluate the reliability of a shortened ST-IAT Inclusion. Results show that the reliability of the shortened ST-IAT is good and in line with findings on reliability of other ST-IAT procedures. However, the difference between several D-score procedures was rather marginal. Altogether, the shortened ST-IAT Inclusion can provide an economic and reliable measure for ATI.