Answer:

Introduction

Attitude plays a fundamental role in how individuals perceive and interact with their environment, shaping their preferences, behaviors, and decision-making and it can be both explicit and implicit. Explicit attitudes are conscious, clearly defined beliefs or opinions one can express, while implicit attitudes are subconscious, underlying feelings or biases that influence behaviour and decision-making, often without the individual’s awareness. 

Body 

Difference between explicit and implicit attitudes

Methods through which implicit attitudes can be measured 

• Implicit Association Test (IAT): This test measures the strength of associations between concepts in a person’s mind. For instance, an IAT might be used in India to assess implicit biases related to caste or gender.
• Reaction Time Tests: These tests measure how quickly a person associates certain words or images with positive or negative attributes. For example, reaction times can reveal implicit attitudes towards different religious groups in India.
• Priming Experiments: Priming involves exposing individuals to a stimulus and then observing changes in their responses to a subsequent stimulus. Eg: In India, priming with religious symbols could reveal implicit attitudes towards various religions.
• Neuroscientific Methods: Techniques like fMRI and EEG can observe brain activity in response to certain stimuli, revealing implicit attitudes. For instance, brain responses to images representing different socio-economic classes in India could indicate implicit attitudes.
• Physiological Measures: Measurements like heart rate, skin conductance, and facial electromyography can indicate emotional responses that reflect implicit attitudes. For example, physiological responses to images of traditional vs. modern Indian attire could reveal implicit cultural attitudes.
• Eye Tracking: This method observes where and how long individuals look at different stimuli. Eg: Eye tracking could be used to study implicit attitudes towards advertisements featuring diverse Indian ethnic groups.
• Word Completion Tasks: These tasks involve completing words or sentences in a way that can reveal underlying attitudes. For example, word completions following exposure to terms related to Indian politics could reveal implicit political biases.
• Memory Tasks: Memory for certain types of information over others can indicate implicit attitudes. For example, better memory for positive news about a favoured Indian political party could indicate an implicit preference.
• Indirect Questionnaires: These are designed to infer implicit attitudes from responses to seemingly unrelated questions. For instance, attitudes towards Westernization in India might be inferred from preferences in music or entertainment.

Conclusion 

Thus, understanding the nuances between explicit and implicit attitudes, and the methods to measure and change implicit attitudes, is crucial for comprehending human behaviour. It enables us to address subconscious biases, fostering more inclusive and ethical interactions in society creating a more equitable and understanding world.

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