Redirecting attention to a biasing cue reduces or reverses the implicit effect it produces.

Evidence

However, when the crime was related to attractiveness (a swindle), Sigall and Ostrove observed a reversal that was presumably related to subjects’ increased focus on the defendant’s attractiveness and consideration of its relation to the crime, that is, physically attractive defendants received harsher sentences. Schwarz and Clore’s (1983) finding that quality-of-life judgments were affected by weather was eliminated when subjects’ attention was focused on the irrelevant cue by first asking them to describe the weather. These studies show that a cue that redirects attention to the source of a possible implicit effect can produce a reduction or reversal of that implicit effect. — Anthony G. Greenwald and Mahzarin R. Banaji, Implicit Social Cognition, 241

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reading purpose: whether implicit bias measures likewise attenuate when attention is drawn to the biasing mechanism, paralleling explicit group-defense corrections. — connects to: Awareness of prior influence marks the boundary separating implicit cognition from priming effects — Anthony G. Greenwald and Mahzarin R. Banaji, Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes,…, 40; Mere exposure to subliminal affects can transfer value to neutral stimuli via misattribution — Anthony G. Greenwald and Mahzarin R. Banaji, Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes,…, 105; Conscious attention disrupts the influence of weak automatic cues on perception and memory. — Anthony G. Greenwald and Mahzarin R. Banaji, Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes,…, 229 (+6 more)
• CANDY: The Attractiveness-Leniency effect flips to harsher sentences for attractive swindlers is a memorable elevator fact.

Broader Connections

• Implicit biases can be consciously overridden through deliberate attention #expands (0.88) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 1362
• Hidden biases can be corrected by training attention, not by adjusting conditions #expands (0.82) — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 394
• Time pressure activates implicit racial bias while conscious awareness enables cognitive override #corroborates (0.78) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 409
• Unlearning bias works through vigilant, repeatable acts of catching automatic judgments #exemplifies (0.76)
• Intensity and delay directional cues can cancel each other out in the brain #exemplifies (0.74)
• Redirecting attention admits preexisting stimuli that were already being processed #qualifies (0.72) — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 393