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Testing the IRAP: Exploring the Reliability and Fakability of an Idiographic Approach to Interpersonal Attitudes

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Abstract

Although multiple studies have demonstrated that the Implicit Association Test (IAT) can be successfully faked, a single study using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP; McKenna, Barnes-Holmes, Barnes-Holmes, & Stewart, International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 7(2): 253–268, 2007) concluded that this behavior-analytic alternative to implicit measures may be relatively immune to faking. The current study examined the fakability of the IRAP using more accessible faking instructions and an idiographic approach to stimulus selection. The methodology also provided an opportunity to examine split-half and test–retest reliability, an underreported statistic among existing IRAP publications. Three IRAPs were delivered in succession to 102 undergraduates randomly assigned to one of three conditions: three real IRAPs, two real IRAPs followed by a faked IRAP, or one real IRAP followed by two faked IRAPs. Split-half reliabilities were acceptable for four of the six real IRAPs and excellent for the three faked IRAPs. For the group receiving three real IRAPs, consecutive IRAPs generated significant test–retest correlations; the group engaging in two consecutive faked IRAPs also generated a significant test–retest correlation. Furthermore, all groups that received faking instructions subsequently demonstrated significantly reversed IRAP performance compared to previous real IRAPs and to real IRAPs in other conditions: Faking was robustly demonstrated. These results may have implications with regard not only to the fakability but also the reliability of the measure. Future research might focus on methods of detecting and/or preventing faking of the procedure.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Southern Illinois University, 1125 Lincoln Drive, Mail Code 6502, Carbondale, IL, 62901-6502, USA

    Chad E. Drake, Kail H. Seymour & Reza Habib

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  1. Chad E. Drake
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  2. Kail H. Seymour
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  3. Reza Habib
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Correspondence to Chad E. Drake.

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Chad Drake declares that he has no conflict of interest. Kail Seymour declares that he has no conflict of interest. Reza Habib declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Drake, C.E., Seymour, K.H. & Habib, R. Testing the IRAP: Exploring the Reliability and Fakability of an Idiographic Approach to Interpersonal Attitudes. Psychol Rec 66, 153–163 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-015-0160-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-015-0160-1

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