The undesirable impacts of implicit bias, particularly in healthcare settings, has become increasingly studied and widely discussed in todays workplaces. Understanding the science of what it is, where it comes from, and how it influences our social judgments is critical to reducing its impact in our lives. This session will help attendees understand what implicit cognition is, see the helpful side of this normal brain function, and explore how it leads to unfair biases within our society with particular focus on applications in healthcare contexts.

Learner Objectives:

1. Recognize that people generally think racism and sexism are things of the past and discuss social cognitive explanations (optimism bias & confirmation bias) for this illusion of progress.
2. Differentiate implicit and explicit cognition and demonstrate several ways our implicit cognitive system acts outside of conscious control to help us think quickly and efficiently.
3. Understand research that suggests negative racial and gender category associations remain in our awareness, result in implicit bias, and affect judgments and behavior toward others outside of conscious awareness or control.