With support from the State Justice Institute and the National Center for State Courts, NCSC prepared an updated resource for the court community to summarize the current state of the continually maturing science on implicit bias as of March 2021. This report replaces NCSC’s 2012 report, Helping Courts Address Implicit Bias: Resources for Education.
The Evolving Science on Implicit Bias: An Updated Resource for the State Court Community defines commonly used terms originating from the science of implicit bias; explains how the concept of implicit bias fits into broader conversations underway across the country about equity and fairness; and summarizes what is currently known from research in the psychological and brain sciences, including implicit bias interventions generally found to be effective and ineffective. This report concludes with some implications of this knowledge for state court leaders and other court practitioners who seek to better understand and address the reproduction and perpetuation of systemic biases through this lens.