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For example, a person may be drawn to, or have an affinity for, someone with a similar educational background, from the same area, or who is the  same colour or ethnicity as they are. 

Everyone has unconscious biases. The brain receives information all the  time from our own experiences and what we read, hear or see in the media,  and from others. The brain uses shortcuts to speed up decision-making and  unconscious bias is a by-product. There are times when this sort of quick  decision making is useful, for example, if faced with a dangerous situation,  however it is not a good way to make decisions when dealing with, recruiting  or promoting staff. 

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) helps us to measure and understand these  biases. The IAT may be especially interesting if it shows that you have an  implicit attitude (or bias) that you did not know about. For example, you may  believe that women and men should be equally associated with science,  but your automatic associations could show that you (like many others)  associate men with science more than you associate women with science. 

In essence, the tests help us explore the unconscious roots of thoughts and feelings.