This is an interactive exercise that will test your implicit associations.

Read the following story and follow the links to see the following quiz and the results.

The Story:

Once upon a time, there was a great city called Glum that stood beside a lake in the kingdom of Bung. In the center of the city was a castle, where the King lived with his only daughter, Christina. The king could no longer walk, but he was often seen being pushed around the city in a white, wheeled chair by his servants. Christina was a popular princess; happy and always willing to help others. The people of Bung often commented that she would make a good queen. Now it so happened that as well as the King, his daughter, and his subjects, there lived in the kingdom of Bung two witches.

Now it so happened that as well as the King, his daughter, and his subjects, there lived in the kingdom of Bung two witches. Groga, an ugly, disfigured witch, lived on the other side of the lake in a dark, damp cave. Gwendolyn, a beautiful witch who wore a gown that sparkled with the light of a thousand crystals, lived in a house to the West. On the tenth anniversary of

On the tenth anniversary of Groga’s arrival, the king was wheeled onto his balcony, where he addressed those gathered below. “Who will rid the kingdom of my arch enemy, Groga?” he asked.“Many brave men have ventured forth on this mission before, but none of those sent have returned. Do any of you have the courage to complete this deed?” The crowd included knights from all the surrounding lands; their proud horses neighed at the ruler’s words. But only one in the crowd spoke out -a stranger who had arrived the day before. “I will kill her,” said the stranger, “in return for your crown”. The king replied: “That is too much to ask, but I will give you half of all the gold in the city treasury if you rid the kingdom of her.” The stranger accepted the

“Who will rid the kingdom of my arch enemy, Groga?” he asked.“Many brave men have ventured forth on this mission before, but none of those sent have returned. Do any of you have the courage to complete this deed?” The crowd included knights from all the surrounding lands; their proud horses neighed at the ruler’s words. But only one in the crowd spoke out -a stranger who had arrived the day before. “I will kill her,” said the stranger, “in return for your crown”. The king replied: “That is too much to ask, but I will give you half of all the gold in the city treasury if you rid the kingdom of her.” The stranger accepted the

The crowd included knights from all the surrounding lands; their proud horses neighed at the ruler’s words. But only one in the crowd spoke out -a stranger who had arrived the day before. “I will kill her,” said the stranger, “in return for your crown”. The king replied: “That is too much to ask, but I will give you half of all the gold in the city treasury if you rid the kingdom of her.” The stranger accepted the

“I will kill her,” said the stranger, “in return for your crown”. The king replied: “That is too much to ask, but I will give you half of all the gold in the city treasury if you rid the kingdom of her.” The stranger accepted the

The stranger accepted the offer and went to see the beautiful Gwendolyn. Gwendolyn was impressed by the stranger’s boldness, and she agreed to help in return for a share of the king’s gold. She went into another room, where she mixed a strange potion. This she poured into a small green bottle. “This will give you the strength of ten men”, she said, handing the potion to the stranger. The stranger

“This will give you the strength of ten men”, she said, handing the potion to the stranger. The stranger traveled from Gwendolyn’s house to the dark caverns on the opposite side of the lake, where Groga, who had seen her fate in a crystal ball, was waiting. “So, you have come, as many men before you have”, she said. “Seeking the king’s

“So, you have come, as many men before you have”, she said. “Seeking the king’s favor” They fought for many hours, but the witch was no match for her adversary. Eventually, tired and exhausted, she agreed to leave the kingdom forever. The stranger returned to

The stranger returned to the city to claim the promised reward.

Click here to take the quiz.

Quiz

True or False:

1. The city was called Bung.
2. The city was ruled by an old king, who could no longer walk.
3. The castle was in the center of the city.
4. Gorga was a wicked witch, who lived in a cave on the other side of the lake.
5. Princess Christina was very beautiful.
6. The stranger was a knight from far away.
7. The stranger wanted to be made king in return for killing Groga.
8. The king offered the stranger a great fortune instead.
9. A good witch lived to the West of the city.
10. The stranger agreed to give Gwendolyn half of his gold, if she helped him.
11. Gwendolyn mixed a potion, which she poured into a green bottle.
12. The stranger rode from Gwendolyn’s house to Groga’s cave.
13. Groga had killed many other men before.
14. Groga’s magic was no match for the stranger.
15. The stranger used a magic potion to defeat Groga.

Click here to see the results.

Results

True or False:

1. The city was called Bung.
   • False. The city was called Glum. The kingdom was called Bung.
2. The city was ruled by an old king, who could no longer walk.
   • False. We are not told the king’s age. He may or may not have been old. Those who said he was old were probably making an assumption based on the fact that he ‘could no longer walk’.
3. The castle was in the center of the city.
   • True.
4. Gorga was a wicked witch, who lived in a cave on the other side of the lake.
   • False. At no point are we told that Groga is wicked. Participants probably assumed she was wicked because she was ugly and disfigured. We know too that the king doesn’t like her, but again nowhere does it say the king is good!
5. Princess Christina was very beautiful.
   • False. Princess Christina was “popular.” She was also happy and always willing to help others. But nowhere in the story are we told she is beautiful.
6. The stranger was a knight from far away.
   • False. The crowd “included knights”. We don’t know that the stranger was one.
7. The stranger wanted to be made king in return for killing Groga.
   • False. We don’t know if the stranger is even a man, so we don’t know if he/she would be a king or a queen. Anyway, the stranger only asks for the crown –and doesn’t specifically state he/she wants a title or even power. For all we know the stranger may have wanted to sell the crown to the highest bidder -on eBay!
8. The king offered the stranger a great fortune instead.
   • False. The king offers the stranger half of all the gold in the treasury. We aren’t told how much gold is in the treasury –maybe none!
9. A good witch lived to the West of the city.
   • False. We are not told Gwendolyn is good –only that she is beautiful and wears a sparkly gown!
10. The stranger agreed to give Gwendolyn half of his gold, if she helped him.
    • False. He/she agreed to give her “a share”. We are not told what the share is. And, of course, we don’t know the stranger is a ‘he’.
11. Gwendolyn mixed a potion, which she poured into a green bottle.
    • True.
12. The stranger rode from Gwendolyn’s house to Groga’s cave.
    • False. We don’t know the stranger ‘rode’. The story says the stranger “traveled”.
13. Groga had killed many other men before.
    • False. We don’t know whether Groga had killed anyone before. All we know is that those sent to kill her had not returned. Perhaps they had a change of heart and left the kingdom?
14. Groga’s magic was no match for the stranger.
    • False. We are not told that Groga used magic.
15. The stranger used a magic potion to defeat Groga.
    • False. We don’t know if the stranger used the potion given to him/her by Gwendolyn.

Conclusions

This exercise helps show our implicit associations about fairy tales and how that might relate to our own implicit biases towards groups of people. Despite the story seeming like a traditional fairy tale, there are many things in the story that we assumed were true but actually are not true. Often times, implicit bias works in a similar fashion to this.

Below is a PDF version of this that can be printed and shared if you would like.

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