Undergraduates in an economics course reported prior grade averages and their final exam predictions. Students rated the influence that ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck had on performance and completed an achievement motivation scale. Regression analyses provided support for the attribution model of achievement expectations. Sex…

Perceptions of study habits were compared for internally oriented subjects who were exposed to effective study techniques and those who were not. Illustrated post-tests for the interactions revealed patterns reflecting upward shifts for subjects exposed to effective study habits. (Author)

Describes the Motivational Style Questionnaire, an 80-item, three-factor (locus of control, social need, and achievement motivation) instrument, designed to measure student motivation objectively. (RAO)

Three predictions from the model of extraversion put forward by Brebner & Cooper (1974) were tested in a simple reaction time task. What emerges is a more coherent picture of the extravert showing him to be prone to two types of S-inhibition, the one generated by feedback and when response demands are low, and dependent upon R-excitation to…

Rotter's Internal External Locus of Control Scale and Ezekiel's Personal Future Autobiography were administered to 45 freshmen and 45 graduate students. Although the two tests had negative nonsignificant correlations, both tests were positively correlated with academic achievement (specifically, graduation within five years) for the internal locus…

Subjects were given sets based on varying levels of social class to determine susceptibility of Internal-External Locus of Control Scale (I-E) scores to situationally induced frames of reference. College students (N=90) took the I-E scale twice. Present results are that the I-E scale may be subject to faking. (Author)

A follow-up of adults who obtained continuing education counseling revealed the majority made personally satisfying attitudinal or behavioral changes such as returning to school, but did not attribute the change made directly to counseling. Changers scored significantly higher on the powerful others subscale than did nonchangers. (Author)

Examines the differential effectiveness of using external reinforcement versus self reinforcement to increase the task persistence of children characterized by internal or external locus of control. Subjects were 153 fourth and fifth grade boys. (BD)

Interviews were carried out with 328 residents of London, Ontario, to test the hypothesis that locus of control and sensation seeking are related to the tendency to adjust to natural and nonnatural hazards. Possible explanations for the findings are offered, and directions for future research are suggested. (Editor/BT)

Correlations between extraversion and ability typically change from positive to negative at about 13-14 years. A method for analyzing this change is developed and applied to Rushton's (1969) data from his longitudinal study of 266 children of above-average intelligence, whom he tested at 10-11 years and again at 15-16 years of age. (Editor)

Depression, sociopathy, and Levenson's tridimensional locus of control orientation were studied in four groups of veteran male alcoholics, who varied as to degree of benefit from therapeutic programs, and a group of controls. Higher depression scores were found in those groups that appeared to benefit less from treatment. (Author)

Cardiac surgery patients were assigned to information-only, information-plus-coping, or control preoperative preparation groups. Preoperatively, both experimental groups were significantly less anxious than were controls. Both experimental groups increased patients' belief in control over recovery. Postoperatively, experimental patients were less…

When temperament, self-concept, and locus of control were compared among learning-disabled (N=38) third- through sixth- graders and matched peers, a multivariate difference was demonstrated with specific univariate effects in task orientation and social flexibility, partially supporting the characterization of learning-disabled students as…

Investigated beliefs about intellectual control and aging in 86 middle-aged and older adults. Perceptions of internal control over intellectual functioning appeared to be relatively stable during middle adulthood and to decline for older adults. Even with effects of education partialled, there was a decline in perceptions of intellectual…

Using Durkheim's distinction between mechanical and organic social systems, examines the antecedents of conflict in 111 public schools. Division of labor is indirectly but ultimately related to disputes through direct correlations with goal disagreement and enhanced control. Disputes increase when rules dominate the control structure. (Author/BJV)