M.A. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This study involving 43 intermediate and secondary level students with learning disabilities investigated two major areas. First, the relationship between four facets of self-concept and academic locus of control were examined. Second, the influences special education placement variables have on self-concept and locus of control were investigated. Academic self-concept, general self-concept, math self-concept and verbal self-concept were measured by the Self Description Questionnaire III. Academic locus of control was measured by the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire; it also gives scores for internal locus of control for success and internal locus of control for failure. The special education placement variables were: age at first placement in a learning assistance centre (resource room); number of years spent in learning assistance centre; age at first placement in a self-contained special education class; number of years in a self-contained special education class; present placement (intermediate grade level or secondary grade level) and grades repeated. The data indicated that general self-concept and academic self-concept were not related. Math self-concept, verbal self-concept and academic self-concept tended to be negative and general self-concept tended to be positive. No statistically significant relationship was found between academic self-concept and internal academic locus of control. The sample tended to have negative academic self-concepts and internal academic locus of control. A positive relationship was found between general self-concept and internal academic locus of control. Internal locus of control for academic failure was positively correlated with internal locus of control for academic success. A positive relationship was found between mathematics self-concept and verbal self-concept, with the majority of students having negative self-concept in both areas. The age of first placement in a learning assistance centre and the number of years spent in the program did not influence either self-concept or locus of control. Age at first placement in a self-contained special education class did not relate to self-concept or locus of control. The number of years a child spent in a self-contained special education class was inversely related to internal academic locus of control. No differences in self-concept or locus of control were found between intermediate and secondary grade level students. An inverse relationship was found between grades repeated and internal academic locus of control. After failing only one grade, students still had an internal academic locus of control, but failing two or more usually indicated an external academic locus of control. Limitations of this study were the problems with definition of the term learning disabilities and classification for the purposes of programming. As a result of this study, it was concluded that further study of the influence special education programming has on the self-concept and locus of control of learning disabled students should be of a longitudinal or ethnographic nature. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between the scores subjects obtain on Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale and the type of therapy they prefer. Two hundred and fifty-four students in general psychology classes were given Rotter's Scale. Considering their upper- and lower-third scores, 54 were classified as " Internals," 53 as "Externals." Subjects also were given written descriptions of both psychoanalytic and behavioristic therapies. Each of these descriptions dealt with the goal and the specific therapeutic procedure of the respective therapies. Subjects were asked to identify which therapy they preferred and to provide a rationale for their choice.

No description available.

Locus of Control (LOC) refers to the generalized expectancy that one controls the events in his/her life (internal orientation) or that events are controlled by other forces, such as luck (external orientation). According to many reviews of the extensive LOC literature, it is beneficial to have an internal rather than an external orientation. For example, desirable characteristics such as personal adjustment, high self-esteem, good job performance and job satisfaction are associated with internal LOC. This study was undertaken to identify and test a model which could be of use in an organizational setting for promoting the belief in internal control. A time management training model was chosen on the assumption that people who learn to manage their time better would feel more in control of their lives. The 67 University of Central Florida students who accepted the free Daytimers (a widely used professional time management system) and completed the pretest and posttest questionnaires served as the sample. The questionnaires in Rotter's LOC scale and a time management skills scale, and were administered at the beginning and end of the Spring semester. The Daytimers were distributed immediately after the pretest. Students who made frequent use of the Daytimers improved their time management skills and became more internal by the end of the semester. There were no corresponding significant changes in either time management skills or LOC for students who used the Daytimers infrequently. These results suggest that time management training can be used to promote the belief in internal control. Future research is recommended to verify the expectations that these changes in LOC will result in better personal adjustment, greater job performance and more job satisfaction.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between locus of control and psychotherapy preference and the variables of rank (employment and income levels), education level, age, race, and sex on a population outside of students and clinical or institutional patients. Also, the researcher sought to identify variables in order to maximize a therapist's ability to predict individual therapeutic preferences. Eighty-three military personnel; 41 noncommissioned personnel and 42 officers, participated. The sample was chosen randomly from a population of approximately 500 enlisted personnel and 600 officers. Two measuring instruments were used: Rotter's (1966) Internal-External Locus of Control Scale and Clum's (1981) Psychotherapy Preference Questionnaire. Several hypotheses were tested. Significant results were obtained in the hypotheses addressing the difference of scores for psychotherapy preference between rank categories (employment and income levels) and racial categories. Insignificant results were obtained in the hypotheses addressing the difference in locus of control orientation between rank categories (employment and income levels) and education categories; the difference of scores for psychotherapy preference between education levels; and the relationship between scores on the locus of control and psychotherapy preference scales. / Master of Science

This study sought to determine if the locus of control of seminarians is altered as a result of graduate theological training. Gaskins' (1978) locus of control scale was selected because it included God as one of several external controls. This scale was either mailed or administered directly to first year and graduating students from two Southern Baptist and two Disciples of Christ seminaries. The 187 responses revealed no significant difference between the locus of control scores of the two levels despite the fact that all but one school reported mean graduating scores lower than their first year average. The effects of seminary on locus of control appears to be statistically insignificant.

Thesis (MSc (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / The study identifies a basic psycho-logico assumption, coined the premise of locality, which is postulated by the author to permeate most of historical and contemporary psychological, philosophical and scientific thought. In light of the latter supposition the study explores the domain of quantum physics, whence an alternate psycho-logico assumption, the premise of non-locality, is conceptualised. The semantic implications of the non-locality premise are elucidated by investigating the meaning, character and symptoms of the locality premise. The indicative factors of the premise of locality are enumerated and consequently articulated upon the psychological thought of Jacques Lacan. The study demonstrates how the implicit locality assumptions in Lacan’s thinking are the provenance of the incompatibility of his mirror-stage formulation and the empirical findings of contemporary mirror self-recognition research. Assuming a premise of non-locality the author develops a psychological perception structure, coined dichotomous subject objectification. Dichotomous subject objectification represents the localized experience of the self as subject characterized by the capability for mirror self-recognition. Intuited by the premise of non-locality, the author introduces the notion of ‘non-local perceptum’. The physiological dynamics of non-local perceptum is conceptualised by explicating the meaning of ‘absolute power states’. The disposition of absolute power states in terms of dichotomous subject objectification is functionalised by correlating the latter with Michel Foucault’s conceptualisation of power-relations. Concerning the latter, particular attention is given to Foucault’s understanding of the modern day disparity between disciplinary power and sovereign power; the possible influence of this disparity on the psychological experience of the localized subject is subsequently investigated and a certain ‘cognitive dissonance’ is revealed. Localized psychological experience emanating through non-local perceptum is further illuminated by explicating the logical relevance of Socrates’ idiosyncratic flavour of ignorance. Implementing Socrates’ infamous dictum – I know that I don’t know – the study demonstrates how gazing through the prism of the locality premise creates scattered patterns of self-referential paradoxes and self-defeating scientific-logical suppositions. Subsequently the study illustrates that if, conversely, localized thought rather passes through the prism of the non-locality premise, the jumbled dissymmetries emanating from the locality prism are transfigured into symmetrical patterns of logical beauty. Concerning the notion of symmetry, the study explicates the importance there-of in terms of the non-locality premise by defining and differentiating the symmetrical [R] and the symmetrical [I]. The study evidences the pragmatic efficacy the notion of symmetry has already provided for the domain of physics in the past, and considers the vital importance of investigating the clinical applicability this notion might have for the domain of psychology in the future. This preliminary disquisition concerning the premise of non-locality is summarized in the conceptualisation of the ‘power to will’. The power to will evinces an alternative approach for addressing the paradigmatic reprise (postulated in terms of the ‘brilliant Greek mistake’) that confronts the post-modern mind.

This study investigated the effects of frontalis electromyographic biofeedback training on internality, externality, anxiety, and muscle tension of deaf college students. Student volunteers enrolled at a post-secondary institution providing support services for the deaf were randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a no-treatment control group. The experimental group consisted of 36 subjects (21 males, 15 females) and the control group included 34 subjects (18 males, 16 females). Pretreatment and posttreatment baseline measures of the dependent variables of locus of control, anxiety, and electromyographic (EMG) levels were recorded using the Learning Styles Inventory (National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology, New York), A Test of Attitudes (F. J. Dowaliby, National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology, New York), and the Myosone 409 EMG Monitor/Data Processor (Bio-Logic Devices, Inc., Plainview, New York). The experimental group received six half-hour biofeedback sessions during a 3-week treatment phase. The control group was not seen during the treatment phase. Results of analyses of covariance indicated that frontalis electromyographic biofeedback training had no significant effects on internality (F = .009, p = .923), externality (F = .014, p = .905), and anxiety (F = .536, p = .467). Significant differences (F = 3.851, p = .054) were found between experimental and control groups on electromyographic levels. Findings suggest that frontalis electromyographic biofeedback training can be used to reduce muscle tension in a deaf population. This has implications for the prevention and reduction of stress-related disorders. Further research is needed to determine the effects of a longer biofeedback training period on locus of control and anxiety.

No description available.