Perceived control of events is one motivational variable that appears to affect children’s academic achievement. In this review the conceptualization and measurement of the control dimension is discussed from three theoretical perspectives: social learning theory, attribution theory, and intrinsic motivation theories. For each of these three perspectives evidence on the relationship between achievement and perceptions of control is summarized, and possible explanations for the relationship are discussed. Throughout this review similarities and differences among these orientations are pointed out. Specific recommendations are made for research which will advance our understanding of this relationship and which will provide the most useful information to educators.

https://scholar.harvard.edu/jweisz/files/1981c.pdf

Perceived Personal Control and Academic Achievement

This meta-analysis investigated the possibility that gender differences in aggression, and the variability in these differences, are a function of gender differences in the regulation of arousal generated in emotionally evocative contexts. The sample of studies for this analysis was based on an exhaustive search of the relevant research reports from 1965-1999. Studies were excluded from the sample if they were case studies; investigated spousal/familial or societal violence, war, suicide, or political violence; involved clinical or deviant participants; included fewer than 10 participants; included all male, all female, all non-Caucasian, or non-US/non-Canadian participants. Based on previous evidence that males may be more easily aroused by aggressive-relevant emotional stimuli than females, and that males may have more difficulty regulating emotionally arousing states than females, we hypothesized that the magnitude of the gender differences in aggression would covary, in a nonlinear manner, with the emotional evocativeness of the study context. Consistent with our hypothesis, the magnitude of gender differences in aggression was relatively small in research contexts that appeared to produce no or large increments in emotional arousal and larger (favoring males) in contexts that appeared to produce small or medium increments in emotional arousal.

Emotional arousal and gender differences in aggression: A meta‐analysis

This report provides an analysis and bibliography of 277 locus of control studies published in 1973 and 1974. The references are classified into 17 categories which represent areas of current research interest. Further analyses indicate that: (1) the Rotter I-E scale was employed in 69% of the empirical studies; (2) the research was reported in 75 different journals; and (3) 19% of the studies were published in Psychological Reports.

Internal-External Locus of Control: An Analysis and Bibliography of Two Years of Research (1973–1974):

Five cases are described that involve severe attacks on humans by dogs who were being trained or maintained on an electronic pet containment system. The system is designed to boundary train a dog through the use of electric shock in an escape-avoidance conditioning paradigm. Data were collected from legal documents filed in personal injury lawsuits. Analysis of the findings show that all dogs lacked a marked history of aggressive responding, all were adult males, and most were reproductively intact. All attacks happened near the boundary of the property. In every case, the system was operational at the time of attack. Moreover, in most cases, the dog received shock. Findings lend themselves to possible interpretation in terms of unconditioned aggression as a result of a dog having received electronic shock and avoidance-motivated aggression mediated through fear reduction toward human stimuli.

Can aggression in dogs be elicited through the use of electronic pet containment systems

Effects of ethanol on human fractionated response times

Summary This study investigated the response of human Ss to aversive stimuli. Seven pairs of Ss were placed in a situation in which they would receive shocks, but had the opportunity to retaliate by delivering an equivalent shock to the S that had shocked them. Results were interpreted as being similar to studies of pain-elicited aggression with lower animals.

Shock Elicited Aggression by Human Subjects

Summary A comparison was made between schedules of reinforcement; continuous reinforcement (CRF), fixed ratio (FR-5 and FR-10), and various levels of deprivation, 0, 24, 48, and 72 hours, in the presence of food. Twenty-four male albino rats were randomly assigned to each of the conditions and trained to bar-press on a CRF schedule. The only significant effect (p < .05) was found between the CRF and FR-10 schedule. The results contradict previous studies which found high rates of bar-pressing in the presence of free food.

A Multidimensional Analysis of Variables Related to Bar-Pressing in the Presence of Free Food

Rotter and Mulry (1965) reported that persons designated \"internal\" in locus of control took significantly longer than externals to make decisions and choices on skill-related tasks. Individuals with an internal orientation have also been described as more persistent in completing a complex but soluble puzzle (James, 1965). It is reasonable to expect internals to show greater response persistence than externals on a skill-related task in which there is no possibility for successful completion. The I-E scale of Rotter was administered to 24 Anglo male students (mean age, 20.1 yr.) enrolled in an introductory psychology course. The scale is keyed so that higher scores represent greater externality. The experimental task was introduced as an exercise in problem-solving ability which required Ss to assemble 12 parts of a wooden cube puzzle. One piece of the puzzle had been removed and another piece of a different shape substituted for it, making the task insoluble. The product-moment correlation between scores on the I-E scale and response persistence, i.e., the minutes spent working on the puzzle, was -.437 ( P < .05). A logarithmic transformation of the time measure did not appreciably change the value of the correlation. The overlapping linear variance between I-E scores and task persistence was almost 20%. This finding suggests that internal-scoring college males may tend to resist response extinction in the absence of a known extrinsic reinforcer, i.e., successful completion of the puzzle. This is in accord with previous research indicating that internals are more \"inner-directed\" and less influenced by environmental forces than externals (Cromwell, e t al., 1961 ).

http://prx.sagepub.com/content/35/2/810.full.pdf

Locus of Control and Response Persistence

Summary Differential predictions have been made concerning the effect of external beliefs on the skilled performance of Negroes. In the present study i was found that among black college athletes, externality covaried with elevated attainment on unobtrusive tasks.

Del Heacock

Papers

Shock Elicited Aggression by Human Subjects

A Multidimensional Analysis of Variables Related to Bar-Pressing in the Presence of Free Food

Locus of Control and Response Persistence

The control orientation of black athletes in relation to unobstrusive tasks of skill