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Subject: search.filters.subject.Locus of control

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    The impact of locus of control and control on performance during painful stimulation : an experimental investigation : a dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1999) Manderson, Matthew David
    Pain interrupts cognitive processing, is hard to ignore and demands priority attention (Crombez, Baeyens & Eelen, 1994). Focusing on the effect of pain on attention, the primary task paradigm was used to investigate the effect pain had on the task performance of 59 psychology undergraduate students assessed for their locus of control (LOC) beliefs using Rotters (1964) LOC Scale. In a mixed experimental design, participants were required to discrimination between 250 and 750 MHz tones while being exposed to the experimental pain stimulus potassium iontophoresis, a control stimulus of an old man's face and tone only baseline trials. A control manipulation gave all participants both control and no control over the presentation of three levels of pain; high, medium and low pain. The results show that pain interfered with the accuracy of tone discriminations but not reaction times (RT). Additionally, the interference effect from painful stimulation was greater at 250 ms after the onset of the tone compared to the 750 ms onset. A signalling/warning effect is discussed as an explanation for this finding. The external LOC group performed worse when they had control over pain compared to no control. The internal LOC group showed less task degradation overall during the pain condition compared to the external group. These results are discussed in relation with current theories of attention, the effects of control and LOC beliefs.
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    Student procrastination : a clarification and longitudinal analysis of its relationship to perfectionism, locus of control, and stress in university students : a research project presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2000) Towers, Andrew James
    The current study sought to clarify the conflicting relationships between student procrastination and three academically related measures of personality: perfectionism, locus of control, and perceived stress. The study also examined the nature of these relationships in a longitudinal assessment over the course of a university semester. 213 first year undergraduate students (146 females and 67 males) completed the Aitken Procrastination Inventory, the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Academic Locus of Control Scale, and the Perceived Stress scale within the first four weeks of a university semester, and again one week before the end of semester examination period. High procrastination at both the start and the end of the semester was related to an external academic locus of control and low levels of self-oriented perfectionism. Stress and socially prescribed perfectionism had little relationship to levels of procrastination at both the start and the end of the semester. Only academic locus of control was elevated at the end of semester. Only academic locus of control was elevated at the end of semester as compared with the start of semester. The only significant predictor of end of semester stress levels was a high level of socially prescribed perfectionism at the start of the semester. The results were discussed with regard to the personalizing of academic control, the retraining of maladaptive causal attributions, the procrastinators 'last minute rush' theory, and the implications of these factors for future procrastination intervention strategies.