Client locus of control, problem perception, and interview behavior.

Administered Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale to 50 21–27 yr old clients at a university counseling center and asked Ss to list all their problems in order of priority. Problems were subsequently classified on an external–internal dimension. Analysis of the relationship of Ss' locus of control (LOC) and interview initiative was based on a subsample of 20 Ss whose initial interview was recorded. Findings show that Ss' LOC was related to the extent to which they assumed initiative and became behaviorally involved in directing the interview process. However, contrary to expectations, counselor control did not moderate this relation. It is suggested that internally oriented clients are more likely to assume initiative in the interview and attempt to redirect the treatment process in a direction preferred by them. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential outcome from automated assertion training as a function of locus of control.

72 low-assertive (Conflict Resolution Inventory) college students, classified as either internal or external in locus of control (Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale), participated in an analog therapy outcome study that assessed whether Ss' locus of control orientations would differentially affect their reactions to an automated assertiveness training procedure. Results indicate that as a group, treatment Ss improved more on all self-report and behavioral measures than either placebo or no-treatment control Ss. As predicted, however, externals in the treatment condition showed significantly greater generalization of the treatment effects to untrained social-skills assessment items than did their internal counterparts. Internals in the treatment condition actually failed to improve on these items relative to the performance of internals in the placebo and no-treatment control conditions. Data also support the predictions that internals in the treatment condition would perceive treatment as taking too much control away from them and would feel more uncomfortable in treatment sessions than externals. Data are interpreted as generally confirming the importance of accounting for the role of patient variables in therapy outcome research. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relative importance of socially induced tension and behavioral contagion for smoking behavior.

Assigned 144 college students to 1 of 4 social situations in which Ss were led to believe that they were to be evaluated and had to wait in a room with the evaluators or that they were waiting with other Ss, who were actually confederates and who engaged the real S in friendly conversation. In these situations the confederates were either smoking or not smoking. Results indicate that, although the anxiety manipulation was effective in raising Ss' arousal levels (Ss' self-reports and observers' subjective ratings) in the evaluation condition, only the presence of other people smoking significantly increased the number of Ss who smoked in the situations; this result applied only to "light" smokers. However, the presence of confederates who were smoking significantly increased the number of minutes the Ss smoked during the condition for both light and heavy smokers, suggesting a ceiling effect for heavy smokers. Tension reduction is not viewed as an adequate explanation for cigarette smoking behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Student locus of control and response to expectations about self and teacher.

85 female undergraduates with either an internal or external locus of control (LOC) (Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale) were used to investigate the relationship between LOC and responsivity to expectations regarding their own and their teacher's competence. Internal and external Ss, acting as students, were led to expect that they would perform well or poorly on a lesson and independently to expect that their teacher was competent or incompetent. After receiving a standardized lesson from a confederate acting as teacher, Ss' attitudes and performance were assessed. As predicted, internal Ss were more receptive to the expectation regarding self than external Ss. In contrast, the teacher expectation manipulation had no differential effect on internal and external Ss. Results suggest that students respond both to expectations about themselves and about their teacher and that LOC plays an important role in determining how an individual responds to such expectations. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-administered relaxation training and money deposits in the treatment of recurrent anxiety.

Evaluated 2 self-administered relaxation manuals and a money deposit in the treatment of recurrent, nonphobic anxiety in 61 18–44 yr old Ss from a college population. Ss were randomly assigned to a self-monitoring-only control group or 1 of 4 active treatment conditions. Ss in active conditions received a progressive relaxation manual or a manual that called for the client to devise his or her own relaxation method and were assigned to deposit or nondeposit conditions. Improvement did not differ for the 2 relaxation procedures, but relaxation training groups improved significantly more than self-monitoring-only Ss on both self-report questionnaires and self-monitored measures of anxiety. The deposit did not produce greater amounts of relaxation practice or adherence to the program, although Ss in this condition reported being more relaxed in practice sessions and improved more on 2 pre–post measures of anxiety (including the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory). Ss' locus of control scores (Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale) were significantly related to a number of practice, adherence, and outcome variables, but Ss' ratings of the likelihood that they would practice and benefit from the program proved to be as good predictors. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The temporal structure of face-to-face communication between mothers and infants.

Videotaped 37 infants in face-to-face play with their mothers at 6, 13, and 26 wks of age. Analysis proceeded at 3 levels: (a) Ss' periods of attention toward the mothers significantly overlapped with the mothers' facially expressive behavior, especially as Ss grew older. Whereas the total proportion of time looking at mothers decreased, the time looking at them while they were on did not decrease. (b) Ss' Vocalizations, Smiles, and Mouth Openings clustered into "runs" (as described by previous investigators), but at 6 wks these occurred only when the mothers were on. By 26 wks of age, Ss' clusters of expression had become autonomous turns in a dialoglike exchange. (c) Analysis of contingent sequences following the onset of infant attention showed that with Ss 6 wks old, mothers' facial greetings—Nodding, Smiling, and so forth—were only rarely effective in eliciting expressive greetings, but without the mothers' greetings Ss almost never made such responses. With 13-wk-old Ss, mothers more easily elicited greetings, and some spontaneous (unelicited) greetings by Ss could also be seen. With 26-wk-old Ss, the spontaneous greetings had become as frequent as those elicited by the mothers. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory deficits and memory surfeits: Differential cognitive consequences of tokenism for tokens and observers.

Investigated whether tokens (persons who are the only member of their social category) might suffer more cognitive deficits than nontokens and whether they do so even when they are treated no differently. 48 undergraduate students (acting either as participants or as observers) were led to believe that they were sharing their views on everyday topics with 3 other Ss (actually videotaped confederates) who were either all of the Ss' own sex or all of the opposite sex. In a later memory test, token Ss remembered fewer of the opinions that they and the 3 other Ss had expressed than did nontokens. Observers, in contrast, remembered more of what token Ss said than what the 3 other Ss said. Results suggest that being distinctive had different effects on the distinctive individuals than on those around them. Theoretical and public policy implications are discussed. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived control in the college classroom: Limitations in instructor expressiveness due to noncontingent feedback and lecture content.

Consistent with various control theories, recent evidence suggests that exposure to noncontingent outcomes interferes with instructional quality in the college classroom. The present study examined whether the density of negative noncontingent outcomes limits instructor expressiveness as an effective teaching behavior in different lecture content conditions. 361 undergraduates took an aptitude test that provided contingent feedback (CF) or low or medium noncontingent failure feedback (NCFF). Ss completed an attribution questionnaire and then observed a videotaped lecture low or high in content given by a low- or high-expressive instructor, after which Ss responded to a postlecture achievement test and an attribution questionnaire. Medium NCFF reduced Ss' perceived control and lowered their internal attribution locus for their aptitude performance, compared to low NCFF and CF. Postlecture results indicated that for high-content lectures, instructor expressiveness facilitated achievement and confidence in Ss who received CF and low NCFF but not in Ss who received medium NCFF. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mind over matter: Perceived success at psychokinesis.

Four experiments with 212 undergraduates showed that Ss' estimates of success on a psychokinetic (PK) task were independent of actual performance. In Exp I, Ss given a positive introductory set or no set about PK evidenced more illusory control than Ss given a negative set. In Exp II, both degree of general belief in psychic phenomena and the number of practice trials that Ss received influenced performance estimates, with high believers who received 10 practice trials providing the highest estimates and low believers who received 1 practice trial the lowest. In Exp III, Ss actively involved with the PK task judged their performance more positively than passively involved Ss. Exp IV showed that when they were actively involved in the task, Ss with an internal locus of control (Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale) gave higher estimates of their success than Ss with an external locus of control. When passively involved, internals and externals did not reliably differ in their estimates, but their estimates were lower in those of active/internals. Results support E. J. Langer's illusion-of-control theory and highlight the importance of general psychic belief and locus-of-control orientation in affecting perceived success at a psychic task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Belief in internal-external control of reinforcement and participation in college activities.

Correlated the scores of 94 male and 76 female undergraduates on the Internal-External Control Scale with records of Ss' GPA and participation in campus activities. As predicted, internal males obtained higher GPAs than external males. Although internal Ss were more involved in campus activities, this trend was not significant for females. Results support previous findings on the positive relationship between internal locus of control and general achievement-oriented behavior for males. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of self-differentiation and anonymity in group on deindividuation.

Investigated the effects of deindividuating conditions (i.e., anonymity) on the behaviors and feelings of self-differentiated and less self-differentiated individuals. 40 male 17–18 yr olds were divided on the basis of their scores on the portable rod-and-frame test into self-differentiated and undifferentiated groups. Each S was exposed to transgressive and prosocial behavior of 2 group members who were confederates. Exposure to the models' behavior occurred under conditions of anonymity or identifiability. Additionally, measures of Ss' feelings were taken. Data indicate that relative to identifiability conditions, the transgressions and prosocial actions of the models had stronger effects on the behaviors of undifferentiated Ss under anonymity conditions. Also, undifferentiated Ss felt less self-conscious and less inhibited under anonymity than identifiability conditions. The behaviors and feelings of self-differentiated Ss were relatively unaffected by the anonymity–identifiability manipulation. A conceptual link between self-differentiation, self-awareness, and deindividuation is proposed. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of students who sought help and their expectations of counselors in a university dormitory and counseling center.

Compared students seeking help from counselors in university residence halls (n = 30) and in a university counseling center (n = 24) in terms of their levels of adjustment and the characteristics they expected in their counselors. As predicted, the counseling center Ss showed a poorer adjustment on 10 of the 12 counselee-relevant scales of the Adjective Check List. Contrary to the prediction, resident hall Ss rated their expected counselors as better adjusted on 6 of the 7 counselor-relevant scales. Further analyses suggest that Ss' expectancies with regard to counselors were a function of the Ss' own personal characteristics, i.e., attributive projection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivated involvement in hypnosis: The illustration of clinical rapport through hypnotic dreams.

Examined the dream reports of 27 hypnotic, 23 task-motivated, and 16 control imagination Ss to analyze the nature of the relation between the S and hypnotist. Dreams were judged by independent raters in response to a request for dreaming about hypnosis. Categories of analysis pertained to rapport-involvement, self, and the hypnotist. Data show that hypnotic Ss' dreams were distinguished from nonhypnotic Ss' dreams by being characteristically more positive. Hypnotic Ss also perceived the hypnotist in an authoritative manner more than waking Ss, the rapport present indicating protection-care or guidance. This pattern of data was especially evident for Ss whose objective performance, as indexed by their expectancy behavior, independently classified them as the most highly motivated in the sample. Data index the transference-like involvement of some hypnotic Ss. With respect to dreaming, however, that involvement is more appropriately viewed in terms of Ss' motivated cognitive commitment to the task of dreaming rather than as the regressive display of infantile wish fulfillment implied by orthodox psychoanalysis. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional styles and life events in the classroom: Vulnerability and invulnerability to depressive mood reactions.

A core prediction of the reformulated model of learned helplessness and depression states that when confronted with the same negative life event, people who display a tendency to attribute negative outcomes to internal, stable, or global factors should be more likely to experience a depressive reaction than people who typically attribute negative outcomes to external, unstable, or specific factors. The present study tested that prediction with 227 undergraduates by determining whether the content of Ss' attributional styles at 1 point in time predicted the severity of their depressive response (Multiple Affect Adjective Check List) to receiving a low grade on an exam at a subsequent time. Consistent with the prediction, Ss with an internal or global attributional style for negative outcomes at Time 1 experienced a depressive response when confronted with a low grade; Ss with an external or specific attributional style were invulnerable to this response. In contrast to results for the internality and globality dimensions, Ss' scores along the stability attribution dimension were not correlated with the severity of their depressive response to the low grade. In the absence of a negative life event, Ss' generalized tendencies to make internal or global attributions for negative outcomes at Time 1 were not significantly correlated with their subsequent changes in depressive mood, although there was a nonsignificant positive correlation between severity of depressive response and the tendency to make global attributions for negative outcomes at Time l. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A physiological investigation of volitional and nonvolitional experience during posthypnotic amnesia.

Highly responsive hypnotic Ss (43 undergraduates) who were classified as having control over remembering (voluntaries) or not having control over remembering (involuntaries) during posthypnotic amnesia, were compared with each other on 4 physiological measures—heart rate, electrodermal response, respiration rate, and muscle tension—during posthypnotic recall. Two contextual conditions were employed: One was meant to create pressure to breach posthypnotic amnesia (lie detector instructions) and the other, a relax condition, served as a control. The recall data showed that voluntary Ss under the lie detector condition recalled more than the other 3 samples that did not differ from each other. However, using another measure of voluntariness showed that both voluntary and involuntary Ss breached under lie detector conditions. Electrodermal responses supported Ss' reports of control in this case. Results are discussed as they relate to (a) studies attempting to breach posthypnotic amnesia, (b) the voluntary/involuntary classification of Ss, and (c) theories of hypnosis. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multiple outcome evaluation of a life-career development course.

Examined the multiple effects of a life-career development course on 74 university students. The treatment was based on a comprehensive counseling model of "change agent career decision making." A modification of D. T. Campbell and J. C. Stanley's (1963) institutional cycle design and MANOVA was used for evaluating Ss' performance on 8 career inventories. The Ss were significantly more rational and less intuitive and dependent in their decision-making styles, more certain of their major and career choices, and more crystallized in their vocational self-concept. They also collected more career information and had fewer vocational identity problems as a result of the course. Inconsistent results were found with regard to the external locus of control and overcoming career barriers measures. The treatment did not seem to have an immediate impact on internal locus of control. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The attributional norm of internality and depressive sensitivity to social information.

Two experiments with 209 undergraduates examined the existence in an achievement-related context of a social norm favoring internal explanations for task performances. In Exp I, Ss' reactions to a male actor's high, moderate, or low self-attribution of causal responsibility for his negative performance outcome on an ostensibly standardized aptitude test were assessed. Results indicate that the actor was evaluated more positively to the degree that he accepted more personal responsibility for his performance. In Exp II, Ss were classified as depressed or nondepressed, based on their scores on the Beck Depression Inventory. Ss' reactions to an actor's high or low self-attributions of causal responsibility for his poor performance on a test of analytical ability were assessed. On the basis of the notion that the chronic lack of control and resultant uncertainty, presumably characteristic of depressed persons, motivates attributional information processing, it was expected that depressed Ss would be more sensitive to the actor's violation of the norm of internality and would respond with more social disapproval than nondepressed Ss. Results are generally consistent with this reasoning. Findings are discussed in terms of the interpersonal implications of expressed attributions. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Situational context of emotional expressiveness.

The Expression of Emotion Scale was administered to 331 university students, and of these, 48 Ss' behavioral performances were observed. The authors examined how emotional expressiveness is affected by sex of participant, type of feeling, participant role, and sex of best friend. Results indicate that across other situational factors, females were more expressive than males, Ss were more expressive of positive emotions than of negative ones, Ss were more expressive in the initiator than in the respondent role, and they were more expressive to opposite- than to same-sex best friends. Findings also indicate that university students have difficulty expressing their emotions even under maximal performance conditions. Implications for counselors working with this population are discussed. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)