title: Response bias on a locus of control measure by learning-disabled children.
abstract: Four experiments were conducted to clarify the relationship between internal locus of control and achievement in learning-disabled and normal boys. The initial study yielded only a weak relationship between achievement and locus of control. Two subsequent experiments found differences on internality, and experiment 3 confirmed a pattern of second response choice bias for low-achieving boys. In Experiment 4 a significant interaction of diagnosis and test form resulted. Overall the tendency of learning-disabled and low-achieving boys to choose second response alternatives may have resulted in the popular but unsubstantiated notion that disabled children are less internally oriented than normal children.
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests; D014477:Underachievement