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LOCUS OF CONTROL SCALE
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Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Date: 05-12-2017
last updated: 10-09-2019 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Script Copyright © 10-09-2019 Millisecond Software
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BACKGROUND INFO
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This script implements a computerized version of the Rotter's Locus of Control Scale as published in:
Rotter, J.B. (1966). "Generalized expectancies of internal versus external control of reinforcements".
Psychological Monographs, 80, 1-18.
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OVERVIEW
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23 2-FC questions regarding locus of control (external vs. internal) and 6 filler questions
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DURATION
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the default set-up of the script takes appr. 5 minutes to complete
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DATA FILE INFORMATION
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The default data stored in the data files are:
(1) Raw data file: 'locusofcontrolscale.iqdat'
date, time: date and time script was run with the current group/subjectnumber
subject, group, session: with the current subject/groupnumber/session id
build: the Inquisit build
q*_response: response given (in assigned values)
Scale: 0 (for internal choice) - 1 (for external choice)
Note: external choice can be either a) or b)
q*_latency: how much time (in ms) the participant spent on the surveypage with this particular
question (the last time this particular surveypage was visited)
(2) Summary data file: 'locusofcontrolscale_summary.iqdat' (Inquisit Lab: one data file per participant)
computer.platform: the platform the script was run on (win/mac/ios/android)
script.startdate: date script was run
script.starttime: time script was started
script.subjectid: assigned subject id number
script.groupid: assigned group id number
script.sessionid: assigned session id number
script.elapsedtime: time it took to run script (in ms); measured from onset to offset of script
script.completed: 0 = script was not completed (prematurely aborted);
1 = script was completed (all conditions run)
textbox.age.response: contains the response to the age question (if answered)
radiobuttons.gender.response: contains the response to the gender question (if answered)
expressions.IEscore: contains the total IE score = number of EXTERNAL choices
expressions.IEscore_percentile: contains the percentile (see Rotter, 1966, Appendix B, Table B1, percentiles calculated across male/female frequency)
values.IEscore_percentile_gender: contains the percentile by gender (see Rotter, 1966, Appendix B, Table B1) if gender is known (otherwise => "not determined")
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QUESTIONNAIRE SET-UP & SCORING
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23 2-FC questions regarding locus of control and 6 filler questions
- the total score is the number of external choices
- percentiles calculated based on data published by Rotter (1966) (gender-specific)
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INSTRUCTIONS
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main instructions were taken from Rotter (1966) and adapted to the computer;
edit under section Editable Parameters
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EDITABLE CODE
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check below for (relatively) easily editable parameters, stimuli, instructions etc.
Keep in mind that you can use this script as a template and therefore always "mess" with the entire code
to further customize your experiment.
The parameters you can change are:
/pageinstructions: the initial instructions presented