locus of control

Examples of locus of control in the following topics:

• Bandura's and Rotter's Social-Cognitive Theories of Personality

  • People with an internal locus of control tend to internalize both failures and successes.
  • Many factors have been associated with an internal locus of control.
  • Evidence has supported the theory that locus of control is learned and can be modified.
  • Examples of locus of control can be seen in students.
  • Rotter's theory of locus of control places an individual on a spectrum between internal and external.

• Attribution

  • Locus of control. 
  • Someone's locus of control can be either internal or external.
  • An individual with an internal locus of control sees people as active participants in the world, capable of influencing what happens to them.
  • Someone with an external locus of control sees the world as happening to people, outside of their control.
  • For example, level of effort put forth may be controllable, while raw talent or ability is not.

• Incentive Theory of Motivation and Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation

  • Intrinsically motivated behaviors are performed because of the sense of personal satisfaction that they bring.
  • The extrinsic motivator is outside of, and acts on, the individual.
  • The extrinsic reward of payment, it seemed, interfered with the intrinsic reward of the activity itself.
  • Other studies provide evidence that the effectiveness of extrinsic motivators varies depending on factors like self-esteem, locus of control (the extent to which someone believes they can control events that affect them), self-efficacy (how someone judges their own competence to complete tasks and reach goals), and neuroticism (a personality trait characterized by anxiety, moodiness, worry, envy, and jealousy).
  • On the other hand, someone who lacks confidence may work diligently for the sole purpose of seeking even a small amount of recognition.

• Panic Disorder and Panic Attacks

  • Its symptoms include accelerated heart rate, sweating, trembling, choking sensations, hot flashes or chills, dizziness or lightheadedness, fears of losing control or going crazy, and fears of dying (APA, 2013).
  • Neurobiological theories of panic disorder suggest that a region of the brain called the locus coeruleus may play a role in this disorder.
  • Located in the brainstem, the locus coeruleus is the brain’s major source of norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter that triggers the body’s fight-or-flight response.
  • Activation of the locus coeruleus is associated with anxiety and fear, and research with nonhuman primates has shown that stimulating the locus coeruleus either electrically or through drugs produces panic-like symptoms (Charney et al., 1990).
  • Some of the physical manifestations of a panic attack can include dizziness, shortness of breath, sweating, trembling, feelings of faintness, chest pain, or a fear of losing control.

• Strategies for Improving Memory Quality and Duration

  • Rote memorization (the simple repetition of the stimuli over and over again without any real cues or understanding) is one of the least effective but most widely used methods of memorization.
  • This technique is known as the method of loci (or locus).
  • And so on for the rest of the presidents...
  • One example of this approach is pill boxes that are labeled with a day of the week on each compartment.
  • It is commonly accepted that one of the functions of sleep and dreams is to process and optimize memory storage.

• The Central Nervous System (CNS)

  • Thus, the CNS is commonly thought of as the control center of the body.
  • It is comprised of two hemispheres, each controlling the opposite side of the body.
  • the frontal lobe, which controls specialized motor control, learning, planning, and speech;
  • the temporal lobe, which controls hearing and some other speech functions.
  • Spinal nerves originate from the spinal cord and control the functions of the rest of the body.

• Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders

  • In 2013, the 5th revision to the DSM (DSM-5) added a chapter on disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders.
  • All of the disorders listed under this chapter are marked by behavioral and emotional disturbances specifically related to self-control.
  • Brain imaging studies have suggested that children with ODD may have subtle differences in the part of the brain responsible for reasoning, judgment and impulse control.
  • The current DSM-5 criteria for a diagnosis of IED include recurrent outbursts that demonstrate an inability to control impulses.
  • Therapy aids in helping the patient recognize the impulses in hopes of achieving a level of awareness and control of the outbursts, along with treating the emotional stress that accompanies these episodes.

• Experimental Research

  • By creating a controlled environment, researchers can test the effects of an independent variable on a dependent variable or variables.
  • The control group helps researchers balance the effects of being in an experiment with the effects of the independent variable.
  • Theoretically, the baseline of both the experimental and control groups will be the same before the experiment starts.
  • To preserve the integrity of the control group, both researcher(s) and subject(s) may be "blinded."
  • In this manner, you are anticipating and controlling for this extra source of error in your design.

• Introduction to the Nervous System

  • The nervous system controls bodily function by gathering sensory input, integrating that information internally, and communicating proper motor output.
  • After processing, the CNS "tells" the PNS what to do—what muscles to flex, whether the lungs need more oxygen, which limbs need more blood, any number of biological processes—and the PNS makes it happen through muscle control.
  • The brain is the body's main control center.
  • The main function of the CNS is the integration and processing of sensory information.
  • The somatic nervous system controls voluntary movements such as those in the skin, bones, joints, and skeletal muscles.

• Cerebral Cortex

  • The cerebral cortex is the outermost layered structure of the brain and controls higher brain functions such as information processing.
  • The cerebral cortex, the largest part of the mammalian brain, is the wrinkly gray outer covering of the cerebrum.
  • The cerebral cortex is considered the ultimate control and information-processing center in the brain.
  • Beneath the cerebral cortex is the cerebrum, which serves as the main thought and control center of the brain.
  • Gray matter is the mass of all the cell bodies, dendrites, and synapses of neurons interlaced with one another, while white matter consists of the long, myelin-coated axons of those neurons connecting masses of gray matter to each other.