Four experiments were designed to identify socioeconomic differences in preschool locus of control, develop a measurement technique for differentiating between internal and external locus of control in preschoolers, and study the effect of four kinds of preschool programs on locus of control. During the first experiment, the Stephens-Delys…

This paper (a) describes the rationale and development of the Stephens-Delys Reinforcement Contingency Interview method for assessing locus of control expectancies in children as young as preschool age and (b) summarizes results of subsequent studies bearing on reliability, validity, and problems of the method. (Author/RK)

A discussion of parent behavior antecedents, cognitive correlates, and the multidimensionality of locus of control in young children includes reports of several different experiments. Results indicated that development of internal control expectancies is correlated with cognitive-intellectual development. Maternal behaviors were studied through a…

A study was conducted to: (1) assess the equivalence of the Nowicki Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children, the Stephens-Delys Reinforcement Contingency Interview, and the Gruen-Korte-Stephens test and the construct validity of each; and (2) investigate the impact on IE of the open classroom Follow Through program sponsored by the…

Current research indicates the possible influence of IE development on cognitive development. Efforts are being made to identify behaviors by which parents or teachers can increase development of internal control expectancies in preschool children. Studies correlating children's IE scores with various mother behaviors or mother-child interaction…

Internal-external control (IE) expectancies of disadvantaged Head Start children were compared with those of middle class children in one Montessori and two parent cooperative nursery schools using the Stephens-Delys Reinforcement Contingency Interview IE measure. Middle class groups had significantly higher internal control scores than Head Start…

Results of several studies of cognitive and cultural correlates and determinants of early IE development are discussed, and some implications of the findings are pointed out. In studies of correlations between IE and intelligence test scores, results show that the scores increase regularly with age, from age 4 through 8, and there are fairly…