Response bias on a locus of control measure by learning-disabled children

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.