Locus of control and expectancy in electromyographic biofeedback

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Behavioral Science
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Locus of control (LOC) influences how individuals perceive responsibility for events.
• Expectancy effects can modulate performance and physiological responses.
• Frontalis muscle tension is a common measure in biofeedback research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the interaction between locus of control and expectancy on frontalis muscle relaxation.
• To determine if positive or negative expectations differentially affect individuals with external versus internal LOC.
• To explore the role of cognitive set in modulating biofeedback performance.

Main Methods:

• 226 psychology students screened using the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale.
• 16 external and 16 internal LOC subjects randomly assigned to positive or negative expectancy groups.
• Auditory proportional biofeedback used for frontalis muscle relaxation training over two sessions, with verbal expectations introduced in Session II.

Main Results:

• Externals in the positive expectancy group showed significantly higher muscle tension than internals in the same group.
• No significant differences in muscle tension were observed between external and internal LOC subjects in the negative expectancy group.
• Positive expectancy comments disrupted performance for external LOC individuals.

Conclusions:

• Cognitive set, specifically positive expectations, can negatively impact the performance of individuals with an external locus of control.
• The perception of performance ability is influenced by an individual's locus of control and their cognitive expectations.
• Biofeedback training outcomes may be moderated by psychological factors such as locus of control and expectancy.