The effects of impulsivity attenuation through training of haptic differentiation and matching strategies on locus of control and risk taking

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of haptic training of scanning strategies on attenuating impulsivity. Four major hypotheses were offered. H1: Ss trained in haptic differentiation scanning strategies will show greater impulsivity attenuation than ~s trained in haptic match-to-sample scanning strategies. H2: Ss identified prior to reflectivity training as internals on locus of control will show greater impulsivity attenuation than 5s identified as externals. H3: Locus of control is a function of cognitive tempo. Attenuation in impulsivity will result in a more internal locus of control. H4: Risk taking is a function of cognitive tempo. Attenuation in impulsivity will result in lower risk taking scores. Seventy-five fifth-grade boys and girls were randomly assigned to one of 3 treatment groups. Groups DIFF and SAME were trained with discrimination tasks involving stimuli in the form of wooden geometric blocks. Only tactual manipulation of the stimuli was permitted. Group DIFF's task entailed identifying the one block from among 6 alternatives that was different from a standard block. Group SAME's task consisted of finding the one alternative out of 6 blocks that exactly matched the standard. The control group (Group CTRL) underwent no training. All Ss were administered a computer-adapted version of Kagan's Matching Familiar Figures Test (a 12-item visual match-to-sample test), an investigator-constructed risk taking task (a computer operated, video arcade game involving pure chance), and two locus of control scales (Nowicki-Strickland LOC Scale for Children and Reid-Ware Three Factor Internal-External Scale). Results indicated that haptic training successfully attenuated impulsivity for Group DIFF, as measured by Salkind and Wright's Impulsivity Style index. Performance for Group DIFF was statistically different than groups SAME and CTRL (p < .01), as predicted by H1. The data did not support H2. Impulsivity attenuation was not differentially induced according to locus of control. Furthermore, locus of control was not found to be correlated with cognitive tempo. H3 and H4 were not confirmed. No effect was observed on either locus of control or risk taking as a result of impulsivity attenuation. Risk taking, however, was found to be positively correlated with Impulsivity Style (r = .246) and negatively correlated with Reid-Ware's Social Systems Control factor (r = -.305). A psychometric problem related to Kagan's MFFT distractor variants was also observed.