Effects of Locus of Control and Pacing on Performance of and Satisfaction with a Simulated Inspection Task 1

Abstract

Subjects performed a simulated-inspection task where they searched 200 printed circuits for defects. Self-paced subjects were allowed to control the amount of time spent on each circuit, while the machine-paced subjects were allowed 10 sec. per circuit. Each subject completed Rotter's (1966) Locus of Control Scale (I-E). Variance was maximized by excluding the middle scores of the I-E scale. Self-paced subjects performed significantly better on correct decisions and on the number of misses. Internal scorers performed significantly better than external scorers on the number of misses. The personality variable interacted with the pacing variable when false alarms were considered. in the self-paced condition, external subjects had fewer false alarms than internal scorers. There were no differences in locus of control, pacing, or the interaction for these variables when satisfaction was the dependent variable. Evidence suggests locus of control may be useful in selecting inspectors for self-paced and machine-paced tasks.