William W. Moyer’s research while affiliated with Franklin & Marshall College and other places

This study investigated the relationship between internal versus external locus of control of reinforcement and counter control or reactance in subjects in a verbal learning experiment. Internal and external controllers were given either a choice or no choice of material to be learned in a paired associate, anticipation task (after Monty & Perlmuter, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1972, 94, 235–238). As hypothesized, the lack of freedom of choice was associated with counter control (decreased recall) in internals. Being able to choose material lead to faster learning for both internals and externals after first trial recall.