This paper surveys the rrsults from a couple dozen studies of human-computer interaction (HCI). The more I read such studies the less reliable I think they are, but that's a subject for aother day. What I found interesting in this paper was the way the discussion eventually wrapped around the question of "locus of control" and raises the question of whether it is (for example) reflective of a personality trait inherent in the subject or a property inherent in the interface. I think this is an interesting issue: we hear generalizations about various cultures, for example, which suggest that their students won't take the initiative, which if true has an impact on system design. But it could equally be that systems designed for such cultures, by assuming this generalization, ensure its truth.
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