The Bifactor Model of the Junior Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (Jr. MAI)

Abstract

Few self-report measures actually exist that were designed to assess school-aged children’s metacognition. This study examined the factor structure and validity of the Junior Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (Jr. MAI; Sperling et al. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 27, 51–79, 2002) in a sample of primary school children from Singapore. A bifactor model which includes one general factor of metacognition and two uncorrelated knowledge and regulation of cognition group factors yielded the best fit to the data. The general factor of metacognition was found to have high internal consistency and accounted for a greater amount of variance than the two specific factors of knowledge and regulation of cognition. Multigroup analyses offered empirical evidence for the measurement invariance of the bifactor model across gender and ethnic groups. The criterion validity of the model was also demonstrated by significant predictive associations with measures of learning strategies and mathematics achievement. These results provided initial support for the validity and reliability of the Jr. MAI for use with children in the Asian setting. The implications of the findings for future metacognitive research and assessment among children are discussed.