The meta-attention knowledge questionnaire (MAKQ): a new instrument for investigating meta-attention in a young adolescent sample

Abstract The self-regulation of attention is critical for learning, allowing students to prioritize information, inhibit distraction, and focus on the task at hand. Nevertheless, relatively little is known about adolescents’ perception of their own capacity to monitor and control their attention, and their knowledge of relevant strategies. To capture this knowledge, and to address the call for the development of domain specific measures of metacognition, two studies aimed to design and validate an empirical measure of meta-attention knowledge in an adolescent sample. Adolescent samples included 293 (Study One) and 83 (Study Two) high-school students. The Meta-Attention Knowledge Questionnaire comprised 20 scale items that captured self-perceptions of meta-attention capacity (i.e., self-knowledge), and 12 open-ended strategy knowledge questions to elicit qualitative responses that were coded and scored (i.e., strategy knowledge). In Study One, exploratory factor analysis and inductive automated content analyses revealed three dimensions that demonstrated good reliability: meta-attention control, meta-attention monitoring, and metacognitive strategy knowledge to self-manage attention. In Study Two each dimension demonstrated convergent validity with clinical measures of parent-rated attentional difficulty, and strategy knowledge was related to inhibitory control. Finally, the structure of the Meta-Attention Knowledge Questionnaire allowed for investigation into the interaction between self-perceived meta-attention knowledge and strategy knowledge. Across both studies, three meta-attention profiles were identified: a high-knowledge group, a low-knowledge group, and an overconfident group who had a mismatch between self-perceived knowledge and strategy knowledge. Overall, the Meta-Attention Knowledge Questionnaire provides a valid and reliable measure of metacognition in the domain of attention and permits investigation into profiles of interaction between self and strategy knowledge.