Development and preliminary validation of an instrument to measure metacognitionapplied to physical activity during early adolescence

ABSTRACT In physical activity and sport domains, movement learning is linked to the repetition and refining of gestures, but the processes carried out for learning and organizing motor tasks, despite their importance, have rarely been investigated to date (Schmidt & Wrisberg, 2008). Beginning with the acknowledgement of the importance of metacognition during development and especially during school years (Brown, 1987), we are interested in investigating an analogous metacognitive approach in the field of physical activity in early adolescents. Specifically, our aims are: a) to propose and preliminarily validate an instrument to measure metacognition applied to physical activity (Metacognition Applied to Physical Activity Scale – MAPAS); b) to explore differences for gender, age-group, time spent practicing physical activities, and types of sports practiced (in terms of individual and/or team disciplines); c) to analyze the relationship between the metacognitive approach in the physical activity domain and sports-related motivations and goals. The sample consisted of 320 students, aged 11 to 15 (M = 12.5; SD = .99) attending the sixth to eighth grades of secondary school in northwestern Italy, who practice physical education during school hours as a part of their normal school curriculum. We administered a self-report questionnaire including questions regarding socio-demographic characteristics, MAPAS, sport activities practice, and sport motivations and goals. The factor analyses showed the presence of a one-dimensional structure of MAPAS. MAPAS construct validity was analyzed looking at relationships among MAPAS scores and the other study variables. Relevant differences were found as regard gender, school grade and sport practice; these differences were quite consistent with theoretical expectations. We even analyzed correlations between MAPAS and sport motivations and goals: As expected the two constructs showed to be positively correlated. The results of the present study seem to indicate the substantial adequacy of the newly developed instrument (MAPAS) to measure metacognition in the domain of physical activity.