Mental Effort and Load–Translingual Scale (MEL-TS)

Description

The Mental Effort and Load–Translingual Scale (MEL‑TS; Endres et al., 2025) is designed to measure cognitive demand across various learning scenarios. The development process involved qualitative interviews with bilingual individuals to understand their perspectives on mental effort and load. Items were translated and back-translated into English, Dutch, Spanish, German, Chinese, and French, drawing from existing cognitive-demand literature and newly created items. The scale was evaluated using online adult participants recruited via Prolific, with reliability and validity results reported for both the 8-item long version and the 6-item short version.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the MEL-TS is to establish a foundation for translingual research within the field of self-regulated learning.

Instrument

Test Type: Original Instrument
Instrument Type: Inventory/Questionnaire
Construct: Learning-Related Cognitive Demand
Format: All items are rated on a 9-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 9 (strongly agree).
Language Available: English, Chinese (Mandarin), and German.
Population Group: Human (Male and Female)
Age Group: Adulthood (18 years & older)
Population Details: Online adult participants.
Test Methodology: Test Validity, Content Validity, Convergent Validity, Criterion Validity, Test Reliability, and Internal Consistency.
Administration Method: Electronic

Validity

Criterion Validity: The scale’s criterion validity was confirmed through a within-subjects design involving eight measurements, demonstrating sensitivity to variations in task complexity, extraneous load manipulation, and motivation for complex tasks.
Convergent and Incremental Validity: Evidence for convergent and incremental validity was found through medium-size correlations with established cognitive load measures.

Reliability

Internal Consistency: Cronbach’s alphas for the overall sample ranged from .81 to .88, indicating good internal consistency.

Factor Analysis

No data is Available

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: May be used for research and teaching purposes.
Fee: No fee is required for use.
Test Year: 2025
Web Site: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en
Commercial Use: No

Authors

Endres, Tino (Author Orcid Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3334-4064)
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg
Email: [email protected]

Bender, Lisa (Author Orcid Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8972-6558)
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg

Sepp, Stoo (Author Orcid Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0509-4603)
Affiliation: School of Education, University of New England

Zhang, Shirong (Author Orcid Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6975-5386)
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Education, and Child Studies

David, Louise (Author Orcid Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1973-4568)
Affiliation: School of Health Professions Education (SHE), Maastricht University Department of Educational Development and Research

Trypke, Melanie (Author Orcid Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6970-5741)
Affiliation: Institute of Educational Science, University of Osnabrück

Lieck, Dwayne (Author Orcid Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9814-3488)
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg

Désiron, Juliette C. (Author Orcid Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3074-9018)
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg

Bohm, Johanna (Author Orcid Identifier: http://orcid.org/0009-0000-1026-4809)
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg

Weissgerber, Sophia (Author Orcid Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6441-358X)
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Kassel

Castro-Alonso, Juan Cristobal (Author Orcid Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3186-3717)
Affiliation: School of Education, University of Birmingham

Paas, Fred (Author Orcid Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1647-5305)
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Education, and Child Studies

Correspondence Address:
Endres, Tino
Email: [email protected]

Files:
No data is Available

Keywords

Incremental Validity, Mental Load, Mental Effort, Translingual Research, Self-Regulated Learning, Cognitive Demand, Educational Measures, Energy Expenditure, Human Channel Capacity, Self-Regulated Learning, Cross Cultural Test Adaptation, Cognitive Measures

reference’s

Endres, T., Bender, L., Sepp, S., Zhang, S., David, L., Trypke, M., Lieck, D., Désiron, J. C., Bohm, J., Weissgerber, S., Castro-Alonso, J. C., & Paas, F. (2025). Developing the Mental Effort and Load–Translingual Scale (MEL-TS) as a foundation for translingual research in self-regulated learning. Educational Psychology Review, 37(1), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09978-8

Items of the Mental Effort and Load–Translingual Scale (MEL-TS)

Number of items: The long version includes 8 items, divided into two 4-item scales, while the short version consists of 6 items, divided into two 3-item scales.
Factors and Subscales: Mental load and Mental effort.
Test Location: 2025-67826-001, Table 3, Page 28
Test Items Available: Yes

Items are rated from 1=strongly disagree to 9=strongly agree.

Mental load
Working on this activity required effort.
Working on this activity was mentally demanding.
Working on this activity was effortless.
Working on this activity did not mentally strain me.

Mental effort
l invested effort while working on this activity.
I refrained from putting effort into this activity.
I worked hard on this activity.
I put my heart and soul into working on this activity.