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

Abstract

The Mental Effort and Load–Translingual Scale (MEL-TS), developed by Endres et al. (2025), is a specialized psychological instrument designed to provide a reliable measure of subjective cognitive demand across various academic and learning scenarios. The development process was uniquely informed by qualitative interviews with bilingual participants, ensuring the scale captured diverse perspectives on mental effort and load.

The scale’s items were subjected to rigorous translation and back-translation procedures across six major languages (English, Dutch, Spanish, German, Chinese, and French). Psychometric evaluation, conducted on a sample of online adult participants, supported the reliability and validity of both the 8-item long version and its concise 6-item short counterpart.

Keywords

Incremental Validity, Mental Load, Mental Effort, Translingual Research, Self-Regulated Learning, Cognitive Demand, Educational Measures, Cross Cultural Test Adaptation, Cognitive Measures.

Authors

Endres, Tino; Bender, Lisa; Sepp, Stoo; Zhang, Shirong; David, Louise; Trypke, Melanie; Lieck, Dwayne; Désiron, Juliette C.; Bohm, Johanna; Weissgerber, Sophia; Castro-Alonso, Juan Cristobal; Paas, Fred.

Purpose

The primary objective of the MEL-TS is strategic: to establish a reliable, cross-culturally validated foundation necessary for conducting robust translingual research within the critical domain of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL).

By providing a standardized measure of cognitive demand that functions effectively across multiple linguistic contexts, the scale aims to overcome methodological barriers typically encountered in international educational psychology studies, allowing researchers to accurately compare how learners experience mental effort globally.

Construct

The MEL-TS measures the specific construct of Learning-Related Cognitive Demand, which is systematically partitioned into two distinct, yet related, subscales: Mental Load and Mental Effort.

Mental Load refers to the actual cognitive resources required by a task (the inherent demand), while Mental Effort refers to the resources actively invested by the learner (the investment or expenditure). The structure of the scale is specifically designed to differentiate between these two facets of subjective cognitive experience in complex learning environments.

Validity

Evidence supporting the scale’s validity was established through multiple statistical methods, confirming its practical utility in educational psychology and cognitive research.

• Criterion Validity: This was confirmed through a rigorous within-subjects design that incorporated eight separate measurements. The scale demonstrated strong sensitivity to experimentally manipulated variations in task complexity, extraneous load manipulation, and learner motivation for complex tasks.

• Convergent and Incremental Validity: Evidence for convergent validity was observed through medium-size correlations with other established measures of cognitive load. Crucially, the instrument also demonstrated incremental validity, indicating that it captures unique variance in the construct beyond what existing scales measure.

Reliability

The reliability of the MEL-TS was primarily assessed using internal consistency metrics across the initial development sample.

Internal Consistency: Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the overall sample ranged favorably from .81 to .88. These values are considered indicative of good to excellent internal consistency, suggesting that the items within the scale reliably cohere to measure the same underlying dimensions of cognitive demand.

Factor Analysis

Specific results from a formal factor analysis (e.g., Exploratory Factor Analysis or Confirmatory Factor Analysis) were not available in the initial source documentation. Researchers are advised to consult the primary publication for details on the scale’s definitive psychometric factor structure.

Instrument

Test Type: Original Instrument

Format: All items are rated on a 9-point Likert scale, anchored 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 recruited via platforms such as Prolific.

Test Methodology: Test Validity, Content Validity, Convergent Validity, Criterion Validity, Test Reliability, and Internal Consistency.

Keywords

Mental Load, Mental Effort, Translingual Research, Cognitive Demand, Educational Measures, Energy Expenditure, Human Channel Capacity, Cross Cultural Test Adaptation, Cognitive Measures.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier (Primary Author – Endres, Tino): http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3334-4064

Affiliation Email addresses (Primary Contact): [email protected] (Tino Endres)

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

Additional authors and affiliations include:

• Bender, Lisa (Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg)

• Sepp, Stoo (School of Education, University of New England)

• Zhang, Shirong (Department of Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Education, and Child Studies)

• David, Louise (School of Health Professions Education (SHE), Maastricht University Department of Educational Development and Research)

• Trypke, Melanie (Institute of Educational Science, University of Osnabrück)

• Lieck, Dwayne (Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg)

• Désiron, Juliette C. (Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg)

• Bohm, Johanna (Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg)

• Weissgerber, Sophia (Department of Psychology, University of Kassel)

• Castro-Alonso, Juan Cristobal (School of Education, University of Birmingham)

• Paas, Fred (Department of Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Education, and Child Studies)

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The MEL-TS is made available for academic use under a permissive license that encourages broad application in research and teaching.

• Permissions: May be used for research and teaching purposes.

• Fee: No fee is required for use.

• Commercial Use: Commercial use is prohibited.

• Test Year: 2025

• Licensing Website: The scale is governed by the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

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. DOI: 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.