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Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI-32)3

Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI-32) Test

Learn how well you monitor and adjust your thinking and study strategies in about 6 minutes. Get clear, actionable insight across 8 skill areas so you can learn faster and stay on track.

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Questions: 326 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

18,787 views

1,635 completions

1,225 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

129/160

Metacognitive Engagement (ME)

Metacognitive engagement measures overall awareness and regulation of one’s thinking processes, including planning, monitoring, and evaluating learning activity.

Low

Moderate

High

32 – 74: Low | 75 – 117: Moderate | 118 – 160: High

A score of 129 falls in the High range, suggesting strong skills in planning, monitoring, and adjusting strategies during intellectual work.

example score

39/60

Metacognitive Knowledge (MK)

Metacognitive Knowledge measures how well a person understands their own thinking processes, learning strategies, and when those strategies are most effective.

Low

Moderate

High

12 – 27: Low | 28 – 44: Moderate | 45 – 60: High

A score of 39 falls in the Moderate range, indicating generally adequate awareness of how you learn and which strategies work, with room to make this knowledge more consistent and explicit across tasks.

example score

16/25

Declarative Knowledge (DK)

Declared knowledge measures how clearly a person can consciously describe their own thinking and learning strategies.

Limited awareness

Developing awareness

Strong awareness

5 – 11: Limited awareness | 12 – 18: Developing awareness | 19 – 25: Strong awareness

A score of 16 falls in the Developing awareness range, suggesting a moderately clear ability to articulate personal cognitive strategies with some room to refine and expand them.

example score

8/15

Procedural Knowledge (PK)

Procedural Knowledge measures how effectively a person can apply concrete strategies and methods to solve tasks during learning or intellectual work.

Developing

Adequate

Strong

3 – 7: Developing | 8 – 11: Adequate | 12 – 15: Strong

A score of 8 falls in the Adequate range, suggesting a generally workable use of problem-solving strategies with room to make them more consistent and flexible across tasks.

example score

16/20

Conditional Knowledge (CK)

Measures how well a person understands when and why to apply specific cognitive strategies depending on the situation.

Developing

Functional

Strong

4 – 10: Developing | 11 – 15: Functional | 16 – 20: Strong

A score of 16 falls in the Strong range, suggesting a well-developed ability to choose strategies that fit the task and context.

example score

62/100

Metacognitive Regulation (MR)

Metacognitive Regulation measures how effectively a person plans, monitors, and adjusts their thinking and actions during intellectual activity.

Low

Moderate

High

20 – 46: Low | 47 – 73: Moderate | 74 – 100: High

A score of 62 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting generally adequate planning and self-monitoring with some room to strengthen adjustment strategies during tasks.

example score

12/20

Planning (P)

Planning measures how well a person sets goals in advance, chooses strategies, and allocates time and resources to complete a task.

Low

Moderate

High

4 – 9: Low | 10 – 15: Moderate | 16 – 20: High

A score of 12 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting generally adequate planning with some room to make goals and strategies more explicit before starting tasks.

example score

6/10

Information Management Strategies (IMS)

Measures how effectively a person organizes, structures, and uses information to support learning and goal-directed work.

Developing

Functional

Strong

2 – 4: Developing | 5 – 7: Functional | 8 – 10: Strong

A score of 6 indicates functional information management strategies, with generally effective organization and use of information but some room to strengthen consistency and efficiency.

example score

26/30

Component Monitoring (CM)

Component Control measures how well a person monitors and adjusts individual steps of task execution to detect and correct errors during activity.

Low

Moderate

High

6 – 15: Low | 16 – 23: Moderate | 24 – 30: High

A score of 26 falls in the High range, suggesting strong step-by-step monitoring and timely adjustment of actions when issues arise.

example score

16/20

Error Correction Structure (ECS)

Measures how effectively a person identifies, analyzes, and adjusts their mistakes during task performance to improve future actions.

Developing

Adequate

Strong

4 – 9: Developing | 10 – 14: Adequate | 15 – 20: Strong

A score of 16 falls in the Strong range, suggesting you typically notice errors promptly and make effective adjustments to your strategy during work or study.

example score

12/20

Evaluation (E)

Evaluation measures how well a person analyzes and judges the results of their own work to identify successes and areas to improve.

Limited evaluation

Moderate evaluation

Strong evaluation

4 – 9: Limited evaluation | 10 – 14: Moderate evaluation | 15 – 20: Strong evaluation

A score of 12 indicates a moderate ability to evaluate outcomes, with some reflection on results but room to make conclusions and next steps more systematic.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

University students and learners

41%OF USERS

People who want to study smarter by spotting which planning, monitoring, and attention-control habits help or hurt their learning.

Coaches and trainers

34%OF USERS

Professionals who assess clients’ self-regulation skills to tailor study strategies, goal-setting, and progress checks.

Education and psychology researchers

25%OF USERS

Researchers who need a quick, structured measure of metacognitive regulation and its eight components for studies or program evaluation.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Metacognitive Engagement (ME)

Average

86.2

Normal range

67.3 — 105

min.

max.

160

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Metacognitive Knowledge (MK)

Average

28.7

Normal range

21 — 36.4

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Declared knowledge (Dk)

Average

11.5

Normal range

8.9 — 14.1

min.

max.

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Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Procedural Knowledge (PK)

Average

6.3

Normal range

4.6 — 8

min.

max.

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Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Conditional Knowledge (CK)

Average

12.2

Normal range

9.2 — 15.1

min.

max.

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Metacognitive Regulation (MR)

Average

71.3

Normal range

58.7 — 83.9

min.

max.

100

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Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Planning (P)

Average

8.7

Normal range

6.5 — 10.8

min.

max.

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Information Management Strategies (IMS)

Average

7.5

Normal range

6.1 — 8.9

min.

max.

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Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Component Control (CC)

Average

13.1

Normal range

9.2 — 16.9

min.

max.

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Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Error Correction Structure (ECS)

Average

8.6

Normal range

6.3 — 11

min.

max.

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Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Evaluation (E)

Average

13.1

Normal range

10.3 — 16

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

You are presented with a series of statements concerning characteristics of your thinking and ways of solving problems. Please rate these statements. Keep in mind that there are no right or wrong answers.

- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Not sure
- Agree
- Strongly agree
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Not sure
- Agree
- Strongly agree
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Not sure
- Agree
- Strongly agree

These are 3 of the 32 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI-32) Test - Symptoms and Signs

metacognition

This self-report measure evaluates perceived metacognitive knowledge and regulation during learning or other cognitively demanding activities. The Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI-32) is intended to characterize how individuals monitor, plan, and evaluate their thinking and strategy use in task-focused contexts.

It consists of 32 items and typically requires about 6 minutes to complete. Responses can be used to summarize overall metacognitive awareness and to examine patterns across facets of self-regulation relevant to study skills, training, and performance monitoring. The Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI-32) is most appropriately interpreted alongside other clinical or educational data and the specific demands of the setting.

Author: Gregory Schraw, John H. Flavell

Literature: Flavell, J. H. Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive-developmental inquiry. American Psychologist. 1979.; Pintrich, P. R. The role of metacognitive knowledge in learning, teaching, and assessing. Theory Into Practice. 2002.; Schraw, G., & Dennison, R. S. Assessing metacognitive awareness. Contemporary Educational Psychology. 1994.