Cross-cultural validity of the CAMI 
8 
one's own behavior and various aspects of the environment may be a context-dependent process 
(see also Little & Lopez, 1995). 
In recent studies of perceived control, in which the CAMI instrument has been employed, 
the roles of both developmental change and social environmental factors in producing 
performance-related beliefs have been examined (see e.g., Chapman, Skinner, & Baltes, 1990; 
Little et al., 1995; Oettingen, Lindenberger, & Baltes, 1992; Oettingen, in press; Oettingen et 
al., 1994; Skinner, 1990; Skinner, Schindler, & Tschechne, 1990; Stetsenko et al., 1995). One 
of the findings reported was that children's school performance-related beliefs are dependent on 
the learning environment and, more specifically, teacher's behavior and feedback to the students 
(see also Skinner, Wellborn, & Connell, 1990). 
This technical report attempts to establish the utility of cross-cultural comparisons by 
establishing the internal and cross-sample validity of the measurement instrument. 
Method 
Specifics of the Operationalization 
Table 1 presents a general overview of the specific dimensions within the general theoretical 
structure of the CAMI instrument as well as a brief description of the item composition for each 
dimension. As can be seen in this table, the three possible belief types represent the links 
between an agent, various means, and an end; furthermore, with specific reference to 4 means 
plus 1 unknown category, these links produce 10 possible dimensions of school performance- 
related belief. Also shown in Table 1 (far right column) is the number of indicators formed 
from the items of each dimension. These indicators are formed by randomly aggregating a 
positively worded item with a negatively worded item (see Table 2). Specifically, Table 2 gives 
the exact item numbers that are coupled to form each indicator. Appendix C gives the CAMI 
questionnaire in its conceptual form in English with the item numbers corresponding to (a) the 
reference item number for Table 2 and (b) the order in which they are administered. Appendix 
D is the conceptual version in German, Appendix E the presentation version in Russian, and 
Appendix F the presentation version in Japanese.